APPENDIX 6 OMBUDSMAN - FRENCH SERVICES - A. Board of Directors' response to the ombudsmen's reports B. French services management's response to ...
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APPENDIX 6
OMBUDSMAN - FRENCH SERVICES
A. Board of Directors' response to the ombudsmen's reports
B. French services management’s response to the
Ombudsman’s report
C. Annual Report of the Office of the Ombudsman, French
ServicesSTANDING COMMITTEES ON ENGLISH AND FRENCH LANGUAGE BROADCASTING
Board of Directors
Minutes of the Meeting held on
August 25, 2020
Videoconference
Members of the Committees present:
Michael Goldbloom, Chairperson of the Committees
Catherine Tait, President and Chief Executive Officer
Guillaume Aniorté
Suzanne Guèvremont
Robert Jeffery
René Légère
Sandra Mason
Jennifer Moore Rattray
François R. Roy
Sandra Singh
Bill Tam
Marie Wilson
Also in attendance:
Stéphanie Duquette
Sylvie Gadoury
Opening of the Meeting
At 12:20 p.m., the Chairperson of the Committees called the meeting to order.
1. Adoption of minutes (Consent Agenda)
On a motion duly moved and seconded, IT WAS RESOLVED, — That the Minutes of the
Standing Committees on English and French Language Broadcasting meeting held on
February 19, 2020 be approved.
2. Annual Report of the French Services’ Ombudsman & Management’s Response
Participants: Michel Bissonnette, Guy Gendron, Luce Julien
Guy Gendron presented the highlights of his report. He shared that the number of complaints
Standing Committees on English and Page 1 of 2
French Language Broadcasting
August 25, 2020 meetingreceived regarding the election had been lower than what had been observed for previous
elections; this year’s increase in complaints was the result of COVID-19. He also noted the
complexities around correcting regional articles.
Directors inquired about the unit tasked with corrections, the role of the Ombudsman in relation
to language quality and the nature of the situations encountered as well as management’s plans
to evolve the vocabulary used to describe the francophone reality of the country.
The Chairman, on behalf of the Board, thanked Guy Gendron for his work of the past year.
3. Annual Report of the English Services’ Ombudsman & Management’s Response
Participants: Brodie Fenlon, Jack Nagler, Barbara Williams
Jack Nagler presented the highlights of his report. He noted the polarized nature of the
correspondence his office was receiving on vaccines, political issues and editorial priorities. He
also noted the new challenges that all media, including CBC, are facing around fake news.
Directors inquired about management’s commitment to corrections, particular patterns observed
in complaints, challenges of the political landscape, how impartiality was being protected, the
latest developments in the copyright infringement file as well as the work of journalists during live
events.
Catherine Tait noted how complex and multi-layered the decisions of both Mr. Gendron and
Mr. Nagler were becoming. She thanked them for the wisdom in their decisions. She also
reminded Directors of the extraordinarily challenging year it had been for the news team and of
the importance of having both of our Ombudsman as guiding lights in this context.
The Chairman, on behalf of the Board, thanked Jack Nagler for his work of the past year.
4. Board’s Response to the Annual Reports of the Ombudsmans
On a motion duly moved and seconded, IT WAS RESOLVED, — That the Reports of the
Ombudsmans, the Management’s Responses thereto, and a summary of the Standing
Committees on English and French Language Broadcasting’s proceedings thereon, be
included in the Board’s report to the CRTC.
End of meeting
The meeting ended on August 25, 2020, at 1:35 p.m.
Standing Committees on English and Page 2 of 2
French Language Broadcasting
August 25, 2020 meetingMANAGEMENT RESPONSE TO THE 2019–20 ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN
TO: Standing Committees on English and French Language
Broadcasting
MEETING: August 25, 2020
FROM: M. Bissonnette
PURPOSE: Management response seeks to clarify certain points in the
Ombudsman's report
French Services News and Current Affairs management thanks the Radio-Canada’s
Ombudsman, Guy Gendron, for his 2019–2020 year-end report and its constructive spirit, which
is a reflection of the efforts made in recent years to ensure high-quality news and information
and strengthen the bonds of trust between the public broadcaster and Canadian audiences.
