The Epic Bias of CBC

Re-Examining the Post 9/11 Period

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Much of the information found in today's commentary is summarized and paraphrased from a single chapter in Fred Litwin’s 2015 book Conservative Confidential: Inside the Fabulous Blue Tent. In my last post, When Power Skews to the Greater Evil, I mentioned how I have spent some time re-examining the major historical and political events of the last 25 years or so. Although I disagree with much of it, Litwin’s book was a helpful guide concerning the years 2000 to 2015. A lot happened in those years. Much of it explains the craziness of today. The following contains information primarily drawn from chapter seven of Litwin’s book.

Let’s begin.

In 2010 Fred Litwin obtained the results of an unpublished IPSOS/Reid poll through an access to information request. The poll illustrated that Canadian consumers, who saw themselves as ideologically balanced, considered the CBC to be well to the left ideologically of themselves and everyone else. Indeed, compared with the public perceptions of the BBC, Global, MSNBC, CTV, The Globe and Mail, CNN, The National Post, and Fox News, the CBC was viewed as the farthest to the left. The BBC, not surprisingly came in second. (Litwin 2015, pg 128).

Litwin points out that just shy of 40% of Canadians voted conservative in the 2011 election, but the most prominent conservative voices found on CBC were Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry, and in 2006, the reality television show Dragon’s Den featured business tycoon Kevin O’Leary. Although both men had interesting conservative opinion’s, neither of their roles in CBC productions afforded them much opportunity to express them. To be fair, CBC did feature O’leary in a short-lived business entertainment show called the Lang and O’Leary Exchange. And there was one other notable conservative perspective on CBC for the first decade of the twenty-first century: Rex Murphy.

The CBC’s Rex Murphy hosted the successful Cross Country Checkup and was also regularly featured in editorials on the nightly news broadcast The National. However, as Litwin wrote, “Murphy was the sole exception to the rule, the odd man out in the CBC’s corporate culture. If you go back and check the CBC’s annual Massey Lectures, you'll find any number of liberal-left luminaries. You'll find Noam Chomsky, even, but certainly not William E Buckley.” (Litwin 2015, pg 129).

Litwin was a big fan during the heyday of CBC’s As It Happens. According to him the golden age of CBC was the 1980s when Canadians bore witness to the “seriousness” of journalists like Barbara Frum, Alan Maitland, and Elizabeth Gray. However, post-9/11 programming, like The Current, which began in 2002, demonstrated a clear bias skewed conspicuously to the left. At this point the anti-Americanism and anti-Israel bias was unmistakable.

From Litwin:

“Michael Enright on Sunday mornings was embarrassingly shallow and his distaste for Israel was palpable. Dispatches with Rick MacInnes-Rae was completely unserious — in 2002 one of his guests was the 9/11 Truther Michael Springmann. The local Ottawa morning show had me reaching for a shoe on a continual basis.”

Litwin explains that during Canada's military operations in Afghanistan when much of the Western world was struggling against the threat of global Islamic terrorism —what U.S. president George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” — the CBC could have been providing Canadians with a multitude of Middle East experts from all over the world. They could have presented a rich diversity of viewpoints and a comprehensive analysis, but instead they demonstrated that they could not think or operate outside of the narrow progressive “‘anti-imperialist,’ Chomskyite context.” (Litwin 2015, pg 130).

Increasingly younger CBC broadcasters were showing signs of extreme leftwing bias, tilting not just to the left, but to the radical illiberal left. It was in the late 1990s when Avi Lewis was hired as the host of the political affairs show Counterspin (1998 to 2001). Lewis would later host the CBC audience participation public affairs shows The Big Picture (2006) and On The Map (2007), was “a briefly lived effort that showcased a stream of cool anti-American bias and sneering condescension.” (Litwin 2015, pg 132).

