Thursday, April 15, 2010

The CBC responds.

The CBC responds to my concerns regarding the false statement made by Scott Reid on Power and Politics. (part 1?)

It took a bit of time and some jumping through some hoops but the CBC has finally responded to my concerns regarding a statement made by Scott Reid on the Point of Order segment from the April 1st, 2010 edition of Power and Politics with Evan Soloman.

Here is what Scott Reid said: "He (Kory Teneycke) along with that, sort of, you know, paid professional brigand of ah, of ah bloggers that work for the Conservative Party; those guys can mobilize a grassroots movement in the snap of a fingers......" and the blog entry I made on the subject can be found here.

An excerpt from the reply I received from Paul Hambleton Managing Editor of the CBC Parliamentary Bureau: The email states that indeed the statement made by Mr. Reid was a "misrepresentation " and goes on to say "The Power & Politics segment in question asks Scott Reid and Jamie Watt [sic] to take a swing at the hot political issues of the day. With their experience we expect insight. But we also want them to be opinionated, funny, and as well; to poke at each other and at politicians. And they're good at it. That said, we need to be as accurate as possible, and at times things that guests say get through that perhaps should not have. It's a fact of life on cable television."

While I do want to thank Mr. Hambleton for his reply and the work of producer Ryan Hicks for getting my (originally ignored) emails to be addressed, I have some big concerns with the contention that Scott Reid was only a "guest" on the show.

Mr.Reid's statement did not occur on one of the many panel discussions, moderated by Evan Soloman, but rather in a pre-taped regular and un-moderated segment on P&P called 'Point of Order', where he and Jaime Watt (correct spelling) give their take on the issues of the day without any type of disclaimer what so ever as to them being merely guests.

Is it normal for the CBC to give "guests" their own regular weekly segment to say whatever they feel like with no accountability or disclaimer, and more importantly is Mr. Reid paid for his work on Point of Order?

So what do you think. Is the CBC correct and Scott Reid is just one in a long line of guests on the show or should he be viewed as something more?

And how does all of this fit into the CBC's own code of Journalistic Standards and Practices?


More to come?

FYI I have replied to the email from the CBC.

11 comments:

The_Iceman said...

Thank you for pursuing this matter, and I would strongly encourage you to keep on it.

Can you pass along that e-mail address? I've tried sending complaints by e-mail to power and politics but I have yet to receive a response. I would like to know what employment contract was signed with Scott Reid. I have a big problem with him getting paid in tax dollars if that is indeed the case.

wilson said...

'But we also want them to be opinionated, funny, and as well; to poke at each other and at politicians.'

Well then Soloman should have Adrian back on the show, because he and kady were entertaining!

http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/adrian-mcnair-aka-unambiguously-ambidextrous-kicks-some-cbc-journalist-butt/

why ISN'T Adrian an weekly guest too?

Bec said...

"why ISN'T Adrian an weekly guest too?"

My answer? Because he is smarter than all of them put together or..
Because he asks the tough questions and asked for some accountability....
Shall I continue or is it enough that he makes them all look rather dumb, selective and partisan....

Patrick Ross said...

I don't think you're asking the right question here.

It's pretty clear that the CBC (and other news networks) are in the practice of giving political figures unmoderated time to speak.

The question is: should they be?

Which isn't even much of a question, if you ask me.

Ardvark said...

Iceman, I am going to keep on it until the record gets publicly corrected.

There has to be some accountability from someone when the facts are stated wrong and what gets me about the CBC argument is that when a 'guest' says something wrong they can get called out on it from the host, but what happens when their is no one moderating or hosting?

Ardvark said...

Opinions are opinions and that is fine and expected on political shows, but the comment that the conservatives pay bloggers ( or has a band of criminal blogger under their employ) is just an outright falsehood.

If even 1 person now believes that we are being paid based on what Scott Reid said that day, the CBC has a duty to correct the situation.

Patrick Ross said...

True enough, but Scott Reid is responsible for uttering that falsehood, not the CBC.

Let's make sure we have this straight.

The_Iceman said...

Adrian is a douche. Why don't we also ask him to tell us about fiscal conservatism and how the Olympics were a massive failure (months before they even took place).

Anonymous said...

Reid may have uttered it but these are your tax dollars at work and the Ceeb should make it right. It is also not at all credible to say that Reid is only a guest if he has his own weekly segment on the show.

Did the CBC guy really spell Jaime Watt's name wrong?

Ardvark said...

I thought Adrian did a good job the one and only time he was on. I guess making Kady look silly has hurt his chances of a return visit.

Anon: Yes, Jaime's name was not spelled correctly in the email

Anonymous said...

Any professional in any profession is held to a higher standard of behaviour especially in affairs of their profession. Reid not only stepped over the line but he should well have known that he did and thus he indicated intent to harm. That's how I see it. (real conservative)