a screenshot of a email

WOW – Drama with Air Canada and CBC!

If you follow the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canada’s public broadcaster, you’ve probably noted a significant number of articles that rag on Air Canada. In my opinion, often times these stories are warranted since Air Canada did “do bad.” However, it is notable how frequent these stories are (it feels almost weekly), and they are consistent in their condemnation of Air Canada.

Air Canada just posted this on their Facebook (seems like a rogue employee to me – I bet it will be deleted soon):

a screenshot of a email

I gather that CBC The Sunday Edition producer, Talin Vartanian, wrote to Air Canada asking about Air Canada’s boarding procedures. Talin did not get a response after a number of follow-up emails. Eventually, Air Canada replied to Talin with detailed (and professional) responses. Then the bomb drops…

In what appears to be an accidental “reply all” email, Michael Enright, the host of The Sunday Edition, wrote:

We can skip all the bullshit. The bottom line is we say “Air Canada continues to employ the least efficient and most time consuming boarding system.”

This seems, on its face, to be a serious issue regarding journalistic integrity, and certainly demonstrates a bias against Air Canada at the CBC. While I’m surprised Air Canada posted this in a rather unprofessional way on their Facebook account, it is enlightening indeed.

What do you think? 

a screenshot of a email

a screenshot of a screenshot of a test

a screenshot of a screenshot of a text

a screenshot of a email

5 Comments

  1. i was surprised when i saw that too. As of 4pm ET that post is still up, 2 hours after initial posting. Maybe it’s actually legit ?

    1. on FB comments of AC post :

      CBC*
      We’d like everyone to know that this correspondence was an internal email shared in error, and both Mr. Enright and the producers of The Sunday Edition have contacted Air Canada directly to address the mistake and apologize for the content of the message.

      As per our commitment to our journalistic standards and practices, we can assure you that there are checks and balances in place to ensure unbiased reporting, and this will be the case when the segment of The Sunday Edition in question airs in the coming weeks.

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