CBC Hypes Black Lives Matter as ‘Worldwide Rallying Cry’

Canada’s state broadcaster, the CBC, described the Black Lives Matter movement as a “worldwide rallying cry” and “digital civil rights movement,” connecting two police-related deaths of black men in Canada to the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Sandra Bland.

The genesis of the movement, according to the article, is said to be the killing of Trayvon Martin — described as an “unarmed black teen” — by George Zimmerman. No other context surrounding this event is provided. The killing of Michael Brown is then described as the next chapter of the movement, said to be the flashpoint of its becoming “an international phenomenon.” Brown is described as “an unarmed black man,” with Darren Wilson as a “white police officer.” Again, no other context regarding Brown’s death is provided. In both cases, months of American media coverage revealed numerous facts that point to the incidents being far more complex than initially advertised.

The article quotes a “black studies professor” who describes the movement as an “organic reaction to police violence,” neglecting to mention the top-down impact of major media outlets like CNN and NBC in shaping perceptions.

No mention is made of professional protesters involved in the movement, either. While praising the movement as “the touchstone for a new generation of voices that challenged the organizational structure of civil rights activists of the previous generation,” the article continuously suffers from a lack of exposition, failing to add context that casts #BlackLivesMatter in the skeptical light many Americans have grown to see it in.

The separate killings of two black men in Canada by law enforcement, one in Toronto and another in Brampton, are integrated into the Black Lives Matter narrative. Again, no context beyond the fact that black men were killed by police is provided. The article provides no background regarding the individuals involved, the socioeconomic settings of the incidents, or the history (if any) of Canadian police incidents. There is no link provided between deaths in Canada and the United States, only that black men were killed by the police forces of two different nations.

The article continues by tying Black Lives Matter to anti-Israel hate profile OpIsrael on Twitter, drawing on the linkage fostered by anti-Israel hate sites like Electronic Intifada and Mondoweiss. This continues a long history of leftist media attempting to tie American civil rights movements generally to anti-Israel hate movements.

The CBC received over $1 billion in direct funding from the federal government for the fiscal year 2013-2014.  This number has remained relatively steady in recent years, and composes the majority of the CBC’s revenue.  Unlike NPR and disjointed local broadcasters in the United States, the CBC is one of Canada’s largest media megaphones, with the CBC describing itself as one of Canada’s “largest cultural institutions.” A 2012 report indicated that the CBC owned one-fifth of all television resources in Canada, to say nothing of its heavy presence in radio and online.