News Releases
March 23, 1999
Statement by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Upon the Release of the Report by Marcel Pépin
Upon the release of report by Marcel Pépin, Ombudsman, French Services, in answer to Mr. Peter Donolo's complaint concerning coverage of events surrounding the APEC summit by the CBC and its reporter Terry Milewski.
1. The CBC is pleased that the Ombudsman's Report supports the treatment of the APEC story by CBC Television News, and dismisses Mr. Donolo's complaints and accusations against the CBC about that coverage.
The Ombudsman's Report essentially reaches the same conclusions as two previous letters to the Prime Minister's Office from CBC Television News management.
Specifically, the Report states that Terry Milewski "did not place himself in a situation of conflict of interest," and that "Mr. Milewski's reports as a whole cannot be faulted, from the point of view of accuracy and fairness."
The Ombudsman goes on to say that "the content of the reports by Mr. Milewski and their presentation by the CBC are consistent with the rules of good journalism and the CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices."
The Ombudsman "cannot conclude that there was any blameworthy bias that might have tainted the quality of the reports."
2. The Report also supports the importance of an independent, arm's-length relationship between CBC's journalism and the government of the day, and describes as "praiseworthy" CBC management's efforts to protect and defend the credibility of that journalism.
Part of that arm's-length relationship is the existence of an independent Ombudsman process to examine and respond to complaints which have not been resolved to the complainant's satisfaction through other channels. That is the process which was followed in this case.
In spite of the fact that this complaint came from the Director of Communications in the Prime Minister's Office, the Ombudsman indicates that he "decided to consider it like any other complaint and to examine it in the light of the same journalistic rules." 3. The Ombudsman's Report supports the subsequent actions which the CBC took with regard to the reassignment of Mr. Milewski.
3. The Ombudsman says that he has "no difficulty...understanding why CBC management, with a praiseworthy view to protecting the credibility of its News Services, felt justified in disapproving of situations that might give rise to a perception of bias. In the eyes of CBC management, a healthy and necessary distance between the reporter and his interlocutor was not observed, and this justified the fear that its impartiality and the impartiality of its reporter might be cast in doubt."
It is important to clarify that the CBC, in its earlier responses to Mr. Donolo's complaint, did not conclude that a perceived bias did, in fact, exist, nor did it state that a breach of ethics had, in fact, occurred.
The CBC took the action it did in order to avoid a situation which could reasonably give rise to perceptions of partiality. The Ombudsman's Report confirms that this is consistent with the CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Moreover, the Ombudsman agrees with the CBC that the circumstances "might indeed have given rise, among some people of good faith" to such a perception.
We believe that the Canadian public expects no less than the highest possible journalistic standards from the CBC, and those are the standards which we applied in this case.
It should be noted that Terry Milewski was removed from APEC coverage three days before the initial letter of complaint was received from the Prime Minister's Office, because the CBC's own internal review concluded that he had become part of the story.
4. The letter from Terry Milewski attached as an Appendix to the Report represents Mr. Milewski's own views, rather than those of the Ombudsman, and it would be inappropriate for the CBC to comment on them.
Mr. Milewski's letter touches on his version of certain labour relations issues, which the Ombudsman explicitly excludes from his mandate. The CBC and Mr. Milewski differ on many of these issues, which remain outstanding. The parties are seeking to resolve their differences through the grievance arbitration procedure.
"I am pleased that the Ombudsman's Report supports the importance of an independent, arms-length relationship between CBC's journalism and the government of the day. The Ombudsman has given Mr. Donolo's complaint careful consideration and he has presented a studied reflection of the many complexities involved in the practice of good journalism. At the end of the day, Canadians have a right to expect no less than fair and accurate journalism from the CBC and I am pleased that the Ombudsman has found that this expectation was fully met in this instance," said Perrin Beatty, CBC President and CEO.
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For additional information, please contact:
Pascale Montminy
Director, Public Relations and Operations
Corporate Communications
(613) 288-6243
pascale.montminy(at)cbc.ca
