OTTAWA (AP) — Canada’s public broadcaster said Friday it is making an exception to its policy of not labeling specific attacks as terrorism for the 9/11 attacks after coming under fire over a memo restating it.Like other news outlets including The Associated Press, CBC/Radio-Canada’s standards normally don’t allow reporters to describe events as terrorist attacks unless they are quoting someone else’s words. But the director of the FBI, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, Republican members of Congress and Canada’s Conservative party all criticized the CBC following media reports about a memo reminding journalists of the policy sent to staff ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Basem Boshra, senior director of journalistic standards and public trust, said in a blog post late Friday afternoon that CBC would make an exception to the rule for the 9/11 attacks.
He said a “leaked excerpt” of its language policy had raised questions that the public broadcaster must now answer.“We are doing so to remove what has unfortunately (and unintentionally) become an impediment to clarity and public understanding,” he said.“At the same time, as new acts of politically or ideologically motivated violence occur in our world, we will continue to follow the journalistically sound practice of attributing causes and motivations to officials and experts.”
