CBC APOLOGIZES FOR COMMENTARY ON PALIN

CBC APOLOGIZES FOR COMMENTARY ON PALIN

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has apologized for a column by award-winning writer Heather Mallick that appeared on its CBCNews.ca website on September 5, attacking Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Appearing under the headline, "A Mighty Wind Blows Through Republican Convention," the column, among other things compared Palin to a "porn actress." It eventually came under attack by numerous Palin supporters in Canada and the U.S. and eventually was brought to the attention of Vince Carlin, the CBC ombudsman. Carlin condemned the article for making assertions that lacked any basis in fact. In a statement issued on Monday, John Cruickshank, CBC News publisher, said that he agreed with Calin's conclusion. "Mallick's column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan," he wrote, "And because it is all those things, this column should not have appeared on the CBCNews.ca site." Cruickshank said that as a result of the controversy, "we have put new editing procedures in place to insure that in the future, work that is not appropriate for our platforms, will not appear. We are open to contentious reasoned argument but not to partisan attack. It's a fine line."

30/09/2008