Canada News Wire

Oct. 2, 2003

Statement by Leonard Asper in response to Canadian Press article concerning Neil Macdonald

WINNIPEG – A story by the Canadian Press has suggested that a statement made in my speech of September 30, 2003 contained an error.

A typographical error did occur in my speech, in which a quote was misplaced. Instead of coming at the end of the sentence in which Neil Macdonald is quoted as saying that Hezbollah was a "national liberation movement victimized by unfair smears cast around by supporters of the Jewish state", the sentence should have read that Macdonald suggested that Hezbollah was a "national liberation movement", with the rest not in quotes. In fact, the second part of the sentence was the quote from the National Post editorial on May 16, 2003, commenting on Neil Macdonald's remarks.

A mistake was made in the location of the quotes, but it does not detract from the main argument concerning CBC reporter Neil Macdonald. I offer other quotes from Neil Macdonald to make the point:

1. "So, how to cover the Holy Land: Personally, I've always liked the old chestnut about how reporters should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. The problem is nobody here is that comfortable and it's a lot harder to figure out who's afflicted. The Israelis quite rightly suspect that a lot of foreign journalists tend to sympathize with the Palestinians. But that's because the Jewish people right now have the power, the guns and the money." (CBC TV, "Schlesinger," September 7, 1997).
   
   
2. On September 17, 2002, the CBC in promoting Neil Macdonald's then upcoming piece on a National Newscast, trumpets that Neil Macdonald, is "well known for his definitive views". The CBC does not seem to understand that a reporter is supposed to report and is not to have"definitive views" in news reports.

The CBC, Canadian Press and many of the other news organizations to which I refer in my speech, rather than trying to trip me up on a quote, should look very hard at their own news reporting and address the substance of my comments rather than using semantic arguments to discredit the case in general. I stand by my comments and can point to six years' worth of material to substantiate this view.

Further, Canadian Press should have contacted me for comment prior to running their story and as such its report fell short of basic journalistic standards.