As he mentions in his report, this year, News and Current Affairs was asked to respond to
267 complaints from audience members alleging violations of the Journalistic Standards and
Practices (JSP). Only 29 of them required a review by the Ombudsman subsequent to the
complainant’s dissatisfaction with our response. In the end, the Ombudsman deemed 14
complaints to be founded. We field each and every complaint with openness and humility,
viewing them as an opportunity for our teams to perfect their craft or as a “teaching moment” for
audience members – and sometimes as both. In these times of eroding public trust, a
commitment to transparency remains at the heart of our approach. As such, we do not stop at
replying to those complaints for which the Ombudsman demands a response; where
appropriate, we seize the opportunity provided to us to strengthen connections with our
increasingly demanding and diverse audience members.
MANAGEMENT RESPONSE TO THE 2019–20 ANNUAL REPORT OF 1
THE RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN
MEETING: August 25, 2020The Ombudsman has noted, and rightly so, that a growing number of complaints concern digital content. In 2019–20, digital news stories indeed accounted for 39% of the complaints submitted to us for a response (105 out of 267), versus 36% in 2018–19 (107 of 300). The increase, though slight, does illustrate the growing popularity of the public broadcaster’s digital platforms. Management seeks to reassure the Ombudsman regarding the journalistic rigour that governs the production of our digital content. Radio-Canada’s newsgathering teams, regardless of the eventual content delivery platform, scrupulously comply with the JSP. The mere fact that an article posted online is permanently available makes it necessarily more likely to be scrutinized, shared and commented on – and, rightly or wrongly, complained about. While it is true that our journalists must often work against the clock to get a story out, the digital news teams are not alone in that regard: their colleagues in TV and radio are also subject to demanding needs and production deadlines. That said, we have noted of the Ombudsman’s remarks. The Ombudsman emphasized the fact that News and Current Affairs management swiftly acknowledges and corrects errors brought to its attention, in accordance with best practices in that regard. He nonetheless added a caveat, regretting that this “tends to wipe the slate clean”: since some complaints are acknowledged to be founded without progressing to the review stage, they supposedly go more or less unnoticed in the context of his annual report. We wish to reassure the Ombudsman on this point. While it is true that some complaints settled without a review being needed could probably have been added to the 14 that the Ombudsman reviewed and deemed to be founded, we did learn the necessary lessons from those cases and, in acting transparently, helped strengthen the connection between those complainants and Radio-Canada. Far be it from us to want to hide anything: for proof, one need only consider that every correction is displayed in a framed insert on the page on which the content in question appears, and, where relevant, is the subject of a post on the Mises au point (clarifications) page. Management also takes under advisement the Ombudsman’s comments regarding the lack of visibility of the Mises au point page. In our opinion, however, by adding a framed insert to every article that is subject to a correction or clarification, we demonstrate more proactive transparency, such that anyone who reads the story will not miss said insert. Given that browsing online is radically different from reading a printed newspaper, we believe this approach to be more effective, more transparent and more likely to reach its intended audience. MANAGEMENT RESPONSE TO THE 2019–20 ANNUAL REPORT OF 2 THE RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN MEETING: August 25, 2020
The Ombudsman remarked on the low number of complaints regarding coverage of the most recent federal election campaign, and saw this as proof (and we agree) that our coverage was especially appreciated by Canadians and indeed was exemplary. That said, in his report he refers to the conclusions of the independent advisory panels created by his office to evaluate the quality of that coverage. News and Current Affairs management, while welcoming these audience members’ engagement, must express some reservations as to the methodology of the advisory panel exercise. In our opinion, the panel report is neither a scientific analysis, nor an Ombudsman report based on compliance with the JSP. Though not without merit, it must be considered for what it is: an inventory of comments and impressions of citizens interested in the public broadcaster’s election coverage. Note, for example, that each radio and television program was analyzed by only one person, an insufficient sample to draw a fair conclusion about the quality of election coverage. While we must of course respect the observations of an audience member who, for example, listened to the 8:00 a.m. Radiojournal, it is also important that we give them the weight appropriate to the opinion of a single person, honest and voluntarily proffered though it may be. In addition, analysis by program or by platform makes it difficult to do justice to our teams’ work and the thought that went into developing this multiplatform election coverage, which is a source of great pride for us – although we humbly agree that there is always room for improvement. In our opinion, the current methodology limits