
Rochelle Wilner President	Frank Dimant Chief Executive Officer	Prof. Stephen Scheinberg National Chair	Ruth Klein National Director of Advocacy

1998 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents

NEWSPAPERS AND THE MEDIA

B’nai Brith has maintained that the issue of asking printed publications, radio and television stations not to publish racist, sexist, homophobic or antisemitic content is not about censorship but rather is about maintaining editorial standards. All media have to make decisions based on merit as to what is broadcast and what is not. Denying press coverage to people whose beliefs are generally considered to be morally repugnant is no more an issue of freedom of the press than if a radio station denied air time to horrible music that requires no talent and, as such, is undeserving of being played. Allowing some material to be broadcast while other material is not, is the duty of responsible broadcasting networks to guarantee quality control and standards. The League is actively involved in trying to inform and alert the media about the victim impact of racist activity and to highlight the problem of giving legitimacy to racist groups who are granted air time. Every year B’nai Brith Canada rewards those journalists and editors in the media who best use their various media outlets to educate and inform the public about racism and to promote human rights. The Media Human Rights Awards are a way for the League, which is often critical of the media, to reward and congratulate those who report violations of human rights in a responsible and constructive way.

But the media can fuel the fires of racism and antisemitism by blowing incidents out of proportion to create news. In 1998, the alleged comments made by hockey legend Bobby Hull received an extraordinary amount of media attention. Hull was quoted in the Moscow Times, a reputable English language paper, as saying “Hitler had some good ideas, he just went a little too far.” The Moscow Times went on to report that Hull had stated that Hitler’s plan of a master race was not without merit, and the Black population of the United States was growing too quickly. When asked if it would be fair to refer to what he said as racist, he is reported to have said, “I don’t give a damn, I am not running for political office.”

Bobby Hull avidly denied the alleged comments saying they were “false and defamatory” and launched a lawsuit against the Moscow Times and the Toronto Sun, who first broke the story in Canada. If Hull wins his lawsuit, this will serve as an important lesson to the media about responsibility of the press. Newspapers and other media realize only too well that stories about racism sell, and they might need to exercise more caution. If Hull loses his case, this will serve as an important reminder about the moral accountability of those in the public eye. In a year when reported antisemitic incidents in school yards and junior sports have increased, celebrities and the media need to exercise caution and responsibility when dealing with issues of racism and antisemitism.

The need for newspapers to exercise caution and to use editorial standards in not printing everything that comes along can also be illustrated by a recent incident involving a local paper in the Toronto Beaches area. It was suggested that a local park be named after a man who was a member of Toronto’s Swastika club in the 1930’s. One of the community papers, the Town Crier printed an editorial from a man who admitted. “I harbour negative views about the Jews”. The editorial was not primarily about the park, but rather a scathing antisemitic diatribe about Jews in Canada. When the League called to complain, the editor explained that the paper’s policy was to publish all letters regardless of content, as long as the writers identified themselves with a name and address. After increased community pressure, the paper published an apology, but not before offending much of its readership by allowing itself to hit the lowest common denominator that one would expect from a white supremacist organization, not from a local community newspaper.

The League also documented another disturbing trend in 1998. Its monitoring efforts have brought to light antisemitic articles from foreign newspapers that are being sold in Canada. A newspaper from Poland ran an article about a Jewish conspiracy and how Jews control the United States government. Complaints have also been received about the Arab press and a recent article in a German newspaper. The monitoring of the foreign press is a difficult task, but it is clear that there are continued attempts to exacerbate antisemitism in some of Canada’s immigrant communities. We can only hope to achieve multiculturalism through constant vigilance in fighting antisemitism and racism in all of Canada’s ethnic communities.