CBC Ombudsman Admits Heather Mallick Crossed The Line

CBC Ombudsman: Yup, we're really biased

CBC Ombudsman, Vince Carlin, responded to the over 300 complaints that they received after Heather Mallick published her column wherein she called Republican men "sexually inadequate," and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin "white trash."

His response?

"On CBCNews.ca, there does not appear to be a wide range of “pointy” views. For instance, many of those who complained claimed that there is no one of an opposite ideological viewpoint readily apparent on the service. Unfortunately, this appears to be true."

Carlin also appeared to defend freedom of speech & expression. I'm curious if he believes in section 13.1 of the Canadian Human Rights Act...

"Most crucially, the CBC should be seeking out the widest range of opinions and defending the right of those individuals to transmit those opinions. Ms. Mallick has a perfect right to hold and transmit her opinions, and the CBC to carry them, as long as they meet the tests of CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices."

And then he assessed Mallick's column more particularly as not being based on "facts":

"Policy calls for opinions to be based on fact. Ms. Mallick’s item generally stays in the opinion column but she does offer some flat statements that appear to offer “facts” without any backup. For instance, there is no factual basis for a broad scale conclusion about the sexual adequacy of Republican men. In fact, that type of comment, applied to any other group, would easily be seen as, at best, puerile. Similarly, the characterization of Palin supporters as white trash lacks a factual basis. I asked Ms. Mallick to explain the basis for these characterizations. In a note she explained her opinions of Ms. Palin, but did not provide a factual justification for the statements."

Read the whole response from Carlin. It's worth it.

Posted by P.M. Jaworski on September 26, 2008 in International Affairs

I was waiting for a reply from the CBC to this attack by Heather Mallick. It's to bad it got by the editors. The damage is done and our American friends now understand the culture of the CBC.