Canada

Canada's CBC Bans Word 'Terrorism' as Too Politicized, But Not 'Xenophobe' or 'Hater'
By Tim Graham | November 14, 2015 | 10:46 AM EST

Canadian conservative Ezra Levant took to Twitter after the Paris attacks to remind the world that the state-run Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has a policy of not employing the words “terrorism” or “terrorist” since “the use of the word can be highly politicized and therefore it is preferable that there be a consistent practice to be as specific as possible in describing an event without labelling it.”

But on October 1 of this year, the same staffers and the ombudsman defended the use of the terms “xenophobes” and “haters” by longtime CBC journalist Michael Enright on the program The Sunday Edition to describe those resisting any plan to accept thousands of Syrian refugees. That's not "highly politicized"?

Media Hail Canadian Teen That Protested Abstinence Sex Ed
By Lillian Bozzone | July 23, 2014 | 2:14 PM EDT

Editor’s note: this article quotes angry feminists. Thus it contains objectionable language. 

Imagine the horror of being told – by someone you suspect is a Christian – that not having sex is the only fool-proof method of birth control! Chilling, isn’t it? 

So Much For 'It Can't Happen Here'; Fetal Waste Turned Into Energy in Oregon
By Tom Blumer | April 23, 2014 | 11:29 PM EDT

A month ago, the UK Telegraph reported that "The remains of more than 15,000 babies were incinerated as 'clinical waste' by hospitals in Britain with some used in 'waste to energy' plants."

Prolife news sites and blogs as well as many other center-right outlets covered the story. The establishment press almost completely ignored it. Matt Balan of NewsBusters noted on March 26 that the story "got picked up by newspapers across much of the Anglosphere – including The Vancouver Sun and The Ottawa Citizen in Canada," but that it did not "receive wide coverage in the United States." More like barely any, with the only TV broadcast exception at the time being a segment on Fox News's The Five. Perhaps the non-coverage excuse was "Well, that's the UK. It could never happen here." That excuse was lame anyway, and now it's no longer operative (go to Page 3 at the B.C. Catholic link; story by Steve Weatherbe):

NYT Partner Ben Smith: Conservatives Complaining Over Obama-Care on Twitter 'Totally Insane,' 'Not Very Bright'
By Clay Waters | June 28, 2012 | 3:33 PM EDT

The New York Times's latest TimesCast was wholly devoted to the shocking decision on Obama-Care, in which Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed to the bench by a Republican president, joined the four liberals on the court to uphold Obama's legislation.

In a possible sign of bias to come, the TimesCast will feature commentary from Ben Smith of Buzzfeed.com during the election season. Host Megan Liberman ended Thursday's edition by chatting with a smug Smith, who tastelessly singled out individual conservatives on Twitter unhappy about the Obama-Care ruling, mocking those "not very bright" conservatives for saying "totally insane...wildly over-the-top things" such as claiming "America was doomed" or that they were "prepared to go to war against radical liberalism."

CBS Hypes 'Second Thoughts' About Alabama Law on Illegal Immigration
By Brad Wilmouth | December 28, 2011 | 7:58 PM EST

Wednesday's CBS Evening News featured a report by correspondent Mark Strassmann playing up the reservations that some are having about the new law to strictly enforce immigration laws in Alabama.

After noting that a poll supposedly shows that Latino voters are dissatisfied because the Obama administration has deported record numbers of illegal immigrants, substitute anchor Jeff Glor introduced Strassmann's piece by playing up the "second thoughts" that some supporters of the law are having: "Mark Strassmann went to Alabama, where some are having second thoughts now about a tough new law."

(Video below)

Once Again, 'Many Peaceful' = 'Some Violent' When It Comes to Leftist Protesters in the NY Times
By Clay Waters | June 28, 2010 | 11:22 AM EDT
Violent protesters set fire to police cars and shattered store-front windows at the Group of 20 economic summit in Toronto this weekend. How did the New York Times, so skittish about the hypothetical threat of non-existent Tea Party violence from the right, react to actual violence committed by political protesters by the left-wing and anarchist groups? With more snort-worthy apologias for left-wing protesters being overwhelmingly "peaceful" in numerical terms

Reporter Randal Archibold made a similar claim in his April 24 story from Phoenix at a protest against Arizona's anti-immigration law, claiming that "hundreds of demonstrators massed, mostly peacefully, at the capitol plaza." Local news in Phoenix reported three people were arrested during the immigration rally, including two seen throwing water bottles at police, and videos showed more lawlessness on display.

The same defensive tone is present in Monday's Business section story from Toronto, with the ludicrous headline "Police in Toronto Criticized for Treatment of Protesters, Many Peaceful," by Ian Austen. Austen's story is illustrated with a photo from the European Pressphoto Agency showing two policemen arresting a woman, but not photos shown elsewhere of burning cars, like the Associated Press photo by Frank Gunn above.

