On July 2, HonestReporting Canada (HRC), a far-right “digital army for Israel“, released the following article:
CBC News Producer Yasmine Hassan Continues To Produce One-Sided Coverage Of Hamas-Israel War, Including Three Puff Pieces On Anti-Israel “Selfie Yacht”
In the article, HRC claims that Hassan’s reporting is: “dripping with skepticism towards Israel’s humanitarian efforts”, lacking enough (or any) focus on stories of ‘Israeli suffering’, placing too much blame on Israel, and promoting publicity stunts and puff pieces about the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship the Madleen.
This article adds to more than a dozen articles directly attacking Hassan’s reporting on the genocide in Gaza. Hassan is not the only target of HRC, but one example of their constant attacks aimed at discrediting journalists and controlling the media narrative to align with Israel’s Zionist propaganda.
HRC is a tax-subsidized, registered Canadian charity. They use tax-payer funding to prop up Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and genocide through violent and inaccurate reporting. They claim to focus on accuracy and fairness, but use their Zionist playbook to submit complaints to news rooms, often successfully obtaining the changes they want.
Notably, CBC is disproportionately targeted by HRC, comprising 38.6% of their action alerts, op-eds, and complaints. By comparison, the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star only make up 6 percent each. Hassan and CBC reporter Sara Jabakhanji are also disproportionately targeted, with 13 “action alerts” and 18 “action alerts” respectively over the last 10 months. And yet, 61% of HRC’s successful complaints over the last 10 months (whether directly from HRC or its readership lobbying) have been from the CBC.
In reality, Hassan’s articles depict only a small piece of the violence Israel inflicts on Palestinians through this genocide. While HRC claims that Hassan and CBC produce one-sided coverage of the genocide, with too little support for Israel, the reality is that Canadian media consistently props up Israeli propaganda, promotes Zionism, and directly supports Israel’s targeting of Palestinian journalists.
CBC News has a long and storied history of anti-Palestinian racism, as reported by several CBC staff themselves. Non-profits and grassroots organizations such as the Palestinian-Canadian Academics and Artists Network (PCAAN) have consistently exposed this reality. PCAAN concluded “that the CBC’s poor coverage or refusal to cover Israeli crimes, its passive language or omissions, and its outright rejections – including use of the word ‘Palestine’– reveal deeply rooted anti-Palestinian racism.”
Take a moment to send a letter to CBC to demand they:
- Stop pandering HRC by making “corrections” based on HRC’s false claims.
- Address the well-documented anti-Palestinian racism at CBC News, as called for by the PCAAN.
- Speak up in solidarity of Palestinian journalists who are under targeted attacks, as reported by the International Journalists Federation.
- Use language that represents the reality in Gaza and the West Bank: genocide, apartheid, occupation, as documented by leading international organizations including the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
Endorsers
Just Peace Advocates
Toronto Writers Against the War on Gaza
