In an oped in today's National Post by Michael Coren (available free online), the journalist and broadcaster recounts the story of how he was unceremoniously dumped from a planned appearance on CBC News Sunday last week for absolutely no reason:
At 6 p.m. on Saturday I received a call from a seemingly embarrassed Ms. Malik. "I'm afraid I have to tell you that we're cancelling you for the morning. I'm so sorry. I do apologize for the inconvenience." I replied that it was indeed rather inconvenient because I had rearranged my Sunday to accommodate her, and that it was purely fortuitous that she had caught me at home. But, I continued, the greater point was why I was being cancelled.
"Well, we've just had our meeting and it was decided to change the panel."
I asked if the panel was being changed because of me. There was a pause. And then, "I have to be honest, I'm not going to lie or beat around the bush. Yes, it was."
I asked how many people were at the meeting and was told there were "about 10." I asked who some of them were but was told, "it would be unprofessional of me to tell you that."
When I pushed for a more full explanation, the thickness of the plot became ludicrous. "We have to book panels that work together." Fine, I replied, you don't actually have a panel yet and the only person you are cancelling is myself. Mr. Laghi, the other panellist and someone I don't even know, has not been cancelled and no third panellist yet booked. And, anyway, why would this panel not work?
There was no explanation.
Read the whole article, because frankly, it is scandalous. There's no better way to expose the CBC's bias than with examples like this. It will be interesting to see if this story is picked up on by Antonia Zerbisias and other media commentators in the coming days.
UPDATE: A Zerb is on the case, citing this blog in her post as an example of how the Coren incident "is giving comfort to CBC's enemies." Comfort? Not really. Maybe mild anger or disgust, but more than anything just shrugged shoulders.
