Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has circulated a memo to reporters and editors instructing them not to refer to them as “terrorist attacks.”
This was first reported on by Canadian journalist Warren Kinsella, who received the memo. CBC then confirmed the existence of the memo to The Jerusalem Post.
According to the screenshot of the memo shared by Kinsella, the memo was authored by Basem Boshra, senior director of journalistic standards and public trust at CBC News, to reporters and editors.
In bold letters, Boshra states the attacks are not to be referred to as terrorist attacks.
He then said that “the hijackings led to passenger jet crashes in Washington, DC, Pennsylvania and Manhattan. The World Trade Center was destroyed.”
CBC spokeswoman Kerry Kelly told the Post that it is the practice of the CBC to “exercise extreme caution before using the words terrorist and terrorism.”
“The memo was a reminder of the longstanding practice that favors the use of these terms with attribution in our reporting,” she said.
She also pointed the Post to an October 2023 blog by Brodie Fenlon, CBC news editor-in-chief and general manager, where he said “CBC News does not itself designate specific groups as terrorists, or specific acts as terrorism, regardless of the region or the events, because these words are so loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that they can end up being impediments to our journalism.”
“While the language is not seriously disputed in some cases, it’s less clear if not highly contested at other times – which can lead to virtually endless questions about consistency and impartiality in our coverage of various attacks around the world,” he advised.
Fenlon said this rule applies to the attacks against the United States in 2001, which CBC News prefers to call “the Sept. 11 attacks,” as well as the deadly suicide bombing at an airport in Moscow in January 2011, the London bombings in July 2005, and the Madrid train bombings in March 2004.
Canadian MP Rachel Thomas said the memo is “absolutely shameful.”
Memo 'downplays the atrocity of 9/11'
“The CBC is choosing to redefine terrorism in a way that downplays the atrocity of 9/11. Refusing to call it an act of terrorism dishonors the victims, their families, the survivors, and the first responders who witnessed the horrors of that day. 9/11 was an act of terrorism. Full stop.”
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster for both radio and television. It received over $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding in 2025-26.