OTTAWA – City-TV and CTV Toronto (CFTO-TV) breached the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Violence Code by failing to warn viewers prior to airing disturbing police radio transmissions, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) said Wednesday.
An Ontario police officer conducted a traffic stop and ended up pinned underneath a van. He was able to radio for help and explain his situation, but later died in hospital from his injuries. The CBSC received a complaint from the York Regional Police Chief that the distress call was broadcast on a number of television stations and violated the privacy of the police officer whose voice was heard in the transmissions. Those stations included Global Toronto (CIII-TV), CHCH-TV, CITY-TV and CTV Toronto (CFTO-TV).
The stations argued that the distress call had been broadcast over the airwaves and was accessible to any member of the public who was tuned into that frequency, plus was available on the Internet shortly after the incident. In addition, CTV pointed out that it read a transcript rather than broadcasting the actual audio of the police officer’s transmission. The broadcasters also noted that their reports highlighted the officer’s professionalism and concern for others.
The majority of the CBSC’s Ontario Regional Panel concluded that the broadcasts did not infringe on the officer’s privacy and that the stations did not need to obtain prior consent from the police force because the distress call was transmitted over public airwaves, was not encrypted in any way, and was available on the Internet. One adjudicator, however, dissented on this point.
While unanimously concluding that the reports did not sensationalize the incident, the Panel also unanimously agreed that the reports about the incident were disturbing and required warnings to viewers about the nature of the content. Global and CHCH-TV provided the required warnings and therefore did not breach any codes. CITY-TV provided no warnings in the first segment about this incident, but did in the second – the first segment therefore violated Article 6.3 of the CAB Violence Code. Even though CTV only presented a transcript of the officer’s call, it was still required to provide warnings and therefore violated that same Article for its failure to do so, the Panel’s decision reads.
