CBC gets spanked by Ombudsman over Mallick column
CBC Ombudsman Vince Carlin has released his review into CBC columnist Heather Mallick’s vitriol laced tirade on Republican Sarah Palin.
Carlin’s review is clear and to the point. This portion from CBC’s own policy that Carlin quotes is interesting.
“In most cases, the (transmission) of a clearly partisan (item) from a single perspective obligates the CBC to provide an appropriate reflection of other pertinent points of view, so that the audience may see that different conclusions may also be drawn from the same facts. The CBC should also avoid cumulative bias over time by guarding against one perspective frequently appearing in a highly-produced form.”
He goes on to write that opinion pieces are fine and even if controversial they have their place. Mallick is also entitled to her opinion no matter how “puerile” or in “poor taste” (he does make a special point that Mallick’s column was NOT indicated as satire by the way and that Mallick couldn’t offer any factual basis to back up certain elements of her column).
But coming back to CBC policy, Carlin wrote what I’ve written for years, CBC left wing bias.
“On CBCNews.ca, there does not appear to be a wide range of “pointy” views. For instance, many of those who complained claimed that there is no one of an opposite ideological viewpoint readily apparent on the service. Unfortunately, this appears to be true.”
Bottom line according to Carlin is that;
“Portions of Ms. Mallick’s column do not meet the standards set out in policy for a point-of-view piece since some of her “facts” are unsupportable.”
“CBCNews.ca should address its editing standards to ensure that vigorous opinion thrives while ensuring that journalistic and quality standards are met.”
“Opinion and analysis should be clearly labeled and not lumped together. If an item is meant to be satiric, it should be labeled as such.”
“CBCNews.ca should have appropriate resources to ensure that a wide range of opinion and analysis is available.”
In other words get some diversity of thought into the CBC boardrooms and newsrooms to reduce groupthink and get some other views on the taxpayer funded CBC.
And I must say although I obviously disagree with Heather Mallick’s writings, she has provided a valuable service by bringing this issue forward intentional or not.
H/T - Paint the Political Picture which by the way is well worth the visit for the daily winners/losers election section. It’s like what Warren Kinsella is doing without the Liberal bias.
Crossposted - Spink About It
