Broadcast Council response to complaint re McGuinty appointee

Yesterday I received the following e-mail from the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, in response to my complaint about news channel CP24. The complaint is detailed in my February 20th post, "Conflict of Interest Complaint re McGuinty Appointee." My e-mail in response to the CBSC is also below.

Dear Mrs. (sic) Tintor,

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has received your correspondence concerning news anchor David Onley which is broadcast on CityPULSE 24.

Please note that the CBSC is unable to deal with the December 6th interview (since broadcasters are only required to hold copies of the logger tapes for a period of 28 days following the broadcast).?However, we will be dealing with the February 7th broadcast.

Therefore, by copy of this email, we are asking CityPULSE 24 to respond to the concerns you have raised and to hold a copy of the logger tape of the broadcast which concerned you. This is always the first step taken by the CBSC in pursuing a complaint. You should know that broadcasters who are members of the CBSC take their responsibility to respond to audience concerns very seriously. The dialogue between broadcasters and members of their audience is a cornerstone of the CBSC's complaints resolution process. Concerns are often resolved satisfactorily through this dialogue phase. We hope that the response you will receive from CityPULSE 24 within the next 21 days will resolve the issues you have raised to your satisfaction. If, however, after you have received and carefully considered the broadcaster's response you remain concerned, you may request a Ruling by a CBSC Panel by filing the form available on our website at http://www.cbsc.ca/english/complaints/rulingrequest.htm. You should do so within 14 days of receiving the broadcaster's response. More information on the CBSC complaints process is available on our website in the FAQ section (http://www.cbsc.ca/english/faqs/index.htm).

The CBSC is a national voluntary self-regulatory organization created by Canada's private broadcasters to deal with complaints made by viewers or listeners about programs which they have seen or heard broadcast on a member station.?The CBSC administers four industry codes, namely a code of ethics, a code concerning television violence, a code concerning sex-role stereotyping and a code of journalistic ethics, which set out the guidelines for television and radio programming.

Sincerely,

Nicole Lafrance
CBSC Correspondence Officer

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From : joan tintor
Sent : March 8, 2006 8:01:28 PM
To : nlafrance@cbsc.ca
Subject : RE: Your complaint concerning conflict of interest (CBSC File C05/06-1200)

Thank you for your response to my complaint.

I would like to reiterate that the substance of my complaint is not any particular broadcast or interview in which Mr. Onley participated or may participate in in the future, but the continuing conflict that arises from his being a political appointee of the Ontario government at the same time that he is an anchor who reports news and interviews public figures.

Thank you for dealing with my complaint and I look forward to CP24's response.

Joan Tintor