Thank you RadioActive for remembering when radio news people were news people   He was the best and the highest rated broadcaster in his time slot.

RadioActive wrote:

At the risk of setting off a firestorm here about divisions in our world (and I admit to having second thoughts about putting this up at all), I just saw this and will offer it here without comment. You can decide if you think it's the proper policy. 

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation instructs staff not to refer to Hamas as ‘terrorists’ 

Every time I read stuff like this, I'm reminded of the 1997 Newsradio episode that was set in space. Among other great lines, it featured one newscaster reading: "Anti-Empire terrorists today destroyed the Death Star, dealing a significant blow to the Empire's efforts to create peace and stability in this quadrant. Fortunately, Lord Vader was not seriously injured."
Funny stuff, but it masks an underlying point. Modern countries, such as Israel, Ireland and Vietnam were all borne out of revolution that toppled existing social orders and the organizations that led these efforts (the Irgun in Israel, the IRA in Ireland and the Viet Cong in Vietnam) were all, at one time, deemed "terrorist" organizations. Indeed, leaders of these "terrorist" organizations, such as Menachem Begin in Israel and Eamon de Valera in Ireland, often rose to gain significant political power in the days after their countries' independence. The old adage that "yesterday's terrorist is sometimes tomorrow's freedom fighter" is often proved true.
For the record, I deplore the tactics used by Hamas during it's recent incursion into Israel and fully support efforts to have those involved in such atrocities to be held accountable under international humanitarian law.
But for context, let's look at the fictional character of The Newsreader from Rome, the mini-series by HBO. Watch how Julius Caesar goes from "enemy of the people" to "Saviour of the Republic".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH0kO5qcPf8




 

Last edited by BowmanvilleBob (October 11, 2023 1:11 pm)

Kudos to Anthony Furey for doing a bang up job covering the Mideast crisis on Monday for Talk 640 while
No-news-history-talk 1010 was asleep at the wheel.  If Bell no longer cares about 1010, they should sell it
to a company who does.  What a waste of a frequency.

For the record, I believe the Palestinian people have legitimate grievances, but I abhor what Hamas is doing now.

  I stand to be corrected, but the CBC policy on calling people terrorists is not new.  It first came from longtime news director Tony Burman, who was no fan of Israel.  Neither was Neil McDonald, their longtime Middle East correspondent.  McDonald once led an attempt to get foreign news agencies to boycott some type of Israeli government event.

As I posted in another thread, why not actually read the journalism in question before jumping to conclusions about it?  Here's the initial report.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/gaza-israel-rockets-attack-hamas-1.6990209

RadioActive wrote:

At the risk of setting off a firestorm here about divisions in our world (and I admit to having second thoughts about putting this up at all), I just saw this and will offer it here without comment. You can decide if you think it's the proper policy. 

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation instructs staff not to refer to Hamas as ‘terrorists’ 

I won't defend the CBC, but consider the source of this story:
The NY Post is a sensationalist tabloid with a mixed credibility (factual reporting) rating according to Media Bias Fact Check.   That means they're not much of a reliable news source.    I'll give an example of their coverage of the Residential School graves where they laid claim that there were no bodies recovered from the mass graves (there were no 'mass graves', they were 'unmarked graves') and proceeded to find quotes from idiots in Canada who have constantly denied it even happened.   So take what the NY Post says with a grain of salt because they tend to miss facts, context and nuance in their stories to fit their political agenda.   It never hurts to vet sources if the claims sound over the top or sensationalized.   They're a perfect example.

There's plenty of examples of the NY Post's innacurate and false reporting at Media Bias Fact Check's website.  Link provided.

Last edited by SpinningWheel (October 12, 2023 7:46 am)

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

For those of you interested in logical and rational discussion, as opposed to hyperbole, here's BBC world news editor John Simpson explaining why the BBC doesn't refer to Hamas as "terrorists". Note that this is a longstanding policy that dealt with how the BBC termed the IRA and other organizations and has nothing to do with being "politically correct." It also notes that panel guests, government officials and ordinary people who use the term to apply to groups like Hamas are not censored and are free to use it as they wish.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67083432

This issue of how the BBC references the attackers has become a huge story in Britain, with even King Charles and other members of the Royal Family being dragged into the debate. Here are two views on it from two major London newspapers. 

The Daily Mail

The Times

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

Wow...quite the spectrum of opinion you have there RA. All the way from the right-wing Conservative establishment paper to the right-wing populist tabloid that specializes in celebrity news and royal gossip. 
Perhaps some people might appreciate a more fact-based approach to the discussion from a media outlet that specializes in coverage of the British press:
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/bbc-defends-decision-not-to-use-word-terrorist-in-hamas-reporting/

I actually appreciate you adding this link. I had looked through several articles and these were the ones that turned up over and over. I had never heard of the "Press Gazette" but I'm glad to read an alternate opinion.