28 May Steve and Stéphane

ATV’s CTV Atlantic’s domination of supper hour television reflects an unerring ear for Maritime sensibilities. Host Steve Murphy is affable, respectful, and moderate, and these qualities draw viewers in droves.

They were not on display, however, on October 9, 2008, when CTV officials chose to break an earlier undertaking and air three false starts of a mid-campaign interview with then-Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, who stumbled repeatedly in response to an awkwardly worded question from Murphy.

(The National Post’s Colby Cosh wittily dissected the grammatical minefield underlying the Francophone Dion’s incomprehension of Anglophone Murphy’s question.)

CTV Atlantic News Director Jay Witherbee gamely defends the network decision, contending that politicians cannot expect mulligans in election campaigns. Contrarian is more inclined to the view of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council panel that reproached the network this week.

[The panel] considers that restarts and retakes are a common, not a rare, occurrence. The decision to extend such a courtesy was neither unreasonable nor even unusual. The Panel considers that this courtesy was the moreso justified in light of the poorly framed question….

In the view of the Panel, if Mr. Murphy did not have the authority to make such an agreement, he ought not to have made it. Having made it, the broadcaster ought to have stood behind him.

A separate panel criticized former CTV host Mike Duffy for airing the false starts without the rest of the interview on his national program. The fact that Duffy departed journalism for a Tory Senate seat shortly after the election imparts a sour taste to the episode.

Dion’s shaky grasp of English was a legitimate issue, and reporters bristle at any suggestion they should withhold relevant information. But the Maritime viewers Murphy understands so well would likely side with the panel.