The CBC versus the Canucks: Should the CBC Apologize?
**UPDATE** The Globe is reporting that Gillis (or someone from the Canucks organization) will meet with the CBC this week to discuss the spat. “We’re going to meet with them and we’re going to see what their reaction is and go from there.” Gillis said today.
The ongoing spat between the Vancouver Canucks and the CBC is dragging into a second week, with Canucks General Manager Mike Gilles saying yesterday that he doesn’t know if he will make Vancouver Canucks players available for CBC interviews this weekend.
“I don’t know yet,” Gillis said when asked if he would make players available for Saturday’s Hockey Day in Canada game. Scott Moore, the boss over at the sports unit, said an apology might be forthcoming after he talked with Gillis on Monday. “The only thing I’ll say is we’ve had very good discussions,” Moore said to the Province.
The row started last over a segment and interview on Hockey Night in Canada on the Alex Burrows-Stephane Auger affair. The controversy is over Alex Burrows’ allegation that a Stephan Auger, a referee, was out to get him. MacLean’s segment on the incident infuriated the Canucks management. The segment is below.
What do you think? Should the CBC issue an apology?
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Absolutely. Not just from the CBC, but specifically from Ron McLean.
McLean displayed a complete lack of journalistic integrity by siding with the league without any opportunity for Burrows or the Canucks to refute any part of his report.
Worse yet, McLean went so far as to suggest exactly what Burrows was thinking and saying during and after the play – something he could not have known, and something he didn’t bother to get any confirmation about from Burrows or the Canucks.
To further drive the obviously one-sided argument home, a reel of Burrows over the last few years and his actions are highlighted, despite the fact that over 2.5 seasons, all that could be found is 2 minor infractions and 1 where Downy attacked Burrows!
Shameful, Ron. You were the voice of hockey for me until that report.
An apology from Ron Mclean and the CBC is a must! They need to apologize formally to Alex Burrows, the Vancouver Canucks organization, and every loyal hockey fan who takes the time to watch CBC’s HNIC broadcast of our “Beloved Game”. Ron Mclean was way off topic and way out of line with the CBC’s code of conduct for fair and unbiased journalism. This kind of breach should in fact come along with disciplinary action. The CBC and Ron Mclean need to realize that it is the Canadian tax payer who funds your jobs, so don’t betray them….it will catch up with you eventually! I personally will not watch HNIC until such an apology is formally made, and i will no longer enjoy Ron Mclean as he has lost my respect.
Without a doubt Ron Mclean should apologize and then CBC should apologize as well. I personally think this is slander and a guy making a publicity case for himself, Ron Mclean. I bet you could examine all players in the NHL and come up with more than half having questionable calls. By taking and highlighting this with Burrows shows his pettiness(sorry for the spelling). I know Burrows may embelish calls but so do the majority in the NHLers. I will no longer watch HNIC as I have no respect for the represtentatives of the show.
Yours truely and very dissapointed
Richard Hewitt
Im going to start a facebook, myspace, and all other forums I view to boycott HNIC, untill an apology is issued. Ron Mclean is ignorant and self centered.
Ron McLean and CBC most definitely owe an apology to Alex Burrows, the Canucks organization, and to all hockey fans, not just those who follow the Canucks. This smacks of a deliberate and pre-meditated piece of propaganda that makes one think it was spearheaded by the NHL executive to re-direct any criticism away from Stephen Auger or call into question the integrity of NHL referees. To say that I am disappointed with Ron McLean is a gross understatement. I would have expected something far more fair and fact based from him. If this is what you have become Ron, then its time to move on. I wonder how it would have been handled had it been Toronto? HNIC is dying a slow and painful death I’m afraid.
The issue here is about the ref having made that statement or not…not what kind of player Burrows is….really unbiased journalism..NOT!!!!
CBC should absolutely NOT apologize. Ron Maclean did an excellent job showing HIS viewpoint of what happened and the why and the how. If Vancouver wants to act like a bunch of schoolgirls and embarrass themselves let them. Oh I’m not talking to you because you said that Johnny was just pretending his leg was hurt. You (Vancouver) are supposed to be grown professionals. My advice to them and Burrows would be if you can’t take it then don’t dish it out. I will be very disappointed if CBC or Ron Maclean apologizes. Eventually they will have there interviews again.
Absolutely! Issue the apology so we can all move on.
No apology? In that case, I would support an interview boycott for as long as it takes. I’d then happily watch my Canucks being interviewed on TSN and SNET instead, no problem.
