Canadian broadcaster backtracks on 9/11 ‘terrorism’ rule after backlash
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Canadian broadcaster backtracks on 9/11 ‘terrorism’ rule after backlash")
In this file photo smoke and flames erupt from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after commercial aircraft were deliberately crashed into the buildings in lower Manhattan, New York on September 11, 2001. Photograph: (AFP)
CBC has changed its policy after backlash, allowing journalists to describe the 9/11 attacks as “terrorism” without attribution ahead of the 25th anniversary.
Canada’s public broadcaster has changed its policy on describing the September 11, 2001, attacks, allowing its journalists to refer to the historic event as “terrorism” without directly attributing the term to a source. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced the shift on Friday (Aug 28), days after an internal language guideline triggered criticism ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
Basem Boshra, CBC’s senior director of journalistic standards, said the broadcaster had previously required journalists to attribute the term when describing the 9/11 attacks. That rule has now been revised.
“Direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism,” Boshra wrote in a blog post.
The earlier guidance drew criticism from politicians and senior US officials after reports said CBC staff had been instructed not to independently use the word “terrorism” in reference to the attacks.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the guidance “an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in US history”. The US ambassador to Canada also criticised the policy.
CBC says it never denied 9/11 was terrorism
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Boshra said the broadcaster had never suggested that the September 11 attacks were anything other than acts of terrorism.
“But to be clear, CBC News has never said what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, was not terrorism, as some commentators have stated in recent days,” he wrote.
“We have reported fully and accurately on the reasons and motivations for those attacks as determined by police, governments and an independent commission. We’ve just made sure to do it with attribution.”
Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre had demanded an apology and withdrawal of the earlier directive, saying: “To call 9/11 anything other than a terrorist attack is an appalling distortion of history.”
Policy retained for new attacks
Boshra said the specific rule on 9/11 had “become an impediment to clarity and public understanding”.
However, CBC said it would continue requiring attribution when reporting on new acts of politically or ideologically motivated violence, leaving the broader journalistic standard on terrorism largely unchanged.
