World News
CBC defends internal memo advising journalists to attribute use of 'terrorist' regarding 9/11
The Canadian broadcaster faced swift political backlash over standard guidance to avoid using the word terrorism without attribution when describing the 2001 attacks.
The short version
- An internal memo from CBC's senior director of journalistic standards reminded staff to describe the Sept. 11, 2001, events as hijackings and crashes, and to attribute terms like "terrorist" or "terrorism."
- CBC defended the directive, stating that avoiding unattributed terrorism labels for violent events is long-standing editorial practice meant to maintain neutral reporting.
- Canadian and American political figures, along with advocacy organizations, condemned the guidance as a collapse of journalistic standards that downplays the tragedy.
- The controversy follows similar public criticism CBC faced in 2023 over its internal directives concerning coverage of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Key facts
- Basem Boshra, senior director of journalistic standards and public trust at CBC News, sent an internal memo directing journalists not to refer to the Sept. 11, 2001, events as 'terrorist attacks' without attribution.[Fox News]
- The memo instructed reporters to frame the events as hijackings leading to jet crashes in Manhattan, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., suggesting phrases like 'the Sept. 11 attacks' instead.[Fox News]
- CBC Public Affairs Director Kerry Kelly defended the guidance, characterizing it as a reminder of the network's long-standing policy to attribute loaded political terms.[Fox News]
- Critics including Canadian MP Rachael Thomas, NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs publicly condemned the internal memo.[Fox News]
- CBC applied similar attribution guidelines to coverage of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the 2005 London bombings, the 2011 Moscow airport attack, and Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel.[Fox News]