CBC must appologize and move on. Everyone in this ridiculous senario need to move on. It was a mistake by Burrows months ago in Nashville. Forget it. It was a mistake by Auger to talk to Burrows in the pregame skate. Forget it. It was a BIG mistake by Auger making the incredibly stupid penalty calls in the rematch with Nashville, which ruined what up until then was a very good game. Forget it. It was an unfathomably bad mistake by Ron McLean to do what he did, with Colin Campbell (who also made a big mistake engaging with McLean on this topic), on live national television. NOW IS THE TIME FOR CBC AND RON McLEAN TO SAY THEY ARE SORRY, and then please, can we all move on and enjoy the “game of hockey” and not all of the petiness that (should not have to) come with it?
Of course there should be an apology. Both from CBC and Ron Mclean. This was so unproffesional. Completely biased. I could not believe that I was seeing that interview on national television. I was laughing at how ridiculous and pompous it was and am not surprised at the reaction of the NHL team. For a supposedly unbiased media co. to air that segment is absolutely absurd and yes…appoligies should be streaming forth.
Ron ‘I love Darcy Tucker’ Mclean has lost in my opinion his credibility long ago. He sees the NHL through a Toronto perspective. Last Saturday night a game between the Senators and the Canadiens, all he can do is talk about the Maple Laughs in his segment with Cherry. Wake up Ron , there are other teams in Canada besides the Laughs.
Vancouver has the right to complain about the biased reporting and commenting from HNIC. They did not get Burrows on to ask him his version with pointed questions, they assumed the ref was correct, end of story.
Journalistic integrity requires thorough, unbiased thought and analysis. Ron Maclean displayed none of this in his Saturday night segment with Colin Campbell.
I hope the Canucks keep to their self-imposed ban on player access with the CBC until Ron himself puts forth his own public apology on HNIC.
Very disappointed in you Ron…. how about we have Don Cherry set him straight?
Unless Ron Maclean shows a certificate for lip reading, it’s pure slander.
I think that CBC and Ron Maclean should both apologize. That was not an interview broadcasted, it was a character assignation. Ron made NO attempt to be neutral and showed nothing but contempt for Burrows. I’m not sure at which I’m more offended, Ron for his attack or CBC for not stepping in sooner.
I can’t help but wonder about the timing of it all, why now is it that you will intervene? Is it possibly because as Hockey day in Canada approaches you have realized it would be impossible to explain why you were unable to show any Canuck interviews on a day intended to showcase Canadian teams. Imagine that.
I think this would be the opportune time for that apology. This way you can start to regain some of the respect that you have lost due to this incident.
A sincere apology is the minimum but I think it should come from the President of CBC because that would indicate that HNIC is on a tight leash.
Yes, CBC should have apologized a week ago. Ron MaClean’s segment was embarrassing. I fully support the Canucks organizations “boycott” of all CBC interviews until the Publicly funded corporation apologizes.
Ron should apologize as soon as possible so we can get back to hockey.
When MacLean spoke to the Vancouver radio media on the Monday following his piece on Burrows, he made the claim that he hadn’t attacked Burrows. All he had done was to try to “educate” the HNIC audience about how the league handles discipline. Unfortunately,
it appears he wasn’t paying very much attention to what he said on HNIC because there was no indication on the program that he was doing anything other than trying to expose Burrows’ past trangressions.
The point I’m making here is that MacLean doesn’t appear to be an honest and forthright reporter. I think the CBC should apologize, but an apology from MacLean wouldn’t be sincere.
I can understand why Ron would want to defend the NHL and thier referees.I know Ron’s heart is in the right place and he means well.But i do think he missed the mark on this one.The real issue is how do we improve consistant officiating.Its a tough job we all know that but sweeping the problem under the rug only hurts the game we all love.pls just suck it up and apologize to the canucks for until u do i will not be listening to you or your sponsers.
It is impossible to comment without coming across as fanatic.
I do not care if Ron Maclean apologizes. He had his chance to do so, but chose not to. I have lost all respect for Ron Maclean and the CBC. I honestly had a tonne of respect for Ron Maclean before the interview, but because he cannot now admit that he made a mistake, when it is so clear that he did, has made me lose complete respect.
There are so many things wrong with that interview, I do not know where to start. I believe Burrows version of the truth is more credible when you add up all of the evidence. I do not understand who Ron Maclean is referring to when he refers to “we”, as in “we all thought he was dead”, when Burrows is clearly looking up after the hit. Who is the we he is referring to when he says: “I can’t imagine that Auger was going to get him, we all agree with that”.
