GATINEAU – Canadian cable, satellite and telco TV carriers can now add Al-Jazeera English to their channel lineups.
This morning the CRTC added the international news channel to the lists of eligible satellite services for distribution on a digital basis. Canadian sponsor Ethnic Channels Group filed the application in February for the Doha, Qatar-based service.
The decision is bound to arouse some scrutiny today since Al-Jazeera’s Arabic language channel has in the past aired a number of people who espoused virulent anti-Semitic views on air. Some Canadian Jewish groups have expressed reservations about having the English channel available here.
The Commission has already approved carriage of the Arabic channel, but with onerous conditions that would force any carrier to employ a team of Arabic-speaking censors 24/7 because of hate speech previously aired on the channel. No carrier has yet chosen to carry AJA.
Over 2,600 parties filed comments in support of AJE, reports the Commission. Approximately 40 parties filed comments in opposition.
And, as Ontario regional CRTC commissioner Rita Cugini said in a speech this summer, as reported by Cartt.ca: “among the submissions we received was one from B’nai Brith Canada, whose representatives had met with Tony Burman, managing director of Al Jazeera English (and former head of CBC News). They expressed to him their concern over the possible content of the applicant’s broadcasts, and they negotiated with him the launch of an inaugural Consultative Committee. Through that committee B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress would monitor that broadcasting content.”
In a dissenting opinion also released today, CRTC commissioner Marc Patrone objected to adding AJE without further scrutiny of the channel’s editorial.
“(I)n my view, issues fundamental to Canadian values, in this case the potential use of our broadcast system to spread ethnic or religious hatred, are too important to submit strictly to current regulatory convention,” writes Patrone.
“Even if one were to consider the English-language service independently, there has been evidence presented of editorial ‘biases’ that would not be tolerated for long were they produced by a domestic broadcaster.
“In one AJE story aired on CBC, an AJE correspondent stated that United Nations (UN) workers had ‘obviously been targeted’ by Israelis. A subsequent investigation by the CBC Ombudsman found the story ‘did not meet the standards of accuracy and fairness within the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices’ – a fairly damning indictment which did little to sway the Commission’s decision in this case…
“I would ask that if it was ‘verifiable’, than why include the word ‘obviously’ in the reporter’s copy? If it was a ‘fact’ that UN workers had been ‘targeted by Israelis’ then why not simply report it as a ‘fact’? I would suggest that the reason it was not reported as a fact was because the reporter was either unable or unwilling to attribute the information to any ‘verifiable’ or ‘official’ source. What was ‘obvious’ to the reporter was clearly just an interpretation on his/her part, hence the need to bolster the observation that Israel targeted UN workers by using the word ‘obviously.’ To whom was this obvious? I would suggest the reporter was simply expressing a firmly held opinion. Under certain circumstances, (e.g. live hits) ‘opinions’ or ‘impressions’ expressed by reporters are fine provided he/she makes clear it’s an ‘opinion’ or ‘impression’ and not a fact that should be deemed ‘obvious’ to anyone,” adds Patrone.
"We are very excited that Canadians will soon have the same opportunities as people in more than 180 million households in more than 100 countries,” added Tony Burman, managing director of AJE, and former editor-in-chief of CBC News, in a press release.
– Greg O’Brien
