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Dear Alan
Thank you so much for your response. I am very happy to take note of
the
remedial actions CBC has taken. I must mention that while I do read and watch the US media, I depend on
CBC
(and some other un-tethered, un-embedded columnists and reporters, such as Eric Margolis, Robert Fisk et al ) to get unbiased information on world affairs. We, Canadians, cannot feel comfortable living in this oasis of peace and security (Canada) and not care for the tragedies and injustices taking place in other nations, as, in this global village, we are bound to experience the effects of the tsunamies in political, economical, ecological and other aspects of life in other parts of the world. We have benefited from CBC's reasonably fair reporting on world matters
and
especially on matters related to the Middle East. While we pride our national media's achievement in this regard, we must aspire to maintain and improve the standards of excellence in media reporting, so that our fellow Canadians will be kept informed of facts, instead of fictions and factoids. Thanking you once again,
Meer Sahib
----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Habbick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Joanne McPherson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "CBC Ombudsman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 12:14 PM Subject: ***CBC Response/January 22nd Live Report Dear Meer Sahib: Thank-you for writing us about the segment that appeared on the
Saturday
edition of CBC News Morning on January 22nd. As the producer responsible for the content of this program, I wanted to respond to your concerns on behalf of the CBC. Your e-mail dealt with a live segment which appeared on our
program,
where we interviewed a reporter from NBC News from Baghdad. The reason for the interview was to speak to the reporter about a breaking news story in Iraq: as you'll probably remember, there were new attacks on members of the Iraqi guards approximately one week before the elections were going to be held in that country. During the course of that live interview, the NBC reporter referred
to
"terrorists" being responsible. This was unfortunate, because - as you state in your e-mail - the CBC goes to great lengths to make sure that our use of language is as precise and as neutral as possible. One of the real problems with live reports - such as this one from Baghdad - is that we cannot control exactly how a reporter chooses to express himself - or herself - during a live report. Occasionally, reporters misspeak or don't express themselves clearly or effectively. In this case, our news desk instantly recognized that
there were
problems with the live report, and they took immediate steps to makes sure that this report was edited to meet our language and editorial standards before it was replayed in subsequent hours. I should also make clear that the CBC uses outside reporters
sparingly,
either from other established news organizations (like NBC, Reuters, the Christian Science Monitors) or, in some cases, with credible and experienced freelance journalists. Because of the considerable dangers involved in reporting from Iraq right now, the CBC has not been able to maintain a full-time presence in Baghdad during the last year, and there have been relatively few journalists operating within the country. (During the weekend of January 22, the CBC's Don Murray and Margaret Evans were still en route to the country to report on the elections, and they weren't yet available for us to interview). In recent months, when news warrants, the CBC has turned to some
of
these other news organizations or to freelancers to help us try to tell the story of what is happening on the ground in Iraq. The CBC has had a working relationship with NBC for many years, and we've occasionally used some of their reporters in this capacity. While the reports have been infrequent, we've never had a problem like this with an NBC reporter's live appearance until January 22nd. As a result of this, the CBC has taken immediate steps to discontinue live reports from NBC's Baghdad bureau, and we will be further reviewing this matter with our staff to make sure that every possible step is taken in future to ensure that all subsequent live reports meet our editorial standards. I hope this response helps to explain how we responded to the
January
22nd report. However, it is my responsibility to inform you that if you are not satisfied with this response, you may wish to submit the matter for review by the CBC Ombudsman, Mr. David Bazay. 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. Mr. Bazay may be reached by mail at the address shown below, or by fax at (416) 205-2825, or by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Thanks.
Alan Habbick Executive Producer CBC News Morning *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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