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The Republican Party has revoked CBC/Radio-Canada’s media accreditation for the party’s upcoming midterm convention.
Chuck Thompson, the head of public affairs at CBC, confirmed on Monday that the Republican National Committee (RNC) would no longer provide accreditation for CBC/Radio-Canada journalists to cover the convention in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 9 and 10.
Thompson said in a written statement that CBC was reviewing the RNC’s decision.
“It is a disappointing development; we hope it will be reconsidered.”
Convention organizers did not immediately respond to CBC News’ emailed requests for comment on Monday evening.
The White House referred CBC’s questions to the RNC. CBC News was not able to reach the committee by phone Monday evening.
The revocation comes as tensions between Canada and the United States have soared amid a new wave of tit-for-tat sanctions and heated rhetoric from politicians on both sides of the border.
Republican lawmakers and Trump administration officials also recently criticized CBC after a leaked internal memo from the public broadcaster regarding the use of the words “terrorism” and “terrorist” in relation to the 9/11 attacks drew international attention.
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The memo referred to a longstanding policy that had instructed CBC journalists to “generally avoid labelling any specific bombing or other assault as a ‘terrorist act’ unless this term is attributed.”
It drew widespread condemnation ahead of the 25-year anniversary of 9/11 next month.
“What possible motive could there be for sanitizing the worst terrorist attack on American soil? Care to explain, @Canada?” a group of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote on social media on Thursday.
On Friday, Basem Boshra, CBC’s senior director of journalistic standards and public trust, said that after reviewing the public broadcaster’s current language guidance, “we have decided to adjust it to clarify that direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism.”
“We are doing so to remove what has unfortunately (and unintentionally) become an impediment to clarity and public understanding,” Boshra said.
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