WHEN YOU RUN A television network, you get used to complaints. It’s the price of doing business. Canadians are discerning viewers who demand a great deal from this country’s broadcasters – and rightly so.
As a multi-faith and multicultural channel, VisionTV is subject to its fair share of criticism. Some complaints, however, are more troubling than others.
In 2007, the upset occasioned by a VisionTV broadcast featuring a controversial Muslim scholar led network management to undertake some serious self-examination.
In a decision issued earlier this month, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CSBC) concluded that VisionTV did not violate the industry’s code of ethics. While we are pleased with the Council’s finding, the incident has raised important questions, and compelled us to rethink some of our longstanding policies and procedures.
We believe there is much to be learned here, not just for VisionTV, but for all Canadian broadcasters – especially those that dare to explore the oft-challenging subject of religious faith.
Readers will recall the furor unleashed by the July 14, 2007 edition of the Muslim faith series Dil Dil Pakistan, which featured a presentation by the Pakistani scholar Israr Ahmad.
Like all VisionTV faith programs, this episode was carefully screened prior to broadcast, and was found to be consistent with our network’s own stringent Code of Ethics.
Mr. Ahmad’s hour-long presentation was devoted to interpreting one chapter, or sura, of the Qur’an. Some viewers were troubled by a brief passage in which he addressed the concept of jihad.
Mr. Ahmad said jihad “can be pursued either with your financial resources or your bodily strength, when you go to fight the enemy in the battlefield.” The highest form of jihad, he added, “is fighting the cause of Allah.”
While Mr. Ahmad’s remarks were open to interpretation, a number of those who complained were alarmed by the mere fact of his presence on a VisionTV program. Though we were unaware of his reputation at the time, Mr. Ahmad is alleged to have published anti-Semitic writings.
It should be noted that Mr. Ahmad did not express anti-Semitic views during his appearance on VisionTV. Nevertheless, the fact that our network would give airtime to such an individual under any circumstance was sufficient to fuel controversy.
VisionTV takes seriously its mandate to deliver programming that celebrates diversity and promotes understanding among Canadians of different faiths and cultures. When viewers raise concerns of such a serious nature, we bear a responsibility to respond quickly.
In August, VisionTV suspended Dil Dil Pakistan, and assembled a multi-faith task force – which included representatives from the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Canadian Council of Imams – to review the network’s Code of Ethics.
While the task force has been deliberating, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has undertaken its own review of the complaints against VisionTV.
Earlier this week, the CSBC National Specialty Services Panel issued its decision. The panel found the content of the broadcast to be consistent with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics, and concluded that it contained “no call to arms or indeed any form of incitement to violence.”
VisionTV would never condone the broadcast of programming that advocates violence or promotes hatred toward any religious or cultural group. Our rigorous screening process for faith programs is designed to prevent such an eventuality. The CSBC decision represents a vote of confidence in VisionTV’s commitment to upholding this standard. But it does not mean that we can afford to be complacent.
As social and cultural sensibilities change, a broadcaster must be prepared to change with them. From the Dil Dil Pakistan controversy, VisionTV has learned that it may no longer be enough simply to vet programming for offensive content. We must guard vigilantly against the possibility that demagogues and hatemongers may try to use VisionTV airtime to legitimize their own standing.
The just-completed final report of VisionTV’s multi-faith task force recommends adding a new “mission statement” to our Code of Ethics, stating that the network “will not provide a platform to those who espouse hatred or contempt, or have done so in the past,” and will perform background checks “for those individuals and organizations that are scheduled to appear in its faith-based programming.”
VisionTV has already acted on the task force’s findings, with the hiring of a staff researcher to investigate the backgrounds of program producers and presenters.
No television network welcomes complaints or criticism. But access to the airwaves is a privilege that entails significant responsibilities. Not least of these is a duty to ensure that, as broadcasters, we are acting to unite rather than divide Canadians.
It is heartening that individuals from so many different faith groups – Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim – participated in our network’s task force. Canadians of all beliefs and backgrounds share a common interest in immunizing the body politic against those who would spread the infection of violence and intolerance. With help from our friends in Canada’s diverse faith communities, VisionTV will continue to do its part.
Bill Roberts is president and CEO, S-VOX, VisionTV’s parent company.
