U.S. President Barack Obama’s current trip to Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan has commanded significant coverage by various Canadian media outlets. Canadian news coverage has been by and large, fair and accurate, with the exception of the following two serious errors CBC News made.
On March 20 at 6:00am (EST), CBC News Network broadcast a tape-talk with anchor Heather Hiscox and Mideast correspondent Derek Stoffel. In introducing this segment, Ms. Hiscox incorrectly stated the following: “Get a load of that video from Jerusalem, you see Obama’s face spray-painted out…”
The CBC super stated: “No welcome mat for Obama?: Vandals deface signs along Jerusalem street” and CBC viewers were shown the following image:
To watch this segment please click here or on the image above.
In actuality, these posters were defaced by Palestinians in Ramallah in the West Bank and were not defaced by Israelis in Jerusalem as CBC has falsely reported. The Times of Israel confirms the veracity on this matter showing what appears to be these exact posters existing in Ramallah in the West Bank:
Additionally, at 8:00am also on March 20, CBC News produced an interview with its other Mideast correspondent, Sasa Petricic, who falsely claimed that “… a topic that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has avoided over the last couple of years, he’s avoided negotiations with the Palestinians…”
To watch this segment please click here or on the image above.
There is no foundation for Mr. Petricic’s claim. In reality, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently called for negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions. In sharp contrast, it is PA leader Mahmoud Abbas who has “avoided negotiations with Israel”.
To claim Israelis vandalized posters of Obama in Jerusalem and to portray Netanyahu as avoiding peace talks with his Palestinian counterpart is to perpetuate bold falsehoods which CBC is obligated to correct.
HonestReporting Canada has called on the CBC to issue swift on-air corrections to remedy the misinformation it broadcast. We encourage you to do the same by asking CBC Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire to set the record straight by issuing prompt on-air corrections.
Please send polite letters to Ms. McGuire at: Jennifer.McGuire@CBC.CA.