CBC TV reporter re-assigned after question controversy
Doug Finley,
Director of Political Operations
Conservative Party of Canada
January 21, 2008
Dear Mr. Finley:
This letter is in response to your complaint to the CBC Ombudsman about
“collusion” involving one of our reporters during the recent
Mulroney/Schreiber hearings in Ottawa, during which questions were asked about lobbying efforts by Mr. Mulroney directed toward the current federal
government.
Following an investigation by senior management of CBC News, we have
determined that our reporter Krista Erickson did, in fact, provide questions
to a Member of Parliament in the lead up to the Ethics Committee meeting in
December. Those actions, while in pursuit of a journalistically legitimate
story, were inappropriate and inconsistent with CBC News policies and
procedures, specifically under our Principles, Sec. 3:
“Credibility is dependent not only on qualities such as accuracy and
fairness in reporting and presentation, but also upon avoidance by both
the organization and its journalists of associations or contacts which
could reasonably give rise to perceptions of partiality. Any situation
which could cause reasonable apprehension that a journalist or the
organization is biased or under the influence of any pressure group,
whether ideological, political, financial, social or cultural, must be
avoided.”
Our investigation determined there was no bias in related news coverage.
However, our reporter, acting on her own, used inappropriate tactics as a
result of journalistic zeal, rather than partisan interest. CBC News
management has made the decision to reassign its reporter from the story and
to Toronto, effective Jan. 21.
Given the potential risk to the journalistic credibility of our Ottawa
bureau, its reporters and CBC News generally, we have chosen on an exceptional basis to make the detailed outcome of our disciplinary process available to you, our employees and the public at large.
I trust this addresses your concerns.
It is also my responsibility to inform you that if you are not satisfied
with this response, you may wish to submit the matter for review by Vince
Carlin, CBC Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman, an independent and
impartial body reporting directly to the President, is responsible for
evaluating program compliance with the CBC’s journalistic policies. The
Ombudsman may be reached by mail at the address shown below, or by fax at
(416) 205-2825, or by e-mail at ombudsman@cbc.ca
Sincerely,
John Cruickshank
Publisher
CBC News
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It would have been useful to read Mr. Finley’s letter to learn his position on this issue. That said, Mr. Cruickshank made the appropriate decision based on the written rules in the CBC Journalistic Standards and Practices handbook. This afforded him the opportunity to distance himself, personally, from the issue and act according "to the book". That’s why these rules exist. But I can’t help but wonder if this letter was really meant to be seen by the staff and not just by Mr. Finley, Mr. Carlin and Ms. Erickson.
I can’t help but wonder why I can’t find anything about this on CBC television, radio, or http://www.cbc.ca
Please be honest here: if any Conservative or Republican politician had been similarly implicated (with a different news agency, obviously) the wailing and gnashing of teeth (not to mention thinly-disguised glee) would be deafening on all three media.
Where is this story???
Whitewash. Who would have thought anything more of the CBC?
Martin, the story was published on CBC.ca on Monday, here.
I found it by the super-secret trick of putting Krista Erickson in the search box.
They did the right thing — no whitewash here.
Anyone remember what happened to Radio Canada reporter Christine La Pierre? Google it.