Western Standard - July 06, 2023


Smith says she did not want to drag on lawsuit against CBC


Episode Stats

Length

2 minutes

Words per Minute

144.52312

Word Count

347

Sentence Count

25


Summary

In this episode, Alberta s Attorney General criticizes the handling of the Coots case by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the lack of an apology from the broadcaster. She also criticizes media coverage of the case and calls for fair, accurate and balanced reporting.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 You demanded an apology from CBC for their story about the Coots incident, and they issued a retraction.
00:00:10.000 Why do you consider a case closed when they didn't issue an apology?
00:00:13.820 I think that they expressed regret, which I appreciated, and I'm glad that they acknowledged that their story was incorrect.
00:00:22.240 So I do feel vindicated, and I want to make sure that I have a good relationship with the media.
00:00:30.240 The media has important work to do, which is why when they make mistakes like that, they should correct them.
00:00:35.760 They should correct them quickly so that the public can continue to have confidence that what they're reading is true.
00:00:41.800 Because I think what happened is a lot of other media just assumed that CBC had done its due diligence, and so a lot of media compounded the error.
00:00:48.920 So I think that this is just an advisory for everyone.
00:00:52.400 My only expectation is that we have fair, accurate, and balanced news coverage.
00:00:58.360 And I hope that the CBC does better in the future, and I'll hold them to that.
00:01:03.840 This story came out soon before the Alberta election.
00:01:06.560 Do you believe it was intended to cause maximum political damage to you?
00:01:09.980 Why or why not?
00:01:10.880 Well, the sad part was that when I told them that they were in error,
00:01:16.320 they took so long to issue an apology and a correction.
00:01:22.520 Even during the election, when it was pretty clear from the investigation that Marguerite Tressler had done,
00:01:30.480 that there was no direct correspondence with my office and any Crown prosecutors.
00:01:35.820 They could have chosen then to issue a correction.
00:01:37.500 They chose not to.
00:01:38.220 It's been five weeks post-election, so I suppose it's better late than never.
00:01:42.080 But I think that media has to be very mindful that when they make these kinds of allegations,
00:01:47.380 their story has to be fair, it has to be accurate, it has to be balanced.
00:01:51.060 And when they are wrong, they need to correct quickly.
00:01:53.760 Thank you.
00:01:54.420 Thanks, John.
00:01:55.140 Have a great day.
00:02:07.360 Bye.
00:02:08.020 Bye.
00:02:09.040 Bye.
00:02:12.040 Bye.
00:02:22.260 Bye.