The president of a huge communications company has apologized for involving himself in news coverage by its television division, CTV. The Globe and Mail newspaper alleged that Bell Media President Kevin Crull tried to influence the network’s news coverage of a decision made by the government communications regulator, the CRTC.
Private broadcasters in Canada have a code of ethics which they adopted to guarantee the independence of their news organizations.
Employees reportedly afraid for their jobs
In this case, the CRTC had made a decision favourable to consumers about the way cable companies charge for their services. Bell is a cable provider and stands to lose a substantial amount of money with this decision.
The Globe reported that Crull was furious and tried to ban any appearance by the CRTC’s chairman from CTV news reports about the decision. The newspaper added that employees and the head of news were afraid they would lose their jobs if they disobeyed.
‘Allegation…is disturbing’—says CRTC
The CRTC issued a statement criticizing Crull’s actions as described by the newspaper. “That a regulated company does not like one of the CRTC’s rulings is one thing,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the CRTC in the statement. “The allegation, however, that the largest communication company in Canada is manipulating news coverage is disturbing.”
Shortly afterwards, Crull issued a statement admitting he “reached out to the CTV News leadership team” but that his intention was not to interfere editorially. His aim, Crull said, was to urge the CTV News team to focus not on the CRTC itself but on “a broad and necessary discussion of the impacts of the CRTC’s decisions on consumers, our team members, and our business.”
‘It was wrong of me…’—Bell president
Crull conceded, however, that his actions may have been interpreted as editorial interference.
“It was wrong of me to be anything but absolutely clear that editorial control always rests with the news team,” his statement said. “I have apologized to the team directly for this mistake.”
There have been several decisions made by the CRTC which have had negative consequences for Bell.
‘The sort of thing people were afraid (of)’–professor
Media watchers have previously raised concerns about the concentration of media ownership in Canada and specifically about Bell’s wide holdings. Carleton University professor Christopher Waddell says this latest news is “a classic example of … when a company owns news media, it thinks it can influence what’s being printed, broadcast or published.”
“It’s the sort of thing people were afraid was going to happen,” he said.
A senior news employee with CTV did ignore Crull’s suggestions and used a comment from Blais in his report. Crull concluded the “strong and straightforward reaction to my intrusion only heightens my appreciation of their (news department employee’s) independence, integrity and professionalism.”
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