OTTAWA – An inaccurate news report that aired on Global Edmonton violated a broadcast code, however, the station aired a correction in keeping with the code, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has determined.
Global Edmonton’s (CITV-DT) Global News at 5 aired a report about the sentencing of an airline pilot that erroneously stated that the pilot had been banned from flying for two years, when in fact it was one year. The report, which aired on April 4, 2017, explained that a Sunwing pilot who had pleaded guilty for trying to fly with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit had been sentenced. The anchor stated that the pilot “has also been banned from operating any aircraft for two years”. A viewer pointed out that other media outlets had reported that the pilot had been banned for only one year. Global acknowledged the error and aired a correction to that effect on April 20.
The CBSC’s English-Language Panel examined the complaint and found that Global Edmonton breached the accuracy provisions of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Code of Ethics and the Radio Television Digital News Association of Canada’s (RTDNA) Code of Journalistic Ethics.
Global did, however, meet the requirements of Article 1.3 of the RTDNA Code by airing the correction. The CBSC, therefore, did not require Global Edmonton to make an on-air announcement of its finding.
