This conversation on CBC radio about the media's willingness to republish the Charlie Hebdo Mohammed cartoons took place among its Director of Journalistic Practices and Standards David Studer, The National Post's Andrew Coyne, and Denise Bombardier of the Journal de Montreal .
The discussion on the Charlie Hebdo massacre starts at about 6 minutes in. Coyne makes very salient points about the need to stand up for journalistic integrity and free speech, as does Ms Bombardier. My pal Tarek Fatah makes a statement which is encouraging and importantly reminds us that there are courageous secular Muslims who are willing to stand up for freedom.
The CBC's Studer's comments were, in my view, slimy, cowardly, and condescending. In other words, in explaining why Canada's state broadcaster would not actually dare to show the cartoons that got most of Charlie Hebdo's staff murdered by Islamist terrorists, he was a perfect representative of what our state broadcaster stands for.
Studer did a very bad job of defending a poor policy but anyone who knocks CBC Radio in general must be unaware of the alternatives in rural Canada.
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