NCCAR's Rula Odeh Wins Changes in CBC Policy

Win to provide better reporting of the Israeli-Palestinian issue on CBC

NCCAR’s President, Rula Odeh, recently challenged the CBC through its ombudsman on a report about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that contained a number of flaws. Through a methodical, researched and persistent effort, Ms. Odeh obtained changes from the CBC in three specific areas:

• Pro-justice groups’ version of events are to be given as much context as time allows.
• CBC will no longer use the Israeli-government term “security barrier“.
• Acknowledgement that necessary background was not provided.

The ombudsman has published these findings in his 2009 Annual Report. His recommendations to CBC management are detailed below.

Background

Those concerned with peace in Israel-Palestine are well aware that confusion around the issues of the conflict stems in no small part from the misleading, flawed language often used in media reports. Occupied territories become “Disputed Territories“, unlawful arrests are “administrative detentions” and military invasions are “incursions“.

Another element is the absence of the Palestinian and pro-justice point of view, whereby most or all interviews within a piece are with Israeli military and civilian spokespeople only. Sometimes, an Israeli government press release serves as the basis of most of the content, or passive, vague language such as “violence broke out” is used, obfuscating the issue.

One such example that contained a number of these types of faults was in a CBC “World At Six” report on the Israeli barrier being built within Palestinian territory. In a story on a protest against the barrier in Ni’lin in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, Canadian student, Victor McDiarmid of the International Solidarity Movement, was detained and deported by Israel.

THE THREE POINT DECISION

1. Absence of Protestors’ Version of Events

Remarkably, the report did not bother to provide listeners with McDiarmid’s account of what happenedprior to his arrest nor his reaction to the accusations against him which meant that listeners were not able to judge for themselves if MacDiarmid’s arrest and deportation were even justified in the first place, or simply a way for Israel to get rid of a peaceful protester who had exposed Israeli military violence to the world.

• The CBC ombudsman agreed that “the report lacked Mr. McDiarmid’s version of events that led up to his arrest. This was an important missing element.” He went on to recommend to CBC management that ”advocacy groups such as the International Solidarity Movement and others in the conflict should be given as much context as time allows.”

2.Biased Terminology

Ms. Odeh complained about the CBC’s use, in all its programming and content, of the biased term “security barrier,” pointing out that the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the BBC use “barrier”.

• The CBC ombudsman agreed stating: “The term “security barrier,” ….. certainly has attributes of softening the impact of the structure. The report was remiss in using what is the preferred Israeli description.” Moreover, in a letter to Rula Odeh, the CBC ombudsman stated ”you are correct in stating that the term “security barrier” by the Israeli government tends to give a public relations gloss by softening the impact of the barrier on the Palestinian community. The term “barrier” as adopted by the BBC and the United Nations is probably more accurate and appropriately journalistic.“

3. Lack of Proper Background on the Protest and the Protestors

Ms. Odeh complained that the CBC radio report did not provide an adequate description of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and their non-violent protest methods. 

• The CBC ombudsman agreed that ”[the] claim that the report failed to explain the mission of the International Solidarity Movement was correct.”

In addition, Ms. Odeh pointed out that by using the term “increasingly violent protests,” the report implied to most listeners that theprotesters were making the protests increasingly violent, when in actual fact, it was the Israeli police who had been escalating the level of violence.

Given that Mr. McDiarmid was accused by the Israeli police of attacking their officers, it was very important to specify the source and nature of violence in this story as well to understand who was escalating it and who was exposing it – something that Victor McDiarmid had accomplished in the days prior to his arrest.

Finally the CBC ombudsman recommended that “CBC.ca could be an effective resource for the audience by providing more accessible background information and easier archival retrieval of reports on the Middle East conflict that is of importance to many CBC listeners and viewers.”

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Changes obtained on three points

Lack of proper background

Erroneous, misleading terminology

Absence of the pro-justice version of events

During one of the weekly protests against the Israeli barrier at and around Ni’lin, Canadian student Victor McDiarmid, of the International Solidarity Movement, was detained and deported by Israel.

In a CBC report on the story, several misleading flaws, omissions and uses of biased language prompted an 8-month pursuit by NCCAR President Rula Odeh with the CBC Ombudsman to get those issues rectified.

CBC Ombudsman’s Findings: see pages 30-31 of the

CBC Ombudsman’s Annual Report

To see the letter advising Ms. Odeh of the CBC Ombudsman’s assessment and recommendations to CBC Management, please write to us at nccar@nccar.ca

For the original complaint documents submitted, please write to nccar@nccar.ca.

NCCAR recognizes the CBC’s ombudsman process and the value it brings to improving the CBC’s service of the Canadian public.

In the case at hand, NCCAR welcomes the CBC ombudsman’s findings and his recommendations to CBC management.

“We have already seen a significant improvement in the CBC’s coverage on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The term “security barrier” is no longer being used by the CBC, whether on TV, radio or internet. All Canadians can now benefit from a more equitable treatment of relevant points of view and better balance overall,” said Rula Odeh.

“This is an important achievement.”

If you would like to learn more about how to hold the mainstream media accountable to journalistic standards, we would be happy to leverage our experience to help you in your efforts. We would love to hear from you with your input and feedback atnccar@nccar.ca

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