Media / Media Bias
CBC's coverage of Canadian Imams -- fair and balanced
by Arthur Weinreb, Associate Editor,
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Last Thursday, the day when London was attacked for the second time in as many weeks, a group of Canadian Imams issued a statement denouncing terrorism. The statement condemned the attacks, and asked Muslims to denounce religious extremism and to cooperate with police and Canadian intelligence agencies in rooting out those who aid acts of extremist terror.
There is probably no greater insult that could be made to the CBC than to compare the network to Fox News. But there can be no doubt that the CBC’s reportage of the statement complied with the Fox News Channel’s moniker of being "fair and balanced".
After airing opinions from a couple of Muslims who said that there was a "danger" in linking the recent London attack to Islam and that Muslims who carry out these acts didn’t speak for them, the segment that was carried on The National went on to provide factual coverage of the Imams’ statement. The report concluded with reporter James Murray saying that some Imams acknowledged that the prepared statement was a public relations move to ensure that Canadian Muslims "do not become the target of violence".
The Toronto Star quoted Muslim Canadian Congress founder, Tarek Fatah as saying that the statement was largely a public relations exercise. But the vast majority of the mainstream media, much of which is less ideologically sympathetic to jihadists, completely neglected the public relations aspect of the actions of the prominent Canadian Muslim leaders.
It is virtually impossible to believe that there were no public relations involved in what the Canadian Imams were doing. It is simply unbelievable to think that after the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 1993, the attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, 9/11, Bali, 3/11 and 7/7, that the Canadian Muslim community has just now decided that these actions somehow go against Islam and should be stopped.
It is ironic (or maybe not) that two of Canada’s most left wing media; the CBC and the Toronto Star were the ones who gave a fuller account that most of the mainline media. It could be that mentioning the public relations aspect of the statement would ward off future criticism that the entire exercise was just done as a public relations gesture.
There can be no doubt that the CBC’s coverage of the Imams’ statement was fair and balanced. There may be hope for the Mothercorp yet.
Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
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