the panelists’ ability to glean a big-picture view of such a complex operation. Management nonetheless takes note of the observations in the advisory panels report, given that they stem from an exercise conducted in good faith by Canadians who are dedicated and attached to their public broadcaster. The Ombudsman mentioned the creation of the Décrypteurs team, which works to debunk fake news stories that spread because of the popularity of social networks. News and Current Affairs management is very proud of this initiative, which is perfectly in keeping with our commitment to informing and guiding Canadians, and which has earned us the privilege to join the International Fact Checking Network. At the same time, the Ombudsman wrote that he worries about consequences that he feels could result from our participation in Facebook’s initiative whereby users receive notifications when a post is of suspect origin. On the contrary, News and Current Affairs management views this as an opportunity to share our expertise with the broadest possible audience, including so-called trolls and conspiracy theory enthusiasts – in the process exposing them to information verified as factual and credible, in a context where many people find it difficult to tell true from false. We take note of the Ombudsman’s worry with regard to a potential flood of complaints, and pledge our support should that threat materialize. MANAGEMENT RESPONSE TO THE 2019–20 ANNUAL REPORT OF 3 THE RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN MEETING: August 25, 2020
Management wishes to stress that it ascribes great importance to the quality of the French language, regardless of content delivery platform. In his report, the Ombudsman noted that the number of complaints about the quality of spoken and written French on its platforms increased by 17%. We should add that measures have been taken to correct (pardon the pun) this situation, which we find worrisome. For example, this past winter several dozen of the department’s content creators took training on headline writing, and there has been a marked improvement since. That said, we remain vigilant, and aware of the challenges involved in producing live coverage for radio and television, as well as posting hundreds of digital stories daily. We take the opportunity given to us to reiterate our commitment to providing Canadians with news and information compliant with the highest possible standards. Across our various platforms and through other channels such as social networks, French Services News and Current Affairs management abides by a constant commitment to renewal and innovation, while remaining faithful to the values that have helped us build audience trust. The example of our coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Ombudsman mentioned, is a wonderful reflection of the News and Current Affairs team’s dedication to helping Radio-Canada reassert its leadership role in Canada and around the world. In conclusion, I thank the Ombudsman for his kind words, and pledge my full collaboration. Luce Julien Executive Director, News and Current Affairs French Services, Radio-Canada MANAGEMENT RESPONSE TO THE 2019–20 ANNUAL REPORT OF 4 THE RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN MEETING: August 25, 2020
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN FRENCH SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
June 4, 2020 Mr. Michael Goldbloom Chairman, Board of Directors CBC/Radio-Canada Ms. Catherine Tait President and CEO CBC/Radio-Canada Members of the Board of Directors CBC/Radio-Canada Dear Mr. Goldbloom, Ms. Tait and Members of the Board of Directors: I am pleased to submit the Annual Report of the Office of the Ombudsman, French Services, for the period of April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. Sincerely, Guy Gendron French Services Ombudsman CBC/Radio-Canada
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
HIGHLIGHTS .................................................................................................................. 3
Table: Communications received by the Office of the Ombudsman ............... 6
HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS ....................................................................................... 7
DISTRIBUTION OF COMPLAINTS ................................................................................ 8
DISTRIBUTION OF COMPLAINTS BY MEDIA LINE ................................................... 10
ANNEXES
I Table: Complaints forwarded for departmental response .............................. 12
II Table: Management response time ............................................................... 13
III Tables: Ombudsman’s reviews, outcomes & response times ....................... 14
IV The Ombudsman’s mandate: Terms of reference ......................................... 15HIGHLIGHTS
The Office of the Radio-Canada Ombudsman received 1,982 complaints and requests
during 2019–20, a slight increase compared with the previous year. That number was in
line with the average observed in years in which federal or Quebec elections take place,
which has been the case in each of the past two years.
A total of 1,254 of the communications with my office had to do with news content; in
267 cases, I forwarded them to the News department in order for management to
respond to the complainants. In 29 cases (12%), the complainants were dissatisfied with
the answer received and asked the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct a review. That
number was nearly identical to that of the previous year.
