Sunday, September 18, 2005
CBC 88: Boycott CBC during lockout Chadderton tells vets
Cliff Chadderton, best known as the founder of the War Amps and chair of the National Association of Veterans Associations, is advising veterans not to give interviews with the CBC during the lockout.
In a release on the Canada News Wire, the plain speaking Chadderton tells his own side of the story. That's what has made Chadderton such an effective spokesman for vets over the years, he stands up for what he believes in.
Comments I have dealt with Mr. Chadderton occasionally over the years, both during my day jobs in TV News and as an author and son of a POW and always found him forthcoming.
When I wrote my posts calling for an audit of Peter Worthington's columns (Follow up here), I was slammed in right wing blogs for not replying to Worthington's contention that The Valour and the Horror was proof positive of CBC bias. To be honest, at the time I wrote about CBC's coverage today of the military, I felt The Valour and the Horror was ancient history (I had to check, it was broadcast in 1992 and shelved by the CBC in 1995).
Chadderton monitors the CBC and other the media on a daily basis, and knows what the CBC does (or did) in 2005 in covering veterans and the military. In my view, he has moved on; Peter Worthington, the CBCphobes and the right wing bloggers in flogging The Valour and the Horror like the proverbially dead horse, have simply displayed their own bias and proven that they will not be satisified unless everything in the media reflects that bias. Which means while CBC News can be fair, as I said, no matter what we do, we can never please the far right.
(Note: The Ottawa Citizen site is down at this writing. I will link to the original story if it appears on the Citizen or an advocacy site.)
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journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,
10:35 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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In a release on the Canada News Wire, the plain speaking Chadderton tells his own side of the story. That's what has made Chadderton such an effective spokesman for vets over the years, he stands up for what he believes in.
In a news story published in the Ottawa Citizen today, Chadderton stated that he blames CBC bosses for the impasse. He stated that "as long as the lockout continues, I am not in a position to give interviews." Chadderton suggested that the CBC was: "denying people like myself access to a public institution."Chadderton said it is not right to make statements during the lockout because the CBC is a "national institution:"
He stated that the lockout was "not your ordinary labour-management situation" and suggested: "I don't see any end in sight unless the Government steps in."
Chadderton stated that the CBC had a legislative responsibility to provide access to public institutions such as the National Council. The lockout had therefore closed off its role as a means of conveying an important message to its listeners, thus denying The War Amps and other organizations belonging to the NCVA an opportunity to convey their views to Canadians.
The Citizen article stated, "Mr. Chadderton, a Second World war veteran, is hardly an uncritical CBC cheerleader. He is well-known for leading a campaign challenging the series The Valour and the Horror. But he says the CBC is a vital unifying national force and its absence creates a major void."
Comments I have dealt with Mr. Chadderton occasionally over the years, both during my day jobs in TV News and as an author and son of a POW and always found him forthcoming.
When I wrote my posts calling for an audit of Peter Worthington's columns (Follow up here), I was slammed in right wing blogs for not replying to Worthington's contention that The Valour and the Horror was proof positive of CBC bias. To be honest, at the time I wrote about CBC's coverage today of the military, I felt The Valour and the Horror was ancient history (I had to check, it was broadcast in 1992 and shelved by the CBC in 1995).
Chadderton monitors the CBC and other the media on a daily basis, and knows what the CBC does (or did) in 2005 in covering veterans and the military. In my view, he has moved on; Peter Worthington, the CBCphobes and the right wing bloggers in flogging The Valour and the Horror like the proverbially dead horse, have simply displayed their own bias and proven that they will not be satisified unless everything in the media reflects that bias. Which means while CBC News can be fair, as I said, no matter what we do, we can never please the far right.
(Note: The Ottawa Citizen site is down at this writing. I will link to the original story if it appears on the Citizen or an advocacy site.)
Technorati tags
journalism, CBC, blog, news, lockout,
CBClockout,
10:35 AM posted by Robin Rowland
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