‘Context and insight comes in many different forms. Sometimes it emerges from deep research into a subject. Sometimes it comes from the experience of a reporter who’s covered an issue for many years. And sometimes it comes from a journalist’s own life experience’ Continue Reading CBC ombudsperson: Opinions on Islamophobia
My latest review examines how CBC covered the debate about the primary way COVID-19 is spread: airborne, or via respiratory droplets? One particular story last spring said that Canadian scientist Dr. John Conly was “under fire” by other researchers, and a number of that scientist’s colleagues complained that the public broadcaster was guilty of “character assassination”. Continue Reading CBC Ombudsperson: Science and nuance
When CBC News reported on the way the Epoch Times was covering issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, it inspired dozens of complaints. Reader David Tencer wrote that CBC had done a “smear job” on the newspaper, and his complaint is the subject of my latest review. Continue Reading CBC Ombudsperson: CBC coverage of the Epoch Times
Earlier this year, The Fifth Estate aired a documentary about the industry of birth tourism, in which expectant mothers from abroad pay a fee to brokers, then come to Canada to deliver their baby. Complainant Janet Cleveland called the program “seriously inaccurate and biased”. I disagreed that it was biased, but my review found problems, nonetheless. Continue Reading CBC Ombudsperson: Passport Babies