Call-To-Action: Demand for CBC to Report the FDA News!

[rachelcoffe]

Hi everyone!

OK, so it's now been a week since the FDA admitted final defeat in the United States on electronic cigarettes. Countless big-name media/news outlets have reported this landmark news...ABC News, CBS News, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP (Associated Press), the Wall Street Journal...to name just a few.

But CBC has not! They've completely neglected to report this landmark news - not even a blurb. Why? After all, they've written a good number of stories on e-cigs in the past...stories that "coincidentally" often had negative, biased, unbalanced slants to them. So why are they ignoring this landmark pro-vaping news? Because it's news they don't apparently like...and by failing to report it, they create the misleading impression in the minds of many Canadians visiting cbc.ca et cetera that nothing has happened. Censorship by omission is the only logical explanation.

The CBC is acting like nothing happened last week...when something huge did happen!

We're not asking them to say whether the news is good or bad...but we do demand that they at least report the news to some degree, when it happens.

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It's time for us to take action!

We want to invite as many of you as possible to write to the following five programming executives at CBC. Ask them why the hell they haven't reported this story yet, when countless big-name news agencies have. Demand that they report the news, ASAP. And at your discretion, let them know that if they do not report the news soon...that we will file formal complaints against them personally & pursue such to the fullest extent!

These following executives are directly responsible for the programming (and/or lack thereof) on CBC. Nothing gets onto CBC without their approval. So they are personally responsible for the omission of the landmark FDA news on CBC! Write them today!

Esther Enkin - esther.enkin@cbc.ca
Gino Apponi - gino.apponi@cbc.ca
Bob Campbell - bob.campbell@cbc.ca
Amanda Pyle - amanda.pyle@cbc.ca
Jennifer McGuire - jennifer.mcguire@cbc.ca​

We recommend sending one letter at a time - you're more likely to make an impact this way than by sending one email with all five addresses in the 'send' field.

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For those of you who prefer a pre-written letter, feel free to use ours. You can modify it, or add to it, as you see fit. Here it is:



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Dear Ms. Enkin,

I am writing to you to enquire whether or not CBC (CBC News - CBC television - and cbc.ca, online) will be reporting on the landmark news that occurred in the United States on Monday, April 25th, 2011...when the FDA:

- admitted final defeat on the issue of electronic cigarettes
- agreed to cease pursuing any further appeals for electronic cigarettes to be regulated as pharmaceutical drug-delivery devices
- and agreed to regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco products from here on in (provided that they make no therapeutic claims & are not marketed as smoking-cessation products).

This is huge news. ABC News, CBS News, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP (Associated Press), the Wall Street Journal - they've all reported it, as have hundreds of other outlets. So why hasn't the CBC? Will the CBC report the news as it happens...or will you folks censor stories such as the above, by intentional omission?

Canadians deserve to be fully, objectively informed. You've run stories on e-cigs before, several of which we would reasonably deem as negative & biased...or unbalanced, shall we say. Now that the FDA has admitted final defeat on this issue - now that this has actually happened - you owe it to Canadians to report that news.

Please bear in mind that if coverage of this story, by CBC, is not forthcoming within a reasonable period of time...then we will initiate formal complaint procedures against you & the other programming executives at CBC & pursue such to the fullest extent.

I await your reply, & thank you in advance for such.

Sincerely,


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With every email we send, we will ratchet up the pressure & let these executives know that the Canadian public will not stand idly by while our public broadcaster censors the news through glaring omission.

We did something like this back in December...and we won!! So this time, let's him 'em ten times as hard! The news is much bigger in this go-around. It's up to us to demand that CBC report it!

Best of luck everyone --- thank you for adding your voice to the pressure on CBC --- and keep on vaping!!!

 

[earthpig]

Go get em, Canada!

 

[Katmandu]

Rachel,

What about CTV - did they report anything?

 

[rachelcoffe]

Rachel,

What about CTV - did they report anything?

They did not, hon...unfortunately. However, CTV is a privately owned network (owned by Bell, in fact). CBC on the other hand is much more accountable to us in this case, since they are our publicly-funded public broadcaster...the flagship in Canadian media.

 

[Concat]

It's crazy how ecigs have been out for around 5 years and yet most people I know have never heard of them.

 

[smokum]

We did something like this back in December...and we won!!

How did we "win" ??

I don't remember a follow up, or announcement, following that topic by the CBC (not meaning I didn't miss it, which certainly is most likely in my own battles going on at the moment).... was there ever a correction of omission ?

 

[rachelcoffe]

How did we "win" ??

I don't remember a follow up, or announcement, following that topic by the CBC (not meaning I didn't miss it, which certainly is most likely in my own battles going on at the moment).... was there ever a correction of omission ?

Hey there, smokum.

CBC did eventually report the Dec 7th ruling against the FDA, on Dec 17th - after we got the emails rolling. At first, we were just asking. Then, we asked more insistently. Then after a number of days had passed, we finally threatened to file the formal complaints. The very next day, the news was reported in a CBC story. Granted, they buried it in the second half of a smoking-related story. But it was a win, regardless.

This story is much bigger, and we expect far better this time. It also has Canadian ramifications too. HC is not legally obligated to care what America does or doesn't do...but it faces political pressure to keep in step with the FDA. It was that same pressure that motivated them to issue their weak little 'warning' in March 2009, after the FDA began massive e-cig seizures in 2008. Certainly CBC would not be out of place to speculate on what the FDA's final defeat on this issue might mean in the way of coming changes from Health Canada.

But bottom line - we just want CBC to report the damn news. In fact, they are obligated to do so. And when major news agencies, as well as hundreds of smaller ones, are reporting this news...while CBC sits silently, pretending that nothing happened, thereby misleading its readers/viewers...that must not stand unchallenged.

Let's make our voices heard, everyone!!

 

[SilverWorx]

Thank you Rachel ... I have sent individual emails off using your pre-written email

 

[AlbertaClipper]

I could send those letters off...but I wouldn't know if it worked cuz I hate watching the CBC....

 

[Katmandu]

Letters sent Rachel!

My mom and dad like to watch the CBC news - I'm sure they will call if there's something on there about ecigs.