A recent CBC News article continued the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s documented practice of amplifying fringe anti-Israel voices.

The September 1 article by Copy Editor Hanna Lee, “Hannah Einbinder, Ilana Glazer and other Hollywood stars defend Mark Ruffalo against antisemitism accusations,” informed readers about a controversy involving Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo, a vocal anti-Israel activist, over his controversial statements condemning recent comments he made which critics have said are reminiscent of historic anti-Jewish tropes.

The article leads by stating that “more than 170 Jewish members of the entertainment industry… have signed an open letter defending American actor Mark Ruffalo from what they called an ‘outrageous smear campaign.’”

It continues by elaborating that the signatories say Ruffalo has been tarnished by the “false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.”

Perhaps the oddest part of the story is that Lee prioritizes a list of 170 signatories defending Ruffalo from antisemitism charges, while it is only in the eighth paragraph that she states that a much larger group of entertainment executives, a collection of some 1,000 individuals, condemned Ruffalo for what they described as his “singling out Jewish executives” with “terms lifted from centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories.”

If 170 signatories is the headline and leading paragraph, why is a much larger collective significantly less important to mention?

The makeup of the respective letters is even more apparent. While the 1,000 signatories condemning Ruffalo for alleged antisemitism is replete with major figures in Hollywood, the much smaller list is distinctly different, and many appear to have no connections to “the entertainment industry.” While it does feature a handful of Hollywood creatives, most of it is composed by an eclectic mix of others, including an astrologer, professors and a “public health advocate,” among others.

Other names on the list include David Mivasair, a Hamilton-based anti-Israel activist who has claimed that “the supposed ‘antisemitism crisis’ in Canada is completely manufactured by Israeli propagandists,” and who has appeared to suggest that an arson attempt against a Montreal synagogue may have been a “Zionist false flag.” This same Rabbi was previously charged after steps were defaced in front of Israeli consulate in Toronto.

Yet it was that list, featuring individuals such as David Mivasair, which CBC News saw fit to lead with, and using as the basis for an apparent ‘news’ story.

This choice in framing speaks volumes matters because the story was not simply reporting that two competing letters existed. By leading with the smaller group and presenting its accusations of a “smear” campaign before introducing the substantially larger group much later on, CBC News effectively established the narrative before readers encountered the big picture.

Of course, CBC News is entitled to report on Ruffalo’s defenders. What is more curious is why those defenders (many of whom with no clear relevance) were given the prominence of the article, while the far larger group raising concerns about alleged antisemitic rhetoric was relegated to a side story.

This practice of amplifying fringe anti-Israel voices, particularly Jewish ones, has been a well-documented practice by CBC. For example, when small numbers of Israeli soldiers have refused to serve, citing their ideological opposition to Israel’s counter-terrorism operations against Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, they have been given an uncritical platform to spread their allegations, all while the vast majority of Israeli Jewish conscripts have not refused to serve.

But those voices, unlike the marginal ones, have not been given such platforms at Canada’s taxpayer-funded public broadcaster, which appears to prioritize headline-grabbing stories featuring marginal voices instead.