TORONTO – CBC News violated its journalism codes when it enlisted minors to break the law for a story on purchasing alcohol underage at Vancouver restaurants says Kirk LaPointe, CBC Ombudsman. The ruling highlights concerns how in the age of social media stories can take on a life of their own.
LaPointe found that while the issue of underage drinking is important “more could have been done to minimize the potential harm of CBC’s technique without sacrificing the objective of its journalism.”
He was responding to a complaint regarding a November 16, 2012 CBC.ca story about how some Vancouver minors could be served alcohol at local restaurants. The online report contained embedded radio and television stories from that day.
It is illegal to purchase or be served liquor under the age of 19 in British Columbia. CBC News used hidden cameras to chronicle the efforts of four teens it enlisted (one aged 17, three aged 18) to purchase alcohol at four establishments.
Harm minimization, part of several journalism codes, is reflected in CBC Journalistic Standards and Practices policy, including an acknowledgment that young people may not apprehend the impact of their participation writes LaPointe in his report.
The CBC policy can permit involvement of youth in its journalism when “no foreseeable inconvenience or detrimental consequences for them or their family could ensue,” he notes.
“But it is difficult to foresee consequences in the digital age. In this instance a permanent online record was created in which the teens were identified as knowingly breaking a law. No one knows what could ensue with possible employers, for instance. I concluded there were other ways for CBC News to tell the story.”
He added that the CBC could have simply asked the 19-year-olds to test if restaurants sought identification.
“That would have addressed the basic story requirement — whether restaurants served young people without asking for ID — and been neither unlawful nor run personal or legal risks for the participants.”
By using underage customers in the story, CBC News should have taken the effort to hide their faces on camera or not identify them by name (to thwart any subsequent online search connecting them to the story) explained LaPointe.
“It could have directed teens to leave as soon as the restaurant agreed to serve them, but before alcohol was brought to their tables, so other patrons who might know them or their families would not see them receiving drinks. The report could have paraphrased the teens’ reactions and instead focused on the parents to discuss the issue.”
LaPointe did side with the CBC over the complainant, Ryan Hunter, that testing four restaurants was sufficient for the story and that the restaurants could be named. Hunter criticized the CBC for directing the minors to break the law. He also said CBC vilified businesses and depended on a very small sample to characterize the situation.
“While its technique was a violation, in the end it found illegal practices and it would not have been in the public interest to suppress the information.”
Wayne Williams, the news director for CBC British Columbia, wrote Hunter on November 28. He defended the newsroom’s pursuit of the story and wrote of the restaurants: “The fact that they are breaking the law – especially a law specifically designed to protect teenagers considered not yet to have the maturity and judgment to drink responsibly, and by inference, those who might suffer as a consequence of their actions – is newsworthy.”
Hunter wrote back November 28 and asked for a review. He said CBC could have asked 19-year-olds to participate in the story to see if they were asked for identification. Given the small sample size, CBC could have also not named the establishments that served the minors alcohol, he said.
The complaint did not involve the television report, but the online report was driven by material gathered by hidden cameras at the restaurants.
CBC Journalistic Standards and Practices permit hidden cameras to be used under strict conditions. The policy on “clandestine methods” offers a range of guidance on this matter. The policy’s first principle on so-called “clandestine methods” reflects the need to balance journalistic pursuit with public credibility adds the Ombudsman.
CBC News asserted that the important public interest in the story — that underage customers were being served alcohol — made the personal and legal risks acceptable. It pointed out there have been no consequences to date of the involvement of the teens.
Lapointe noted that CBC News also responsibly consulted the parents of the teens before proceeding with the story, discussed the assignment at a senior level within the organization, and presented the gathered information to the restaurants for their response.