An infamous incident occurred when Lewis interviewed human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali (known for escaping to the West from the clutches of her fundamentalist Muslim family). It was Lewis’ contention that in the wake of 9/11 American Muslim’s were “under siege.” Ali dismissed this as exaggeration and claimed that America was “the best democracy.” The following exchange ensued:

Lewis: Is there a school where they teach you these American clichés? Is it part of your application process? I’m so upset that I am losing my guard here. I can't believe you just said that.

Ali: You grew up in freedom and so you can spit at freedom because you don't know what is like not to have freedom. I haven't. I know there is many things wrong in America and I know that there are many things wrong with Americans, but I still believe it’s the best nation in the world. (Litwin 2015, pg 133)

In 2005 George Stroumboulopoulos was hired for the role of host of a new CBC Newsworld current affairs show called The Hour. Through an access to Information request, Litwin acquired the following regarding “Strombo’s” guest list:

“The noted ‘anti-imperialist’ Robert Fisk (at least twice), the Reverend Jesse Jackson (twice), the Globe and Mail’s former Maoist columnist Jan Wong (three times), NDP leader Jack Layton (six times), Avi Lewis's dad Stephen (eight times, including two appearances with his wife and Avis mother, Michele Landsberg), the later disgraced CBC hipster icon Jian Ghomeshi (10 times), the American counterculture heroes Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Cindy Sheehan, Ralph Nader, Gore Vidal, Chris Hedges, Angela Davis and Jeremy Scahill, the celebrity CBC scientist and environmentalist prophet David Suzuki (seven times), failed Democratic Party presidential hopeful and anti-global warming crusader Al Gore (three times), Naomi Klein (twice), left-wing literary maven Margaret Atwood (three times), American ‘anti-war’ documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (three times), famous American military deserter Jeremy Hinzman (twice), and the famous Canadian left-wingers Judy Rebick and Olivia Chow.” (Litwin 2015, pg 133).

Litwin points out that conservative voices were not completely absent from The Hour, there were a few “token efforts at balance,” such as an appearance from former Bush speechwriter David Frum along with several Canadian conservative politicians. However, when one considers that the CBC so often put their adulation on full display for public figures representing the left, and that The Hour’s lack of viewpoint diversity was demonstrated clearly in the shocking absence of guests whose views reflect conservative values, it is no wonder that during this time and after the Canadian public viewed the CBC as farther to the left than anyone else including the BBC. How did a public broadcaster, which received over half of its funding from tax-payers, get away with ignoring conservatives, who in 2015, made up 40% of all taxpayers?

The CBC hired another young leftist broadcaster in 2007. Jian Ghomeshi, formerly a musician in the rock band Moxy Fruvous, became host of the popular art, culture, and entertainment CBC Radio show Q. According to Litwin, aside from coverage of notable musicians and actors, Q also “doubled down on the formula at work with Strombo and Lewis.” (Litwin 2015, pg 133).

Besides embarrassing himself interviewing Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in a similar fashion as Avi Lewis had, Jian’s Q also hosted the following leftwing public figures:

Angela Davis, Michael Moore, Al Gore, David Suzuki, Ralph Nader, Naomi Klein and Olivia Chow, Avi Lewis, Julian Assange… “celebrity state-secret paranoid Glenn Greenwald, NDP strategist Brad Lavigne, Vagina Monologues playwright Eve Ensler, and feminist conspiracy-theorist Naomi Wolf.” (Litwin 2015, pg 134).

In a particularly despicable episode of Q, the day before Remembrance Day 2011, Ghomeshi hosted British “anti-war” journalist Robert Fisk, who went on to explain why Canadians should not wear poppies.

For a while Lewis, Stroumboulopoulos, and Ghomeshi were incredibly popular among Canadians under 65. However, Ghomeshi’s career blew up under a cloud of sexual assault allegations, Stroumboulopoulos was moved over to Hockey Night in Canada, and Lewis “mysteriously disappeared in 2007, showed up shortly thereafter at Al Jazeera, the Qatari news organization richly funded by Qatar’s ruling emir, where he devoted his talents to criticizing western-style democracy.”