After conducting my reviews, I ruled that 15 of the 29 complaints were unfounded and
that the other 14 were founded in whole or in part. That amounts to 48% of total
complaints reviewed, which is in the upper part of the range observed over the past
decade. These results do not point to a trend suggesting a problem with any particular
Radio-Canada platform.
Clearly, however, a steadily increasing proportion of complaints pertain to digital articles,
at least among those for which I asked the News department to respond because they
involved compliance with CBC/Radio-Canada’s Journalistic Standards and Practices.
Four years ago, such complaints accounted for a quarter of the total, last year they
represented a third, and this past year they approached half of the total; i.e., 105 of 267.
Increased traffic to online news pages is the likely explanation, though not the sole
reason. I note that these stories are often written hastily, which sometimes leads to poor
layout choices (i.e., choice of headline and accompanying photograph). In the majority of
cases, especially when the complaints are clearly founded, the Radio-Canada digital
news desk acknowledges the error quickly and makes the necessary corrections
transparently, to the satisfaction of the complainant. As a result, these complaints rarely
lead to requests for review by the Ombudsman, which is a good thing. I believe
Canadians are better served when their public broadcaster acknowledges an error
frankly, quickly and transparently than when it is recognized much later in a review by
the Ombudsman – because, in the eyes of complainants, the outcome is at best an
admission that the initial response did not live up to their legitimate expectations.
The more negative side of this approach, however, is that it tends to wipe the slate
clean, as it were, in a very large percentage of cases in which the public’s grievances
were well founded. One must therefore resist the interpretation that the 14 complaints
that my reviews found to be justified, in whole or in part, paint the full picture of all
legitimate complaints.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 3Looking at the major events that occurred over the past year and that generated large
numbers of comments and complaints, two stand out clearly: the federal election
campaign in fall 2019; and the health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in
spring 2020, which, at the time of this writing, had barely begun.
| FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Regarding the first event, I note that news coverage of the federal election campaign
prompted only 83 complaints and comments, which is likely an all-time low. Of that
number, 68 had to do with coverage of the campaign itself, while 14 concerned Radio-
Canada’s election night coverage, which the majority of complainants criticized for being
“Quebec-centric.” Only one message pertained to the leaders’ debate, and it was to
commend the designers of the French debate format, which incidentally was widely
praised. The complaints regarding the campaign coverage resulted in two reviews by my
office, one of which found in favour, in part, of the complainant. The election night
coverage on ICI TÉLÉ led to two other reviews. The main one concerned the amount of
airtime devoted to results from outside Quebec. I discuss this in more detail below.
| COVID-19
The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially from mid-March onward, had
already prompted 195 complaints and comments forwarded to my attention as of
March 31. That number alone speaks to the magnitude of public reaction to what has
rapidly grown from a health emergency into a global economic and social crisis.
The crucial role of the public broadcaster has been amplified as a result, with Canadians
turning to it in larger numbers for answers to their many questions and concerns, and
often directing their inquiries to the Office of the Ombudsman: “Why are you not covering
the story at such-and-such CHSLD [long-term care home]?”; “Where are the stories on
such-and-such a drug?”; “What about this statistic, which is more meaningful than that
one?” Often these were not complaints per se, but ways of expressing expectations,
recommending story topics, or submitting questions to be asked of expert guests invited
to various programs. (Such messages are not recorded as complaints; they are entered
in the “Other programming” category, which includes all communications that are not
under the purview of the Ombudsman, on page 6.)
As a result, the Office of the Ombudsman has to some degree morphed into part
suggestion box, part sorting station for the public’s concerns, and part early warning
mechanism for the News department – and also, unfortunately, into an overflow tank for
all manner of requests and expressions of frustration from audience members regarding
a host of topic areas that have nothing to do with the news.
In a previous report, I expressed my concern that the Office might become the
equivalent of a “Radio-Canada 9-1-1” line. The COVID-19 crisis has solidified that trend.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 4| TACKLING MISINFORMATION
In conclusion, I commend the News department for the excellent initiative it put forward
this past year: Décrypteurs, a team and eponymous TV program dedicated entirely to
debunking misinformation, or fake/false news.
They are engaged in combatting one of the principal ills of our century (indeed, it is
tempting to call it another pandemic): false news, deception and online conspiracy
mongering, amplified by social media echo chambers, and which pose a real threat to
our democratic societies. The Décrypteurs team is endorsed by the International Fact-
Checking Network, whose members include many of the most credible media
organizations worldwide, and which is part of the renowned Poynter Institute.
