CBC responds to my complaint about story omitting “Kill the pigs” chant at police protest

This is what I received in response to my complaint filed Aug 21 (see here) over the Sammy Yatim Toronto Police shooting story ran by the CBC:

Dear Mr. Skoreyko:

Thank you for your e-mail of August 21 addressed to Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman, drawing our attention to “pertinent” information that you feel was omitted from a CBCNews.ca story posted on July 29 under the headline, “Streetcar shooting protest march draws hundreds”. The protesters chanted “Kill the pigs”, you wrote, asking why that was not included in the CBC News story.

The protest was organized in response to the death of Sammy Yatim who was shot multiple times by a Toronto police officer after the 18-year-old brandished a knife on a TTC streetcar. Protesters gathered two days later to express their anger at the shooting. As the marchers neared the intersection in the city’s west end where the 18-year-old had been shot, Mr. D’Souza reported that they were heard chanting “Shame” and “We want justice”.

Mr. D’Souza says those were the predominant chants that were heard repeatedly.

He says that for a few seconds some members of the crowd chanted “Kill the pigs”, but quickly stopped, perhaps, he thought after recognizing the gravity of what they were saying. In any event, he said, the chant was quickly replaced by “Jail the pigs” and then dropped altogether. He says he did not include it his report because he felt it was not typical of the chants nor indicative of the mood or sentiment of the protest.

Thank you again for your e-mail. I hope my reply has reassured you of the continuing integrity of our news service.

It is also my responsibility to inform you that if you are not satisfied with this response, you may wish to submit the matter for review by the CBC Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman, an independent and impartial body reporting directly to the President, is responsible for evaluating program compliance with the CBC’s journalistic policies. The Ombudsman may be reached by mail at Box 500, Terminal A, Toronto M5W 1E6, or by fax at 416- 205-2825, or by e-mail at ombudsman@cbc.ca.

Sincerely,

Marissa Nelson

Senior Director of Digital Media CBC News Box 500, Station “A”, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6

cc. Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman.