CBC Ombudsman rejects complaint of bias by Ajax supporter

NEWS/ AJAX — An allegation by a prominent Ajax supporter of bias on the part of the CBC Daybreak Kamloops program has been rejected by the broadcaster’s ombudsman.

Caroline King of the Support Ajax Mine group complained about a story on the impact of Ajax on property values in Kamloops, saying the person interviewed had no expertise on the subject and that an opposing view should have been presented.

However, CBC Ombudsman Esther Enkin, in a decision released May 22, said Daybreak Kamloops’ handling of the interview was “well within” CBC’s news policy.

Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce interviewed Sean McGuiness, an associate math professor at Thompson Rivers University, on March 11 as a follow-up to a letter McGuiness had written to The Armchair Mayor News.

King said the interview was biased and unbalanced, questioning why McGuiness should be interviewed at all. She said Joyce should have challenged McGuiness on his assertions about property values and that not interviewing someone with a different opinion was “shocking.”

CBC’s program director for B.C., Lorna Haeber, said McGuiness had made it clear he had no particular expertise in real estate and that Joyce challenged him to explain his opinions and conclusions. “I’m confident that over time our coverage has been balanced and that going forward we will continue to provide multiple perspectives connected to this highly charged and contentious debate,” Haeber told the ombudsman.

“I also have the utmost confidence in Ms. Joyce. She has steadfastly remained neutral about Ajax and has worked diligently to interview guests in a way that allows them to get their point across…”

Quoting the introduction to the interview, Enkin wrote, “It is clear from the outset that the purpose of the interview is to find out what he had written about.”

Joyce’s introduction stated, “All fired up about the Ajax mine. An associate professor of math at TRU is worried about property values in Kamloops. A letter to the editor spelled out his concerns to an online audience on the Armchair Mayor news blog. Daybreak asked Sean McGuiness to join us in the studio.”

Enkin said introducing McGuiness as an associate math professor might be interpreted as having special insight to the topic, but called it “a small quibble.”

“There is nothing wrong, in an ongoing story, to have a single guest present one perspective on an aspect of the story,” Enkin concluded, saying the interview fell “well within” CBC news policy. “While blatant inaccuracies should be challenged, it is well within journalistic practice to use an interview to explore a single idea, or one’s (sic) person’s thoughts.”

She pointed out that various Ajax spokespersons, from communications officers to project managers, have appeared many times on the program, as well as public officials and community members who are both for and against the mine.

“I note that as an active supporter and advocate for the project, you have also been interviewed,” Enkin told King.

Enkin said the program’s treatment of the issue was “even-handed” and “CBC Kamloops seem to have provided a range of perspectives and provided information so that citizens of the community can draw their own conclusions.”