Facebook has recently adopted a practice, clearly laudable, whereby a user is notified
whenever they share content that has been marked as false by teams certified by the
International Fact-Checking Network. The notification in the user’s Facebook feed alerts
them to the fact that the post “contains false news” and, where applicable, that the
content was “verified by Radio-Canada – Les décrypteurs.” Recently, many people
angered by this “intrusion” into their feed – regardless of whether their profile is public or
private – have contacted the Office of the Ombudsman, decrying the “censorship” and
attributing it to CBC/Radio-Canada. They are particularly upset if they are citizens of
another country. At the time of this writing, one such complainant has challenged the
accuracy of the Décrypteurs findings, on the grounds that the team is in violation of
CBC/Radio-Canada’s Journalistic Standards and Practices. My worry is that the
propagandists, manipulators, charlatans, conspiracy theorists and similar purveyors of
misinformation of this world who see this notification displayed on their Facebook pages
will decide to come after Radio-Canada and inundate my office with complaints of this
type. If that happens, it could well tax the capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman to
respond to other complainants and, eventually, paralyze it.
Guy Gendron
Ombudsman, French Services
April 27, 2020
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 5COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN
NEWS/INFORMATION ALL OTHER TOTAL
PROGRAMMING PROGRAMMING
2019–20 1,254 728 1,982
2018–19 1,349 582 1,931
2017–18 977 320 1,297
(including 108 : Gilbert Sicotte interview,
TJ report *)
2016–17 709 539 1,248
(including 110 : Web
capsule L’islam
expliquée aux enfants,
youth section of Radio-
Canada.ca)
2015–16 1,038 349 1,387
(including 39: questions from Francophones
outside Quebec during the leaders’ debate)
* In parentheses, recurrent complaints on the same subject, requiring a single response.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 6HANDLING
OF COMPLAINTS
| IMPROVED PRACTICES
Once again this year, I note significant improvement in the handling of audience
members’ complaints. Response times are shorter, and when errors are made, they are
generally acknowledged and corrected in timely fashion. More important, this is usually
done transparently, in compliance with best practices. I am very pleased to see that the
“Mises au point” (“Clarifications”) web page is now regularly used to publish and
catalogue cases in which the broadcaster admits to errors and omissions. I must add,
however, that the editorial managers at regional stations, who should also be making
use of the page, seem unfortunately to be unaware of its existence.
In addition, the “Mises au point” page should be made much easier to locate in the “Info”
section of the Radio-Canada.ca site. I challenge anyone to find it on the site map, where
it sits somewhere between the “Écoles fermées” (“School Closures”) and “Prix et
bourses” (“Awards and Scholarships”) headings. It seems to me that this is not in
keeping with the commitment to transparency implied by the practice of regularly issuing
clarifications. As I am fond of repeating, the New York Times publishes daily details, at
the bottom of page 2, of errata and corrections for the previous days’ editions. They are
easy to find, which speaks to the journalistic rigour that the paper seeks to project. And
while no one buys the New York Times solely to read that page 2 feature, many readers
are probably loyal to the paper because that feature exists. We take the same approach
with our “Mises au point” page, but it would certainly be useful to make it more
accessible.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 7DISTRIBUTION
OF COMPLAINTS
| FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN
As I note above, the coverage of the fall 2019 federal election campaign, judging by the
all-time record low number of complaints generated, was exemplary. The independent
advisory panels created by the Office of the Ombudsman to evaluate the quality of that
coverage (whose reports have already been submitted to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board
of Directors) also rated it as generally excellent, including when it came to the
requirement to address issues and concerns in the various regions of the country. Thus
it is all the more unfortunate that the television coverage on election night, October 21,
took “quasi non-existent” interest in the results from provinces west of Quebec, in the
opinion of one of the many francophones living outside the province who took the
program to task for being “Quebec-centric.” My review found that viewer’s complaint to
be founded, though with some provisos. I felt that ICI TÉLÉ “could have better fulfilled
the mandate of the public broadcaster, which dictates that it should reflect diversity and
provide information that is meaningful to all Canadians,” and this shortcoming was all the
more worrisome coming from a flagship program purporting to cover election results
from coast to coast to coast.
