The Independent Press Gallery, politicians, and a former CBC journalist are weighing in after reports said the CBC had taken one of its veteran reporters off the air for posts he made while recording an anti-Zionist protest outside a synagogue service on Yom Kippur.
Neil Herland, the long-time CBC broadcast journalist who was reportedly “taken off the air” by the CBC, posted a video of himself walking towards a synagogue service being hosted at the Meridian Arts Centre in Toronto on Yom Kippur.
His statements on the matter were posted to social media, where he expressed the fear Jewish people have in Canada in the present day, allegedly led to the state broadcaster holding disciplinary meetings with Herland and eventually taking him “off the air.”
When asked to comment on and confirm that Herland had been taken off the air, CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson told Juno News that the state broadcaster was aware of the reports but would not comment further to protect Herland’s privacy.
The Independent Press Gallery (IPG), an organization interested in protecting the rights of journalists who don’t take government handouts, released a statement on Saturday, condemning the CBC for pulling Herland off the air, and supporting Herland’s right to free expression despite Herland not holding a membership with the IPG.
“Herland, a CBC Radio journalist for 30 years, attended services held by The Song Shul at the Meridian Arts Centre on Yom Kippur. He documented the protesters gathered outside, who were recorded shouting ‘Zionist alert’ and ‘You’re going to hell!’ through a megaphone,” the IPG said in the statement. “The congregation’s leader has described Herland’s account as ‘journalistically accurate.’”
The IPG stated that recording events in a public place and reporting them to the public “is not misconduct.”
“It is journalism. It is not the role of a public broadcaster to punish its journalists for doing their jobs to appease activist groups. Its role is to defend their right to report,” the IPG statement reads. “Neil Herland is not a member of the IPG. But press freedom is not a membership benefit. It belongs to every journalist and every Canadian, as guaranteed by Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
The Independent Media Union called on the Canadian Media Guild, CBC reporter’s union, the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Parliamentary Press Gallery to all stand up against the CBC’s reported disciplinary actions and for Herland’s rights.
In a post on X released on Saturday, Travis Dhanraj, who’s had his own trials facing censorship from the national broadcaster, called out the CBC as well, stating that the CBC’s “own former Ombudsman” said in a ruling that a journalist’s “lived experience” can “rest comfortably within journalistic standards.
“The double standard is appalling. Neil is a friend, as is the journalist the Ombudsman ruled on. Neil Herland was one of the first to reach out to me when I called CBC out,” Dhanraj said. “I won’t forget that. CBC has spent years plastering ‘diversity’ and ‘lived experience’ on billboards, in commercials and throughout its corporate messaging.”
He said the principles of “diversity and lived experience” aren’t something that the CBC can “switch off when it becomes uncomfortable.”
“Neil Herland belongs back on the air,” Dhanraj said. “I hope the union is fighting like hell for him, but I doubt it.”
Conservative MP and Canada-U.S. trade critic Shuv Majumdar similarly released a statement blasting the CBC.
“A mob blocked a synagogue on Yom Kippur. A CBC journalist filmed it. He is now off the air and under investigation….Taxpayers fund this,” he said.
CBC could care less. They will continue to promote Liberal policy, including antisemitism, because their masters are in charge.