Almost all of Canada’s major broadcasters are cracking down on political parties using their material in advertising, according to a report by CBC journalist James Fitz-Morris.
“As news organizations, the use of our content in political advertisements without our express consent may compromise our journalistic independence and call into question our journalistic ethics, standards and objectivity,” the broadcasters wrote.
The letter was sent to political parties Thursday (May 8) by representatives from the national public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, CTV, Rogers, and Shaw — which owns Global Television.
Broadcasters have for years complained to political parties about this practice, reports Fitz-Morris, but to no avail. Instead of taking the political parties to court for copyright infringement, the TV companies have mutually agreed not to air material that offends their standards.
Quebecor, the company that owns Sun TV and TVA, is the only major broadcaster not to sign the letter.
More information:
CBC News – Political parties blocked from using broadcasters’ content in ads – here
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