OTTAWA – Despite being inundated with complaints, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has found that a Sun News Network interview did not breach any broadcast codes.
At issue was an interview that aired on the public affairs program Canada Live on June 1, 2011 between host Krista Erickson and Canadian interpretive dancer Margie Gillis. As part of a series of segments that the channel did on taxpayer funded grants for the arts, Erickson grilled Gillis over the public funding that she has received throughout her career.
Erickson displayed on screen the dollar amounts that Gillis and her dance foundation had received in government grants since 1998, and asked Gillis why her foundation required the money and why she felt Canada was not a “compassionate society” when it had given her so much money for her art. At times, the two women talked over each other, but Gillis was given time to respond to questions and to assert her point of view about the value of art in society. The interview sparked a record 6,676 complaints to the CBSC from viewers who complained that Gillis had been treated unfairly.
The CBSC’s National Specialty Services Panel examined the complaint under clauses of the CAB Code of Ethics relating to fairness and balance. It concluded that there was no violation because Erickson was entitled to be aggressive in her questioning and to reveal her personal biases.
Gillis was provided “ample opportunity” during the 21-minute-long interview to state her position and articulated it well in the face of Erickson’s challenges. At one point before a commercial break, Erickson asked Gillis if she would stay on the program to discuss further and Gillis chose to do so. Although somewhat heated, it was a balanced debate on the topic, according to the Panel.