| BILL 21
The debate surrounding the adoption in Quebec’s National Assembly of Bill 21, the Act
respecting the laicity of the State, was acrimonious, as tends to happen in debates in
which divergent views of the rights of religious minorities clash. Though this news story
resulted in 68 complaints, only two of them resulted in appeals to the Office of the
Ombudsman. In both cases, the matter submitted to me for review concerned peripheral
aspects of the debate, and I deemed the grievances unfounded. Nearly a third of the
complaints (i.e., 20) had to do with a single TV and digital report, to which nearly a dozen
changes (sometimes major) were made, although there was no request for a review by
my office. There were clearly problems with the story. The original headline, “Une
enseignante sikhe fuit le Québec en raison de la loi sur la laïcité” (“Sikh teacher flees
Quebec because of secularism law”) was quickly changed to “Une enseignante sikhe
quitte le Québec en raison de la loi sur la laïcité” (“Sikh teacher leaves Quebec because
of secularism law”). Appropriately, the changes and additions to the original copy were
recorded on the “Mises au point” (“Clarifications”) web page, with an acknowledgement
by the News department that “the original version of the story lacked balance and
context.”
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 8Unfortunately, of the 39 clarifications published over the past year (a record number that
gladdens me, since it is proof of greater transparency in the handling of complaints), this
is the one whose title is least instructive. It reads: “Mise au point au sujet d’un article
publié le 23 août 2019” (“Clarification regarding a story published on August 23, 2019”),
providing no clue to what the article in question is about. What surprises me is the
mismatch between the content of the clarification, which was the most substantial of all
those published in the past year, and its presentation on the “Mises au point” page,
which was the least transparent of those posted in the past 12 months.
| INDIGENOUS ISSUES
The historical and current treatment of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, their claims and
the means employed to voice them, as well as questions about what truly constitutes
Indigenous identity, are all topics that provoked emotional responses during the past
year. In all, 27 complaints were about coverage of these issues, including 18 that
concerned what became known as the railway blockade crisis this past winter. The two
requests for review that reached my desk, however, concerned the debate around the
definition of Indigenous identity. Both cases pertained to content published in the
Espaces autochtones section of Radio-Canada.ca. In one of them, I determined that
there was simply an inaccuracy in the wording of an introductory text.
| QUALITY OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
In my 2017–18 annual report, I expressed my concern over the growing number of
complaints about the quality of spoken and written French across Radio-Canada’s
various platforms (even though this does not come under the Journalistic Standards and
Practices). I feel it is worth mentioning this issue again because, judging by the number
of audience members who continue to complain, the situation has not improved. During
2019–20, there were 101 such complaints, an increase of 17% over the previous year.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 9DISTRIBUTION OF
COMPLAINTS BY
MEDIA LINE
The Ombudsman’s mandate calls for the annual report to provide a breakdown of
complaints by Radio-Canada’s media lines. Looking beyond the numbers presented in
Appendix 1, which refer to cases concerning compliance with the Journalistic Standards
and Practices, I would like to make a few observations.
| RADIO
The number of complaints about radio programming, 33, was the lowest recorded in the
past five years. Four of those complaints necessitated a review. I deemed two of them
founded, in part. One of them concerned a presentation by an outside contributor who is
regularly invited to comment on news stories (in other words, to express personal
opinions on the air). If no effort is made to properly identify commentators, audience
members may reasonably conclude that they are journalists employed by Radio-
Canada, whereas such employees are forbidden under the Journalistic Standards and
Practices from expressing personal opinions.
In an age when commentary is playing an increasingly important role in all media, it is
especially important that the necessary safeguards be adopted to prevent a widespread
perception that Radio-Canada is engaged in mixing of genres.
| TELEVISION
Complaints about news content on television (both on ICI TÉLÉ and ICI RDI) or about
both television along with other platforms accounted for half of all complaints alleging
non-compliance with the Journalistic Standards and Practices. These complaints
constituted an equivalent proportion of cases that were subject to reviews by the Office
of the Ombudsman.
