My Complaint to the CBC Ombudsman

The front page of The Epoch Times special edition that was distributed on April 13, 2020.

The following is a complaint filed by Anders Corr, publisher of the Journal of Political Risk and founder of Corr Analytics, to the CBC Ombudsman over CBC’s reporting on The Epoch Times’ special edition. The text of the complaint is published here with Dr. Corr’s permission. 

Date : April 30, 2020 5:23:43 Title : Mr. First Name : Anders Last Name : Corr Platform : CBC News Network Program : Online article and video Subject : Some Canadians see claims in Epoch Times about origin of virus as ‘racist and inflammatory’ Message : Dear CBC Ombudsman,

I put details of my complaint here in this Twitter thread (including screenshots of the print and video problems).

Basically, the article, located here:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/epoch-times-coronavirus-bioweapon-1.5548217

was changed twice (at least its headline and photo captions) and its headline is based on very thin information. Corrections on claims of racism and inflammatory speech were not issued. The current version of the headline claims that “Canadians” (plural) see claims in Epoch Times (ET) about origin of virus as “racist and inflammatory,” yet only one Canadian is quoted as saying this in the article.

The other Canadian (a postal worker) quoted on this matter was given anonymity, and his quote is incorrect yet still appears in the article. He apparently said (after an ellipsis so we don’t really know the context) that the article had “hatred.” There is no evidence provided by the authors for such an allegation.

The postal worker also said, “They’re saying the coronavirus is part of a bio-warfare agenda by the Chinese people.” It would be more accurate, I think, to say that one of the authors in one article (by Nyquist) at the end asks for an investigation of linkages between the Wuhan outbreak and China’s ambitions related to deadly microbes. Nyquist states that China has not been entirely transparent on this matter, and explicitly leaves open the possibility that China’s officials are innocent.

The article also repeats the claim (found to be false by a judge in the U.S. recently) that Falun Gong is a “cult.” The judge found that Falun Gong is a “religion.”

There is no evidence of any actual cult, racism, or hatred in the ET articles provided by the authors to buttress these very serious claims. Lacking any actual evidence of a cult, racism, or hatred, it seems that finding and broadcasting such opinions from China’s government and a couple of members of the Canadian public who make such accusations is irresponsible and tendentious journalism.

I’m very saddened to see The Epoch Times, linked to a persecuted minority religion in China, being treated in this way by Canada’s national broadcaster.

Best regards, Anders Corr.

Anders Corr has a bachelor’s/master’s in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. He authored “The Concentration of Power” (forthcoming in 2021) and “No Trespassing,” and edited “Great Powers, Grand Strategies.”

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.