I am happy that the Canucks have not granted interviews with the CBC. I do not think that anyone outside of Vancouver cares whether the Canucks grant interviews, but the point is that the Vancouver fans now hate the CBC so who cares if you talk to our players. I hope that the CBC allows one of the other broadcasters to cover the Canucks in the playoffs, because the CBC clearly just doesn’t get it.
I doubt he would *ever* apologize, so its a moot point really. Like Auger and the NHL’s thinking on “Auger-gate”, I am personally betting that McClean’s stance is likely that to apologize is to admit some wrongdoing on his (and perhaps even Auger’s behalf) and that is something that the holy order of refs would never abide. Ignore, ignore, and keep ignoring the problem until the problem hopefully fades away.
I have lost any and all respect I once had for Ron McLean. He is clearly biased on this topic (he admitted his obvious pro-ref bias on local Vancouver radio in an interview in the days after the Burrows flame-peice), and it doesn’t take a graduate from journalism school to tell you that means he had NO PLACE weighing in on this heated topic. That he went one step further and used his national platform to perform a disgusting, lopsided public-relations hatchet job upon an individual that had the gall to simply state in public a wrongdoing that he felt was done against him and his team — well, it makes not only Ron McLean look bad, it makes CBC sports look bad.
He will NEVER apologize for that trashy character-assasination segment that was better suited to an episode of Jerry Springer than an informed sports news segment. Consider me a former fan that will be getting his dose of this sport elsewhere. HNIC has nothing to offer me now that it has lost my respect.
I expect an apology to Alex Burrows and the Canucks is owed by HNIC and Ron MacLean.
This completely one-sided segment was slanderous and now most eastern fans who are tucked in their beds while the Canucks play, actually think Burrows is dirty player.
I have lost all respect for Ron MacLean, Perhaps its time for the CBC to abdicate HNIC and let Sportsnet or TSN give it a go.
To say I’ve lost all respect for Ron Maclean would be an overstatement. I do still respect the man BUT I can say I’m disillusioned. I just do not understand what his thinking was at the time.
Personally, I think Maclean probably wasn’t all that far off the mark in regards to Burrows and the incident BUT for an individual who probably would wish to be respected as a sports journalist (as opposed to just a host/talking head), the lack of judgement he showed was very, very disappointing.
It was stunning in all the wrong ways.
db
As Mike Gillis said, the meeting is not about CBC apologising, and he and the Canucks could care less if Maclean apologises. The Canucks will simply seek assurances from CBC that such hostile “reporting” will not happen again. End of story. So should the CBC apologise? No, because no one really cares and no one would really believe it anyways.
This is a copy and paste of my personal experience and thoughts on this….. I sent copies to some friends and a hockey talk section of a local fly fishing forum….as well as an almost verbatum copy to CBC on the 25th….surprised it isn’t here….
“I overheard some friends of mine discussing the Ron Maclean/Campell interview posted on Utube the other day. I wasn’t privy to that interview…but was fascinated at the comments my buds were making in reference to the apparent one sided character assassination of Burrows. I was dumb-founded by their negative comments towards Maclean. and found their comments hard to believe and thinking they were exaggerated at best….as I had seemed to think that Maclean was somewhat of a stand up and unbiased reporter. So, my curiosity led me to search out clip out and low and behold my ears couldn’t believe what was coming out of Mac’s mouth ! Talk about one sided vendetta! I f I didn’t see it for myself I wouldn’t have believed that Mac would venture to do that sort of a one sided editorialized character assassination on any one player other than perhaps the likes of an Avery or McSorley or someone of that ilk. I thought that sort of thing was far below his standard and that his integrity as a reporter was far above most….
apparently NOT !
I won’t go over all the details of the clip as some may already have seen it ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaNNvFCm9XE), but I am flabbergast to say the least about how wrong I was about Mac’s integrity after witnessing his seemingly cocaine-induced, frothing at the mouth, zealousness ….. Maclean’s presentation was disgraceful or maybe shameful is a better description, IMO. That does it for me as far as Maclean is concerned. I emailed CBC and told them I won’t be watching any more programing that Maclean will be involved in unless he publicly apologizes for his gross indiscretions towards Alex….maybe we all should ?
Just my biased opinion
Ken
McLean’s defense is that the piece wasn’t about Burrows, it was about the NHL “Watch List.” The claim isn’t credible. If you had asked fans in another city, say Toronto, what the piece was about, immediately after having seen it, they would have said it was about Burrows and his lack of integrity. McLean’s defense either demonstrates a moment of incompetence — the piece didn’t get across what he wanted — or dishonesty; he’s unwilling to admit what he was really trying to do, which was to smear Burrows. Someone from the CBC should acknowledge that simple truth.