Here again, a significant number of complaints resulted from audience
misunderstandings with regard to expression of opinions by guests and contributors,
some of whom are asked to participate so often that some viewers believe they are
Radio-Canada employees. Another recurring aspect of complaints involves a
misunderstanding of the role of host, especially when it comes to “hot seat” interviews.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 10Some hosts specialize in this type of exchange, and are therefore the target of repeated
complaints that criticize them for being insistent with guests, which is often interpreted as
a sign of impoliteness or bias.
| DIGITAL
Response times to reports of problems or complaints about stories posted online are
generally excellent. Of course, some more contentious cases require more time to reflect
before a response is given. Corrections are easier to make on the web than with the
other platforms, and it seems to me that overall they are made according to best
practices.
I note, as I did last year, many digital users continue to complain that when stories are
based on official reports or other publicly available documents, Radio-Canada often
neglects to include links to said documents, which would allow readers to explore the
topic in greater depth.
In closing, I must congratulate the Digital News team for the outstanding work they
accomplished late in 2019–20 to provide a wide variety of data enabling audiences to
better understand the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in their region and province,
across the country, and around the world. The graphs, statistical tables, basic
explanations, and contextualizations have been remarkable, and they show off the best
that a public service media organization like Radio-Canada has to offer.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 11APPENDIX I
COMPLAINTS FORWARDED TO DEPARTMENTS FOR A RESPONSE
BY MEDIA LINE
TV RDI RADIO WEB RADIO- TOTAL
WEB-TV * COMPLAINTS
2019–20 73 45 33 105 11 267
2018–19 65 50 64 107 14 300
2017–18 190 49 36 79 5 359
2016–17 65 59 36 61 21 242
2015–16 226 161 64 92 30 573
* These complaints cover multiple platforms.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 12APPENDIX II
RESPONSE TIME FROM DEPARTMENTS
COMPLAINTS AVERAGE RESPONSE
PROCESSED TIME
(IN DAYS)
2019–20 267 7.9
2018–19 300 9.9
2017–18 359 9.8
2016–17 242 11.9
2015–16 573 15.7
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 13APPENDIX III
REVIEWS BY THE OMBUDSMAN
COMPLAINTS AVERAGE
PROCESSED RESPONSE TIME
(IN DAYS)
2019–20 29 17.5
2018–19 28 14.8
2017–18 20 8.7
2016–17 27 12.8
2015–16 41 3.6
REVIEW OUTCOMES
UNFOUNDED PARTIALLY FOUNDED FOUNDED
COMPLAINTS COMPLAINTS COMPLAINTS
2019–20 15 8 6
2018–19 20 1 7
2017–18 15 3 2
2016–17 19 4 4
2015–16 33 2 6
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 14APPENDIX IV
MANDATE OF THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN1
| PRINCIPLES
CBC-Radio-Canada is fully committed to maintaining accuracy, fairness, balance,
impartiality and integrity in its journalism, as expressed in its unique code of ethics and
practice, the Journalistic Standards and Practices. Our journalistic mission is to inform,
to reveal, to contribute to the understanding of issues of public interest and to encourage
citizens to participate in our free and democratic society. We base our credibility on
fulfilling that mission through adherence to the values, principles and practices laid out in
the Journalistic Standards and Practices.
The Ombudsman is completely independent of Radio-Canada program staff and
management, reporting directly to the President of CBC/Radio-Canada and, through the
President, to the Corporation's Board of Directors.
| MANDATE
Audience Complaints and Comments
The Ombudsman acts as an appeal authority for complainants who are dissatisfied with
responses from Radio-Canada information or program management.
The Ombudsman generally intervenes only when a correspondent deems a response
from a representative of the Corporation unsatisfactory and so informs the Office of the
Ombudsman. However, the Ombudsman may also intervene when the Corporation fails
to respond to a complaint within a reasonable time.
The Ombudsman determines whether the journalistic process or the broadcast involved
in the complaint did, in fact, violate the Corporation's Journalistic Standards and
Practices.
The gathering of facts is a non-judicial process and the Ombudsman does not examine
the civil liability of the Corporation or its journalists. The Ombudsman informs the
complainant and the staff and management concerned of the review's findings and posts
such findings on the Ombudsman's website.
1
Terms of reference adopted by the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors on March 21, 2019
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 15As necessary, the Ombudsman identifies major public concerns as gleaned from
complaints received by the Office and advises Radio-Canada management and
journalists accordingly.