Austen managed to fault the police both for initial passivity and subsequent overreaction:
An escalation of aggressive police tactics toward even apparently peaceful protests at the Group of 20 summit meeting led to calls for a review of security activities.

Former NYT Bureau Chief Wants Greek-style Riots in US - Media Silent
By Lachlan Markay | May 26, 2010 | 12:22 PM EDT
The New York Times's former Middle East Bureau Chief thinks violent revolt is a laudable response to economic woes, and that murder is at least acceptable in pursuit of a far-left agenda. The media so concerned with the potential for violence from conservative groups are completely silent.

"Here’s to the Greeks," wrote Chris Hedges at Truthdig.com. "They know what to do when corporations pillage and loot their country." Riot, by Hedges's account, is the correct response. That the riots in Greece have so far killed three innocent people doesn't seem to bother him.

Oh but it's not violence borne of a frustration with an unsustainable welfare state that finally reached the inevitable conclusion of skyrocketing public benefits coupled with a fast-shrinking population. No, the riots are "a struggle for liberation" against the oppressive bourgeoisie (capitalists). Hedges is advocating in no vague terms mass political violence. The response from the media: crickets.
Jack Cafferty All But Endorses Global One-Child Policy to Fight Climate Change
By Matthew Balan | December 11, 2009 | 7:15 PM EST
Jack Cafferty, CNN Commentator | NewsBusters.orgCNN’s Jack Cafferty all but endorsed a global version of China’s oppressive one-child policy on Friday’s Situation Room. He repeated the argument of Canadian journalist Diane Francis, that population control is the only way to fight global warming, and mentioned the opposition of “fundamentalist leaders” and others only in passing. All but one of the viewer e-mails that Cafferty read endorsed the idea.

The CNN commentator raised the population control issue eight minutes into the 4 pm Eastern hour during one of his “Cafferty File” segments. Though he didn’t give much of a hint as to his stance on the proposal at first, Cafferty made it much more clear after he read his “Question of the Hour:”
Toronto Star Columnist 'Wishes' Conservative Michelle Malkin Were Shot
By Jeff Poor | April 29, 2009 | 9:35 AM EDT

Want to see left-wing social activism gone wild?

Take a look at some of the views coming from Antonia Zerbisias, columnist for the Toronto Star's Living section. Zerbisias, posted on her Twitter site she wished renown conservative Michelle Malkin were shot.

"Forget the Marxists. I wish the marksmen would take @MichelleMalkin. I'm thinking Dick Cheney. He's such a great shot," Zerbisias wrote on the social-networking site Twitter.

Zerbisias has trumpeted her left-wing stance on women's issues over the past year, taking hard line positions on abortion.

See below fold for image

Anatomy of a Biased Headline: Part Deux
By Rusty Weiss | September 19, 2008 | 5:11 PM EDT

We've covered it here before.  It's akin to that old child's game where one person whispers something into another's ear, passes it on to several others, until the final statement is no longer vaguely recognizable as being related to the first.

So, here we go again with Anatomy of a Biased Headline...

Let's start with a recent study funded by the National Science Foundation, in which researchers lay claim to this finding: 

Some Political Views May be Related to Physiology

Science Magazine's actual headline was similarly non-insulting:

Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits

Seems pretty neutral right?  Let's see how the media took that headline and ran with it...

Mark Steyn Cleared by 'Human Rights' Panel
By Matthew Sheffield | June 28, 2008 | 12:13 PM EDT

Great news for free speech fans that likely won't get reported much of anywhere outside the rightosphere: the national Canadian "Human Rights" Commission has declined to prosecute a "hate speech" allegation against columnist and author Mark Steyn and the magazine Maclean's.

The allegation, brought against Steyn as part of an effort by the Canadian Islamic Congress (that country's resident apologists for radical Islam comparable to CAIR here) to use the government to censor critics of Islam. It was the second of three motions before three separate bodies to be dismissed; Steyn still awaits the decision of the British Columbia provincial commission.

The national commission did not announce the dismissal publicly so here's the Maclean's reaction:

Mark Steyn and the Canadian Inquisition
By Matthew Sheffield | June 10, 2008 | 11:58 AM EDT

Inquisition, Canadian style. Illustration.Typically one does not associate the word inquisition with our neighbors up north in Canada, and yet that is pretty much what is going on there to conservative author and columnist Mark Steyn. Minus the violence, Steyn is being subjected to a twisted court system that always finds defendants guilty and conducts itself in an utterly capricious way.

Steyn's crime? Daring to criticize radical Islam, an offense that many in this country would would no doubt love to criminalize. For his temerity, Steyn and the Canadian magazine Maclean's (which printed Steyn's essay, an excerpt from his book) are being put on trial by the "human rights commission" of British Columbia, one of several such bodies both Steyn and Maclean's have been forced to deal with by the Canadian Islamic Congress. Incredibly, the group claims that its human rights were violated because Maclean's did not allow one of its members a chance to respond in the publication.

What to do about this outrage? The editors at National Review have a few suggestions: