Principles
The
CBC is fully committed to maintaining accuracy, integrity
and fairness in its journalism. As a Canadian institution
and a press undertaking, the CBC is committed to compliance
with a number of principles. Foremost among those is our
commit-ment to scrupulously abide by the journalistic
code of ethics formulated in our own handbook of journalistic
standards and practices which stresses lack of bias in
reporting. We are committed to providing information that
is factual, accurate and comprehensive. Balanced viewpoints
must be presented through on-the-air discussions. As it
is for other public and private journalistic undertakings,
credibility in the eyes of the general population is our
most valuable asset and must be protected. The
Ombudsman is completely independent of CBC program staff
and management, reporting directly to the President of
CBC and, through the President, to the Corporation’s Board
of Directors.
Mandate
Compliance
with journalistic policy
Jurisdiction
Appointment
1.
Audience complaints and comments
a.The
Ombudsman acts as an appeal authority for complainants
who are dissatisfied with responses from CBC program
staff or management.
b.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.
c.The
Ombudsman determines whether the journalistic process
or the broadcast involved in the complaint did,
in fact, violate the Corporation’s journalistic policies
and standards. 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 his/her finding.
d.As
necessary, the Ombudsman identifies major public
concerns as gleaned from complaints received
by his/her Office and advises CBC management
and journalists accordingly. The
Ombudsman
may undertake periodic studies on overall
coverage of specific issues when he/she feels
that the number of public complaints indicates that
there may be a problem.
e.On
occasion, the Ombudsman may convey to a wider audience,
either within the CBC or among the general public, particular
cases of concern or consequence to others than the complainant
alone.
f.The
Ombudsman establishes a central registry of complaints
and comments regarding information programs, and alerts
journalists and managers, on a regular basis, to issues
that are causing public concern.
g.The
Ombudsman prepares and presents an annual report
to the President and the Board of Directors of the
Corporation summarising how unsatisfied 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.
h.The
Office of the Ombudsman reports annually on how
each media component has met the CBC standard
of service for the expeditious handling of complaints.
a.The
Office of the Ombudsman is responsible for evaluating
compliance with journalistic policies in all
programs
under its jurisdiction. It is assisted in this role
by independent advice panels. Panel members are
chosen by the Ombudsman; their mandate is to assess
individual or groups of programs over a period
of time, or the overall coverage of a particular
issue
by many programs, and report their findings to the
Ombudsman.
b.The
evaluation measures the programs performance in respecting
the three fundamental principles of CBC journalism,
Accuracy, Integrity and Fairness.
c.The
Ombudsman aims to have all information programming
reviewed over a five-year period. The Office
reports annually.
The
jurisdiction of the Office of the Ombudsman covers all
information
programs on Radio, Television and the Internet.
These programs include News and all aspects of Public
Affairs (political, economic and social) as well as
journalistic
activities in agriculture, arts, music, religion, science,
sports and variety. Complaints involving entertainment
programming are generally beyond the Ombudsman’s
mandate and should be addressed directly to
the programs concerned.
a.When
filling the Ombudsman's position, the CBC openly
seeks candidates from outside as well as inside
the Corporation.
b.After
appropriate consultation, the President and CEO establishes
a selection committee of four. Two members, including
the committee chair, must be from the public.
The other committee members are chosen, one among CBC
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.
c.The
selection committee examines applications and selects
a candidate to be recommended for appointment by the
President and CEO.
d.The
Ombudsman’s 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 dereliction of duty or
gross misconduct.
e.The
outgoing Ombudsman may not occupy any other
position at the CBC 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.
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