The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » CTV Toronto Forced To Broadcast Mea Culpa By CBSC

RadioActive · November 28, 2019 12:41 pm

The latest Broadcast Standards ruling isn’t about Don Cherry or Jessica Allen from The Social. Instead, it focuses on a news broadcast from CFTO right here in Toronto. And it will force the station to air an on-air admission of wrongdoing.

What happened? On Sept. 12th, during the 6 PM news, anchor Ken Shaw threw to a story about a stabbing in Kingston, a crime caught on graphic cell phone video. They ran some of it without any warning to viewers, prompting five separate complaints. CFTO blames “human error” for the incident, and admits they should have told viewers that something disturbing was coming up.

After examining the incident, the CBSC agreed with viewers that they violated several parts of the code and will now force the station to issue the following announcement:

“The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has found that CTV Toronto breached the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Violence Code and Radio Television Digital News Association of Canada’s Code of Journalistic Ethics. During CTV News at 6 on September 12, 2019, CTV broadcast a video of a stabbing without a warning to viewers. This contravened Article 6 of the Violence Code and Article 5.2 of the Journalistic Ethics Code.”

It must air once during prime time and once during the newscast. All in all, not much of a punishment.

By the way, it’s worth noting that the TV newsroom I worked in had these same concerns about disturbing video. But we used to joke privately that these “viewer discretion on graphic content” only served to ensure that every viewer would rush to their set and stare that much more closely at their screens.

And one last thing - I strongly suspect the only reason they were running the yarn about a crime in Kingston was that someone captured the entire crime on a cell phone camera. And you know how TV news likes “good viz.” I’m guessing if it weren’t for the video, the story would never had made the line-up in the first place.

CBSC Decision

November 28, 2019 12:55 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Ken Shaw threw to a story about a stabbing in Kingston, a crime caught on graphic cell phone video. They ran some of it without any warning to viewers, prompting five separate complaints

Five (5)? More complaints were registered at SOWNY.net over the past two weeks regarding CHFI's seasonal music

TheConsultant · November 28, 2019 12:56 pm

This reminds me of when Mommy told me to apologise to Uncle Giovanni for dumping a bucket of human endproduct on him during Thanksgiving. I didn't mean it then and I still don't.

Forward Power · November 28, 2019 3:00 pm

Bell should have been handed a massive fine for this. But nooooooo, the CRTC and the CBSC don't fine broadcasters.

RadioActive · November 28, 2019 3:51 pm

But the public does complain about them - and Rogers, too.

Bell, Rogers Top Telecom and TV Customer Complaints

paterson1 · November 28, 2019 4:59 pm

Forward Power wrote:
Bell should have been handed a massive fine for this. But nooooooo, the CRTC and the CBSC don't fine broadcasters.

Legally the CRTC and privately run CBSC can't fine broadcasters. My understanding is that it isn't in their mandate. The FCC in the US will fine stations, networks or even individuals for things like swearing or not running enough educational children's programming. The member driven CBSC will warn broadcasters about infractions, and eventually the CRTC may get involved if the offense continues. All the CRTC will usually do after warning a station or network, would be to issue a shortened license renewal and the station or network would need to show that they are complying with the guideline or promise of performance. In extreme cases the CRTC may not renew the license or actually pull a broadcast license before the renewal. However the infractions would need to be very serious and the broadcaster would need to be totally defying the ruling and not attempting to comply at all. The pulling of a license is very rare.

Last edited by paterson1 (November 28, 2019 6:42 pm)

TheConsultant · November 28, 2019 5:44 pm

We live in a snowflake "everything offends everybody" society. Pity. Don't complain to whatever overseer -- change the damn channel. For the love of a moist bucket of human waste, society needs a very dry enema.

RadioAaron · November 28, 2019 7:02 pm

TheConsultant wrote:
We live in a snowflake "everything offends everybody" society. Pity. Don't complain to whatever overseer -- change the damn channel. For the love of a moist bucket of human waste, society needs a very dry enema.

The complaint in this case was that that wasn't an option. A program that isn't expected to show an actual murder, never mind at 6pm, did so without warning.

TheConsultant · November 28, 2019 9:59 pm

RadioAaron wrote:
The complaint in this case was that that wasn't an option. A program that isn't expected to show an actual murder, never mind at 6pm, did so without warning.

So...don't expect REALITY during the six o'clock news?! Well, WHAT should one expect? Fiction?

betaylored · November 29, 2019 12:57 am

So clearly we've gone from "if it bleeds, it leads" to "if it stabs, let's hope it grabs."

