OTTAWA – An episode of CHIN AM’s Zelda Young Show breached the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code for abusive and unduly discriminatory comments and unduly negative stereotyping about Muslims, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council announced today.
The Zelda Young Show airs on Toronto’s CHIN AM 1540 and speaks to issues of interest to the Jewish community. On the episode challenged by a listener, Young’s guest was American author and political commentator Diana West. The two women discussed American politics and expressed support for President Donald Trump’s actions and policies, and voiced concern about socialist and globalist ideas taking hold in the United States over the last number of decades, reads the CBSC release.
However, at one point in the discussion, they touched on immigrants of the Islamic faith to the United States. West said, “When you get an Islamic demographic, you do see an upsurge in anti-Semitism and […] it is something that is inculcated in the religion of Islam, just as it is anti-Christian. So, this is just what you see as a consequence of Islamic immigration,” and, “this is what happens when immigration is not calibrated to include people who are with you before they get here and don’t want to transform you to something you are not,” reads the CBSC release.
A listener characterized the comments as “anti-immigrant” and “inappropriate” while CHIN asserted Young has hosted a variety of other guests who have expressed different points of view.
The CBSC examined the complaint under the Human Rights clauses of the CAB Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code, as well as the stereotyping clause of the Equitable Portrayal Code. It acknowledged that the codes do allow the expression of political views on any subject including immigration, socialization, assimilation, and globalization, but the majority of the panel “considers however, that where an accusation is against an entire group of people without exception, as in the case of this program, then such a statement will not be acceptable.” The Panel also noted that the host did nothing to mitigate the remarks and there was therefore a breach of the codes.
CHIN is now required to “1) announce the decision, in the following terms, once during peak listening hours within three days following the release of this decision and once more within seven days following the release of this decision during the time period in which the Zelda Young Show was broadcast, but not on the same day as the first mandated announcement; 2) within the fourteen days following the broadcasts of the announcements, to provide written confirmation of the airing of the statement to the complainant who filed the Ruling Request; and 3) at that time, to provide the CBSC with a copy of that written confirmation and with air check copies of the broadcasts of the two announcements which must be made by CHIN,” reads the decision.