The Ombudsman and Radio-Canada management may agree that the Ombudsman
undertake periodic studies on overall coverage of specific issues when it is felt there may
be a problem and will advise Radio-Canada management and journalists of the results of
such studies.
The Ombudsman establishes a central registry of complaints and comments regarding
information content, and alerts journalists and managers on a regular basis to issues that
are causing public concern.
The Ombudsman prepares and presents an annual report to the President and the
Board of Directors of the Corporation summarizing how complaints were dealt with and
reviewing the main issues handled by the Office of the Ombudsman in the previous year.
The report includes mention of the actions, if any, taken by management as a result of
the Ombudsman's findings, provided such disclosure does not contravene applicable
laws, regulations or collective agreements. The annual report, or a summary thereof, is
made public.
The Office of the Ombudsman reports annually on how each media component has met
the CBC/Radio-Canada standard of service for the expeditious handling of complaints.
| COMPLIANCE WITH JOURNALISTIC POLICY
The Office of the Ombudsman is responsible for evaluating compliance with the
Journalistic Standards and Practices in all content under its jurisdiction. It can be
assisted in this role by independent advice panels.
Panel members are chosen by the Ombudsman. Their mandate is to assess content
over a period of time, or the overall coverage of a particular issue by many programs,
and report their findings to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman will advise Radio-Canada
management and journalists of these findings.
The evaluation measures performance in respecting the fundamental principles of
Radio-Canada journalism. All employees of Radio-Canada News, as well as the content
they create, and employees of Local Services, Radio Talk information programming, or
any service involved in the creation of news, current affairs and public affairs content
must respect all of the principles of the Journalistic Standards and Practices namely:
o Accuracy, fairness, balance, impartiality and integrity.
With the exception of fiction and comedy, content produced by other employees which
touches on politics, social issues, economics, cultural issues, scientific issues or sports
– particularly if the issues are controversial – must respect the following principles:
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 16o Accuracy, fairness and balance.
User-generated content, when incorporated into information programming, must conform
with the principles of the Journalistic Standards and Practices.
Moreover, in an election or referendum period, the Journalistic Standards and Practices
applies to all content related to the campaign, parties or candidates that is broadcast and
published by Radio-Canada, regardless of the department concerned.
The Journalistic Standards and Practices applies to all news, current affairs and public
affairs content commissioned by Radio-Canada and produced by third parties.
The Office reports bi-annually.
| JURIDICTION
The jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman covers all content, produced for radio,
television or the internet (including social media used by Radio-Canada) that falls within
the scope of the Journalistic Standards and Practices.
Complaints beyond the Ombudsman's mandate should be addressed directly to the
programs concerned, or Audience Relations.
| APPOINTMENT
When filling the Ombudsman's position, the Corporation openly seeks candidates from
outside as well as inside the Corporation.
After appropriate consultation, the President and CEO establishes a selection committee
of four. Two members, including the committee chair, must be from the public. People
currently employed by the Corporation or employed by the Corporation within the
previous three years will be excluded from nomination as public members. The other
committee members are chosen, one among Radio-Canada’s management, the other
among its working journalists. Members representing the Corporation and journalists
jointly select the committee chair among the two representatives of the public.
The selection committee examines applications and selects a candidate to be
recommended for appointment by the President and CEO.
The Ombudsman appointment is for a term of five years. This term may be extended for
no more than five additional years. The Ombudsman's contract cannot be terminated
except for gross misconduct or in instances where the Ombudsman's actions have been
found to be inconsistent with the Corporation's Code of Conduct Policy 2.2.21.
The outgoing Ombudsman may not occupy any other position at Radio-Canada for a
period of two years following the end of his/her term but can, at the discretion of the
incoming Ombudsman, be contracted to work for the Office of the Ombudsman.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 RADIO-CANADA OMBUDSMAN | 17OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN FRENCH SERVICES CONTACT US BY MAIL: P.O. Box 6000 Montreal (Quebec) Canada H3C 3A8 BY PHONE: 514-597-4757 (local) 1-877-846-4737 (toll free) BY FAX: 514-597-5253 BY EMAIL: ombudsman@radio-canada.ca ONLINE: cbc.radio-canada.ca/ombudsman
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