Flippant quip aside, it seems like CTV gambled and lost, and instead of looking cutting edge, and current, looked tone deaf.

Some radio is no better. I am so tired of hearing Newstalk 1010 play the audio of recorded gunshots over and over, it's numbing and does little to engage/inform the average, non-snowflake listener. People who experience genuine PTSD, as a good friend of mine does, are often avoiding all newscasts anyway.

Perhaps if the general public knew how, and where to effectively lodge a complaint, CTV would have heard from more people about their choice to air that footage.

Last edited by betaylored (November 29, 2019 1:01 am)

RadioActive · November 29, 2019 1:13 am

CFRB should be more careful overall, especially Mike Bendixen's favourite newscaster, David McKee. On Tuesday, I heard him lead a newscast with the headline that went something like, "Toronto Police have caught the fecal flinger," a reference to the guy who was pouring buckets of sewage over some university students.

Do cops have their man? Probably. But he's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. McKee essentially convicted him on air, all so he could throw in an alliterative zinger. Over the years, I've learned that "alleged" should be every newsperson's favourite word.

TheConsultant · November 29, 2019 1:32 am

RadioActive wrote:
"Toronto Police have caught the fecal flinger," a reference to the guy who was pouring buckets of sewage over some university students.

Do cops have their man? Probably. But he's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law

Technically and lawfully, you are correct: he hasn't been convicted. But, they DO have the "poopie propeller" on video and multiple still shots.

As for "fecal flinger"... That reminds me of the short-lived and poorly-named burrito at Taco Bell.

betaylored · November 29, 2019 4:14 am

TheConsultant wrote:
As for "fecal flinger"... That reminds me of the short-lived and poorly-named burrito at Taco Bell.

see also: the ALLEGED Flying Fecal Flinger of Fate
AA (alliteration's awesome)

Last edited by betaylored (November 29, 2019 4:18 am)

November 30, 2019 6:40 pm

TheConsultant wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
The complaint in this case was that that wasn't an option. A program that isn't expected to show an actual murder, never mind at 6pm, did so without warning.
So...don't expect REALITY during the six o'clock news?! Well, WHAT should one expect? Fiction?

You can't really be that daft. There's difference between reality and a murder. Are you really telling us that you want to turn on the 6 o'clock to watch murder videos? If so, head over to the dark web you ghoul.

potentiometer · November 30, 2019 6:58 pm

I appreciate this site... a lot. There are some with whom I don't agree, and I daresay there those who return the favour. But it lives up to its mandate: it's fun, informed/informative,nostalgic, quite often educational and for the most part, collegial. Once in a while a turd shows up in the punch bowl, and it appears we're going through one of those aberrations right now. This too shall pass. In the meantime, DFFT.

Media Observer · November 30, 2019 7:46 pm

potentiometer wrote:
I appreciate this site... a lot. There are some with whom I don't agree, and I daresay there those who return the favour. But it lives up to its mandate: it's fun, informed/informative,nostalgic, quite often educational and for the most part, collegial. Once in a while a turd shows up in the punch bowl, and it appears we're going through one of those aberrations right now. This too shall pass. In the meantime, DFFT.

TheConsultant · November 30, 2019 8:49 pm

Enough with the "troll talk" already. Disagree with me, but you can skip the vitriolic name-calling.

What was shown was not a "murder video". I expect news to show news. With all the functionalized violence available to the public, sometimes a little shock is needed to enforce a sudden jolt back to reality.

splunge · November 30, 2019 8:53 pm

Media Observer wrote:
potentiometer wrote:
I appreciate this site... a lot. There are some with whom I don't agree, and I daresay there those who return the favour. But it lives up to its mandate: it's fun, informed/informative,nostalgic, quite often educational and for the most part, collegial. Once in a while a turd shows up in the punch bowl, and it appears we're going through one of those aberrations right now. This too shall pass. In the meantime, DFFT.

betaylored · December 1, 2019 6:47 am

DFFT has been known to mean the Domestic Funding of Foreign Training.
DFTT is Don't Feed The Troll

FWIW the above is meant to be helpful, not snarky.🙈🙉🙊

TheConsultant · December 1, 2019 1:20 pm

betaylored wrote:
DFFT has been known to mean the Domestic Funding of Foreign Training.
DFTT is Don't Feed The Troll

FWIW the above is meant to be helpful, not snarky.🙈🙉🙊

EXCELLENT!! It's always a good idea when preaching from the top of Mount Gotcha to check the cloud they are yelling at!