Citizens' Broadcasting Cooperative
Citizens' Broadcasting Cooperative
Complaint to CBC Calgary and CBC Ombudsman, Vince Carlin, Concerning Cancellation of Ramsey Clark's Interview on Alberta@noon
Friday, June 18, 2010
Dear Helen Henderson and Vince Carlin;
Thank you for your response to my complaint. You indicate
"Our mandate is to, as much as possible, tap into the stories that
Albertans are talking about on any given day, and to give them facts and
context, and a chance to voice their opinions."
I believe CBC has a role in determining as well as following what Albertans are
talking about. Because of CBC's editorial decisions to deny our repeated
requests to host discussions on the issues of law and lawlessness
concerning the visit of credibly accused war criminal George W. Bush to
Calgary on March17, 2009, there exists no background or context for
your producers and audience to understand the significance of the
intervention by a former Attorney-General of the United States in the
Crown's legal proceedings against Splitting The Sky. In fact in my view
and the in the view of many others, the CBC covered up the original
arrest of Ramsey Clark's client when George Bush was in town, just as it
covered up the visit of former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
on March 9. 2010 to intervene in the STS-Bush matter.
What conclusions should we reach when local media fail consistently to cover visits of major public figures on the world stage who
repeatedly come to Calgary because they see major international
importance in something happening here. Why did CBC determine that Anne
Coulter speaking at the U of Calgary was newsworthy whereas the talks of
Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney, both of whom had very specific things
to say about the quality of the criminal justice system in Calgary,
were treated as non-events. Could it have anything to do with a desire
not to present interpretations inconvenient to power in the home base of
the Harper Conservatives, who presently control the purse strings of
the CBC?
I have visited the CBC Ombudsman Vince Carlin in Toronto and conducted a fairly elaborate exchange with him and others on this matter
that has been brewing for over a year now. Has no word of this
exchange, or my original complaint after the CBC's misrepresentation of
the March 17, 2009 episode, come your way? Is it a requirement of those
working at the CBC that they must seem to lack prior knowledge of the
background and context of developments important to the worldwide
movement for international peace through justice and truth. Is the
problem that our apparently unaccountable public broadcaster has become
so deeply involved in doing propaganda promoting Canada's aggressions in
the 9/11 wars that your staff have lost touch with all competing points
of view?
I am not satisfied with your response Ms.Henderson. With this letter I am asking the Office of the CBC Ombudsman to investigate my complaint
more deeply.
In Defense of Credible Public Broadcasting, I am
Anthony J. Hall
Professor of Globalization Studies
University of Lethbridge
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 9:07 PM, Helen Henderson a href="mailto:Helen.Henderson@cbc.ca" target="_blank">Helen.Henderson@cbc.ca> wrote:
Dear Helen Henderson and Vince Carlin;
Thank you for your response to my complaint. You indicate
"Our mandate is to, as much as possible, tap into the stories that
Albertans are talking about on any given day, and to give them facts and
context, and a chance to voice their opinions."
I believe CBC has a role in determining as well as following what Albertans are
talking about. Because of CBC's editorial decisions to deny our repeated
requests to host discussions on the issues of law and lawlessness
concerning the visit of credibly accused war criminal George W. Bush to
Calgary on March17, 2009, there exists no background or context for
your producers and audience to understand the significance of the
intervention by a former Attorney-General of the United States in the
Crown's legal proceedings against Splitting The Sky. In fact in my view
and the in the view of many others, the CBC covered up the original
arrest of Ramsey Clark's client when George Bush was in town, just as it
covered up the visit of former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
on March 9. 2010 to intervene in the STS-Bush matter.
What conclusions should we reach when local media fail consistently to cover visits of major public figures on the world stage who
repeatedly come to Calgary because they see major international
importance in something happening here. Why did CBC determine that Anne
Coulter speaking at the U of Calgary was newsworthy whereas the talks of
Ramsey Clark and Cynthia McKinney, both of whom had very specific things
to say about the quality of the criminal justice system in Calgary,
were treated as non-events. Could it have anything to do with a desire
not to present interpretations inconvenient to power in the home base of
the Harper Conservatives, who presently control the purse strings of
the CBC?
I have visited the CBC Ombudsman Vince Carlin in Toronto and conducted a fairly elaborate exchange with him and others on this matter
that has been brewing for over a year now. Has no word of this
exchange, or my original complaint after the CBC's misrepresentation of
the March 17, 2009 episode, come your way? Is it a requirement of those
working at the CBC that they must seem to lack prior knowledge of the
background and context of developments important to the worldwide
movement for international peace through justice and truth. Is the
problem that our apparently unaccountable public broadcaster has become
so deeply involved in doing propaganda promoting Canada's aggressions in
the 9/11 wars that your staff have lost touch with all competing points
of view?
I am not satisfied with your response Ms.Henderson. With this letter I am asking the Office of the CBC Ombudsman to investigate my complaint
more deeply.
In Defense of Credible Public Broadcasting, I am
Anthony J. Hall
Professor of Globalization Studies
University of Lethbridge
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 9:07 PM, Helen Henderson a href="mailto:Helen.Henderson@cbc.ca" target="_blank">Helen.Henderson@cbc.ca> wrote:
Dear Anthony Hall:
Thank you for your letter of June 13.
It was certainly not our intent, as you suggest in your letter, to be rude or inconsiderate to Mr. Clark .
We regret whenever we have to cancel a guest, but unfortunately, due to the nature of our work, we have to rework a show's lineup very
often. Last week alone alberta@noon
had to cancel a handful of guest because of the demands of the news
agenda.
had to cancel a handful of guest because of the demands of the news
agenda.
On Monday June 7th we made the decision to run with the story of the extreme shortage of oncologists in the province. That day we found
out that many seriously ill cancer patients in Edmonton were not going
to receive any therapy because, unbeknownst to them, the system was able
to treat only those patients with the best hope of survival. The story
had huge resonance throughout the province.
to receive any therapy because, unbeknownst to them, the system was able
to treat only those patients with the best hope of survival. The story
had huge resonance throughout the province.
Our show was the first to get an interview with the head of oncology at the Cross Cancer Institute, and we followed that with a
phone in with the Executive Director of the Cancer Society in Alberta.
Our mandate is to, as much as possible, tap into the stories that Albertans are talking about on any given day, and to give them facts and
context, and a chance to voice their opinions. We like to include
topics of broader interest when possible, but our primary mandate is
with breaking news of the day.
topics of broader interest when possible, but our primary mandate is
with breaking news of the day.
Again I regret any inconvenience this may have caused either you or Mr Clarke.
It is also my responsibility to tell you that if you are not satisfied with this response, you may wish to submit the matter for
review by the CBC Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman, an independent
and impartial body reporting directly to the President, is responsible
for evaluating program compliance with the CBC's journalistic policies.
The Ombudsman may be reached by mail at this address, CBC Broadcast
Centre, Box 500, Station "A", Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6, or by fax at
(416) 205-2825, or by e-mail at ombudsman@cbc.ca.
and impartial body reporting directly to the President, is responsible
for evaluating program compliance with the CBC's journalistic policies.
The Ombudsman may be reached by mail at this address, CBC Broadcast
Centre, Box 500, Station "A", Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6, or by fax at
(416) 205-2825, or by e-mail at ombudsman@cbc.ca.
Sincerely,
Helen Henderson
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