CBC to update language guidelines after leaked memo sparks criticism over 9/11 reporting

CBC/Radio-Canada is updating its language standards after coming under fire over a leaked internal memo that informed journalists not to refer to the Sept. 11 al-Qaeda attacks on New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., as “terrorism.” As first reported by the Toronto Sun, the memo reminded reporters of the CBC’s language guidelines (which require attribution to label an event as terrorism) ahead of their reporting on the 25th anniversary of the attacks. In a Thursday press release, Conservative Heritage critic Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, Alta.) rebuked the public broadcaster for the directive, saying it “diminishes the reality of what actually occurred and is an insult to the victims, their families and everyone who lived through the horror of that day.” “9/11 was a terrorist attack, plain and simple. Thousands of innocent people, including 24 Canadians, were killed by al-Qaeda that day: a listed terrorist entity under the Criminal Code and led by the murderous terrorist, Osama bin Laden,” she wrote. The criticism also followed the public broadcaster across the border, with Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), weighing in on X. “Any agency in Canada that doesn’t publicly reject this bastardization of history, and an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in US history will no longer have friend in this FBI… Not to mention our heroes that responded in the aftermath,” he wrote. Sharing Patel’s post, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra added, “Failure to recognize and confront radical and terrorist ideologies significantly endangers our efforts to establish and harmonize a shared national and economic security partnership.” In an editor’s blog published on Friday, Basem Boshra, senior director of journalistic standards and public trust, addressed the criticism and announced CBC would be changing its standards to no longer require attribution when labelling 9/11 as a terrorist attack. “The confusion stems from the leak of an excerpt from our internal language guide that was published and amplified by a number of outlets without full context or explanation,” he wrote. “It has caused significant concern, anger and hurt for many people who believe CBC News seeks to minimize or obscure the horror of that day and who was behind it.” “That is the last thing we want to do.” Despite CBC’s standards for identifying events as terrorism, Boshra wrote, the broadcaster has never argued the 9/11 attacks were not an act of terrorism. Boshra’s editorial said CBC has decided to adjust its standards to “remove what has unfortunately (and unintentionally) become an impediment to clarity and public understanding.” “At the same time,” he wrote, “as new acts of politically or ideologically motivated violence occur in our world, we will continue to follow the journalistically sound practice of attributing causes and motivations to officials and experts.” mcollins@thewirereport.ca

CBC to update language guidelines after leaked memo sparks criticism over 9/11 reporting

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By Maria Collins
|August 28, 2026

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CBC to update language guidelines after leaked memo sparks criticism over 9/11 reporting

Broadcast | By Maria Collins |August 28, 2026

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