The CBC’s leftwing bias was also demonstrated by the editorial choices of the head of the CBC’s English-language services and current affairs programming Tony Burman. After a 35 year career with CBC, Burman would in 2007 join Lewis at Al Jazeera English where he became the managing director. By 2010 Burman was Al Jazeera’s chief strategic advisor for the Americas.

The politically unbalanced nature and far left tilt of CBCs editorial culture would continue long after the Burman years. Litwin noticed this in “CBC News analysis of American foreign policy and of events in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Israel.” He acquired data from a 2014 access to information request that showed “Michael Scheuer appeared on CBC shows a total of 35 times between 2004 and 2013, including eight appearances on The National and five appearances on Power & Politics.” And further, another featured analyst, Eric Margolis, who was sometimes “introduced as ‘our foreign affairs analyst’ or ‘the CBC’s Eric Margolis’ or simply Eric Margolis, ‘reporting for the CBC’,” was a constant presence. Unable to determine exactly how many times Margolis appeared on the CBC, Litwin writes that by 2014 CBC was calling Margolis “a regular contributor.”

Litwin explains how Scheuer, who the CBC described as a “former CIA analyst, operative or special adviser,” and Margolis, who was referred to as either an analyst or reporter, both emerged after 9/11 as far right voices that found common ground in the anti-Israel attitudes of the progressive left. This explains the CBC’s reliance on them. They were “depended upon to provide the CBC with ‘analysis’ that dovetailed nicely with even the crazier 'anti-imperialist’ crowd within the liberal-left demographic that the CBC catered to.”

From Litwin:

“As far back as 2004, Scheuer was calling Osama bin Laden ‘the most respected, loved, romantic, charismatic, and perhaps able figure in the last 150 years of Islamic history.’ Scheuer’s ‘viable’ foreign-policy alternative to the challenge of Al-Qaida included ‘the elimination of the Jewish state’ and its replacement with ‘an Islamic Palestinian state’ and ‘the replacement of U.S.-protected Muslim regimes that do not govern according to Islam by regimes that do’.”

HonestReporting is an NGO founded in 2003 that documents anti-Israel bias in the media. By around 2014 they had filed 1000 complaints with the CBC. 70% of those complaints were “sustained to HonestReporting’s satisfaction.” (Litwin 2015, pg 140).

Over this period, the CBC was commonly platforming 9/11 truthers and anti-Israel cranks. As Litwin wrote:

“The CBC’s anti-Conservative bias would sometimes sneak into weather reports, and even game shows could turn political. Comedy shows often embedded anti-Conservative bias in completely unfunny skits. The CBC even managed to turn Obama’ visit to Canada into a story mocking Stephen Harper. But it was on the subject of Israel that the CBC routinely failed to demonstrate even the slightest degree of journalistic objectivity. Radio-Canada was the worst.”

One example of the anti-Israel bias of CBC Radio detailed by Litwin was an April 9, 2010, program titled “Canada and the Lobby: How the Pro-Israel Lobby is changing Canadian policy towards the Middle-East.” The documentary insinuates that the then conservative government was “acquiescing” to the Israel lobby. But even worse it “disputed the view that the UN Relief Works Agency’s textbooks were anti-Israel and claimed that the Canadian government had made a mistake in cutting UNRWA funding.” (Litwin 2015, pg 141).

The CBC radio show As It Happens aired three shows in 2009 “with segments on Israeli ‘war crimes’ allegedly committed during Israel’s three-week Gaza incursion that had concluded in January that year. On July 1, Mark Garlasco of Human Rights Watch alleged that Israel had deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian civilians including children. On August 13, As It Happens presented an interview with Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch, who made similar allegations. On Sept. 17, As It Happens interviewed Judge Richard Goldstone, the head of a U.N. fact-finding mission that had produced a hotly disputed report on the Gaza conflict. Goldstone told the CBC that ‘war crimes’ were committed on both sides, but he mostly spoke about Israel.” (Litwin 2015, pg 142).

