Great staff-ed in the Montreal Gazette today on the CBC’s absurd refusal to use the word ‘terrorist’ on their TV broadcasts:
CBC news writers, and presumably the executives to whom they report, do not like the T-word. They believe that by calling a terrorist a terrorist, they would be choosing sides in the divisive conflict in the Middle East…
To substitute “extremist,” with its overtones of ideological fervour, for the much more specific “terrorist” is itself an expression of favouritism. It is also an abuse of speech. A terrorist can be an extremist. A terrorist can also be a vegetarian. But someone who blows up a bus is not in the news for eating tofu. The CBC should call a terrorist a terrorist, and let viewers reach their own conclusions.
For our breakdown of recent editorial opinions on using the term ‘terrorist’, click here.