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  • CBC/Radio-Canada building

    CBC Ombudsman: Twitter Turmoil

    In April, a man driving a van deliberately ran into civilians on a stretch of Toronto’s Yonge Street. The complainant, Mohamed Jiavdheen, objected to a tweet describing the driver, based on an eyewitness as “Middle Eastern.” He thought it irresponsible…
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    CBC Ombudsman: Election balance on Ontario today

    The complainant, Marc Poitras, thought the host of Ontario Today behaved differently to the callers on the edition which focused on the Progressive Conservative party, during the recent provincial election. He felt she was rude and dismissive. The host was…
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    Toronto Star Public Editor: Western media’s failure to properly cover the developing world

    Conflicts, coups and catastrophes: These are the stories Canadians are most often told about the world beyond our borders. Media coverage of international affairs has long been driven by dramatic breaking news events while deep reporting on the ongoing issues…
  • Globe and Mail building exterior

    Globe and Mail Public Editor: When weighing anonymous voices, consider the source

    Off the record, a source said; a senior government official said on background; according to an insider. How important are anonymous sources in reporting? Overuse or misuse can hurt credibility, but you need those insider voices for many stories to…
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    CBC Ombudsman: Polish perspective

    The complainant, Bodgan Gawroński, objected to an interview with historian Jan Grabowski on CBC Radio programme Day 6. He thought it was biased and that Mr. Grabowski represented an extreme position, blaming the Polish nation for the crimes of the…
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    Toronto Star Public Editor: The age old issue of reporting on age

    The headline, published in the newspaper and online this week, reported on yet another victim of the terrible toll of Toronto’s deadly streets: “Elderly pedestrian killed at crosswalk,” it stated. Peter Pellier, a longtime Star reader from Oakville then posed…
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    CBC Ombudsman: Framing creates balance

    The complainant, Ira Zbarsky, objected to a story covering pro and anti-Kinder Morgan pipeline demonstrations. He said they were framed as equal. Programmers agreed with his assessment shortly after the story went up, and it was rewritten. He was not…
  • CBC/Radio-Canada building

    CBC Ombudsman: Pay the piper

    The complainant, Christopher Budgell, wanted to know why Sunday Edition host Michael Enright was able to attend the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies’ week-long lecture series in Cambridge, England. He thought it inappropriate for a journalist to be there…
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    Toronto Star Public Editor: Do journalists and the public understand each other?

    Readers, do we understand each other? As consumers of news and information, do you have a clear sense of the how and why of journalism and its role in a democracy? I would like to believe a clear understanding does…
  • CBC/Radio-Canada building

    CBC Ombudsman: Tough, not biased

    The complainant, Isi Erez, thought Carol Off showed her personal feelings through an angry interview with an Israeli politician. Tone is somewhat subjective – the interview was probing but I did not detect anger. The questions were challenging but did…