Paul Michaels, who was the director of communications for the Canada-Israel Committee, complained to CBC that in all three episodes of the As It Happens coverage of the Gaza incursion, the perspective of the Israeli government was absent. The reply from producer Lynda Shorten was rich: it was “not incumbent to balance within a single program, but that balance could be achieved over time.” The CBC Ombudsman agreed with Michaels that “most listeners would have found it appropriate to hear a reflection of Israel’s position,” and ruled that “a clear violation of the CBC’s policies on fairness and balance” had taken place. (Litwin 2015, pg 142).

Another thing that was noticeable during this period was the CBC’s tendency to present Iran in a favorable light, and worse, to present them as victims of Israeli aggression. In November of 2011, a “damning” report was released by the International Atomic Energy Agency concerning Iran’s nuclear weapon’s program. From Litwin:

“As It Happens’ Carol Off interviewed Chris Alexander, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defense. ‘Given that Iran is next to a nuclear power — that is Israel — is there any way you can look at Iran's possible development of nuclear weapons as a defensive act,’ Off asked Alexander, ‘and not an act of provocation?’ Alexander kept referring back to the IAEA report, but Off wouldn't give it up. ‘Is it legal for Israel to have nuclear weapons?’”

Then in October of 2012 the CBC’s The National featured a documentary produced by Justin Trudeau’s brother Alexandre Trudeau, called The New Great Game. In line with CBC status quo, Alexandre Trudeau’s documentary “cast Iran as being in need of protection from Israel.” (Litwin 2015, pg 143). The most shocking fact is that The New Great Game was produced in partnership with the Iranian state-owned broadcaster Press TV.

The film featured an interview with Noam Chomsky who asked the question concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions: “What country in the world could have a greater need for deterrent?”

After the Canadian government appointed Vivian Bercovici as the new ambassador to Israel in 2014, journalist Evan Solomon embarrassed himself when interviewing her on the CBC’s Power & Politics. Litwin transcribed a portion of that interview:

Solomon: Why not appoint someone from the diplomatic corps? Obviously this is a very sensitive position. I mean Vivian Bercovici is Jewish, so there are going to be some questions. Why not appoint someone who doesn't even have the perception of any kind of bias?

Baird: Well, Evan, I didn’t ask what religion she was. I didn’t ask what...

Solomon: But you must have done your research. I mean, to be fair, is that disingenuous?

Baird: Her name looks Italian. No, in fact, before offering the position, I did not know she was Jewish. That’s not the way our government runs things. We look for people who are talented and capable and can do the job, regardless of what religious background they have. In Canada, Evan, it’s actually illegal for employers to do just that. She has a unique amount of experience, as a lawyer, someone who has lived in the area, someone who knows the file and someone who will advance Canada’s interests.

Another CBC reporter had similarly embarrassed herself in 2011. Ottawa-based Journalist Lucy van Oldenbarneveld, while hosting the book launch for Irshad Manji’s Allah, Liberty & Love, asked “Manji to talk about whether ‘Muslims feel under siege’ a decade after 9/11, whether Muslim women who wear the hijab ‘feel attacked and criticized and scrutinized,’ and whether ‘nonMuslims can approach a conversation like that with no judgement.’

Manji saw right through the thin veneer of disingenuous leftism, her response to Oldenbarneveld was as follows:

“Can you please, Lucy, apply standards, universal standards, to both Muslims and non-Muslims? Can you nudge yourself to do that? I'd really appreciate that because that is the essence of good journalism. Please do not treat Muslims like children.” (Litwin 2015, pg 145).

The preceding is merely the icing on the cake. The anti-Israel / anti-American bias is deeply entrenched in the culture of the CBC, as are other irrational leftist beliefs, such as Residential School Denialism. But I’ll save that for another day.

There is still more to come on the Islamic Subversion of the West, including an examination of Anti-Palestinian Racism.

Stay tuned!

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read The Islamic Subversion of the West

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