by Marinka Peschmann, Special to Canada Free Press
July 16, 2004
On July 15 2004, Italy’s RaI International’s petition to air in Canada was denied while al-Jazeera’s television network license was granted. although the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) sanction was affixed with heavy conditions to prevent abusive and hateful language from airing, the CRTC’s al-Jazeera’s approval triggered a controversy.
So what will happen to the Fox News Channel’s petition?
al-Jazeera’s two sponsors, Videotron Itee and the Canadian Cable Television association (CCTa) petitioned on the Qatar-based network’s behalf on February 12, 2003 and april 2, 2003 respectively. During one of the final phases of the application process, ‘the call for comments,’ according to the Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-51 the Commission received approximately 1,200 comments supporting al-Jazeera with over 500 comments opposed. among those in support were the National Council on Canada-arab Relations, the Canadian arab Federation, the Council on american Islamic Relations Canada, and Member of Parliament from Brampton West-Mississauga. assertions included that al-Jazeera ‘is a strong promoter of freedom of expression’ who ‘provided unbiased and accurate coverage,’ while providing ‘a unique perspective not currently found on channels in Canada,’ which would ‘help keep the arab Canadians informed in their mother tongue.’ On the opposite spectrum those opposed included Global Television Network, Inc., Christian Friends of Israel- Canada Inc., the Canadian Jewish Congress and asian Television Network International Limited. arguing that under the ‘guise of seemingly legitimate news agency, al Jazeera has provided hatemongers and terrorists with a platform for their views.’ One detractor contended that ‘al Jazeera is the arab news equivalent of the shock jock Howard Stern.’
The Canadian Cable Television association petitioned on april 15, 2004 to bring the Fox News Channel (FNC) into Canada. acting President, CCTa Michael Hennessy’s petition states in part that ‘cable distributors appreciate that Canadian news viewers will want to watch the number one news service in the United States.’ Further the ‘CCTa believes that access to as many sources of news and opinion can only contribute to a better understanding of the diverse political, financial, social and environmental issues in a global world.’ according to Nielsen Media Research the ‘FOX News Channel beat CNN and MSNBC combined in viewer-ship and demographics in the Prime Time and 24-hour time periods for april ’04’ in the United States.
On Tuesday during a sometimes heated interview with The Globe & Mail’s Rick Salutin and Toronto Sun’s Peter Worthington, Bill O’Reilly, host of FNC’s top-rated show, The O’Reilly Factor opined, "I don’t think the press in Canada likes me. But because they don’t watch me, they haven’t been able to - they don’t know what we (FNC) do here." O’Reilly shortly thereafter cited an example of al-Jeerza’s coverage for his guests to mull over, ‘In Basra there was a terrorist attack that killed a couple dozen Iraqis, Muslims… and it killed two British soldiers... al-Jazeera reported the attack that killed two British soldiers, but left out the fact that they killed a couple dozen Muslims. That’s what they do all day along."
With the Fox News Channel’s petition for access in Canada in the ‘call for comments’ phase the ‘Commission invites interested parties’ to sound off.all comments must be submitted to both the Canadian Cable association and the CRTC by august 9, 2004. Procedures to file can be found at the CRTC’s website: http://www.crtc.gc.ca
according to Fox News VP of News Distribution, Janet alshouse, "Fox receives thousands of emails from Canadians asking ‘why don’t we have Fox news?’" In august of last year the Fox News Channel received a phone call from the Canadian Parliament requesting Fox’s feed and can legally watch FNC.
Will the CRTC grant the Fox News Channel access in Canada or will politicians be the only Canadians permitted to tune in?
Marinka Peschmann is a freelance writer whose first book collaboration, the best-selling The Kid Stays In The Picture; was made into a documentary. She's contributed to several books and stories ranging from showbiz and celebrities to true crime and politics.
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