The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has ordered journalists not to use the term “terrorists” when reporting on deadly Hamas attacks against Israeli forces and civilians.
“Do not refer to militants, soldiers or anyone else as ‘terrorists,'” George Achi, director of journalism standards at the Canadian public broadcaster, wrote in an email to employees on Saturday.
“The notion of terrorism remains highly politicized and is part of history,” he added.
The letter was obtained by the nonprofit group StopAntisemitism, which called for Achi’s firing.
Palestinian gunmen stormed the Israeli border along Gaza on Saturday, killing and kidnapping hundreds of civilian men, women and children.
The CBC executive, however, said it was up for debate whether they should be called terrorists or not.
“Do not refer to militants, soldiers or anyone else as ‘terrorists,'” the CBC’s director of journalism standards instructed reporters on Saturday. CBC
“Even when we quote or clip a government or source that refers to fighters as ‘terrorists,’ we must add context to ensure the audience understands that this is opinion, not fact,” Achi added.
CBC journalists were also asked to refrain from calling for Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 – in which the Jewish state abandoned settlements and military outposts and left the Gaza Strip under the control of the Palestinian Authority. “the end” of the Israeli occupation of the strip. .
“Please do not describe 2005 as ‘the end of the occupation,’ as Israel has maintained control over the airspace, the seafront, and virtually all movement into or out of the area,” Achi wrote. “Our description should be based on facts and refer to the end of the permanent Israeli military presence on the ground.”
The network executive maintains that referring to the gunmen behind the deadly attack on Israeli civilians as “terrorists” is an “opinion, not a fact.”
“If true, this employee should be fired,” StopAntisemitism posted on X, after revealing the CBC email.
“Journalism requires honesty, and sanitizing Hamas’ crimes by not calling them terrorism is horribly dishonest,” StopAntisemitism executive director Liora Rez told The Post. “The CBC should be ashamed for avoiding the term when it is applied so obviously; If the murder and torture of civilians is not terrorism, what is?”
“This memo is a vital reminder that words matter,” Rez added. “We encourage employees of other media outlets to come forward and report on what’s happening behind the scenes. “If your newsroom has a secret pro-Hamas censorship policy, the world needs to know.”
A CBC spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that Achi’s email was legitimate, according to Fox News.
The representative also insisted that “it is not prohibited” to use the terms “terrorist” or “terrorism” when the CBC reports on the killing of civilians in Israel by Hamas.
“CBC News attributes the words ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ to authorities, politicians and other officials who use these terms,” said a spokesperson for the Canadian broadcaster. AP
“CBC News attributes the words ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ to authorities, politicians and other officials who use these terms,” the spokesperson told Fox News in a statement. “There is no prohibition on these words. However, we ourselves avoid declaring specific groups terrorists, in line with the policies of many reputable organizations and news agencies around the world.”
“The focus of our news coverage is to describe exactly what happened in detail, as we have done with everything that happened this weekend. “Our approach has been consistent and has ensured that CBC’s journalism throughout decades of conflict in the Middle East lives up to our commitment to accuracy, balance and fairness,” the statement concluded.
In the United States, MSNBC has been criticized for similarly phrasing the language used by journalists in their coverage of the deadly attack on Israel.
“I am angry at the world that allowed the dehumanization of Israelis and sanitized the vision of Hamas,” Anti-Defamation League director Jonathan Greenblatt said during an appearance on the left-leaning network. “I love this show and this network, but who writes the scripts?
“The people who did this are not combatants, they are not militants… They are terrorists,” Greenblatt added. “He is a barbarian who rapes and brutalizes women, who kills children in front of their parents and then brings them to Gaza.”
The CBC did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn