CBC bans paid speaking appearances by its journalists

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has banned all outside paid appearances by its journalists, following almost a year of controversy over allegations of potential conflicts of interest, reports Simon Houpt of the Globe and Mail.

Houpt writes, “In a memo issued Thursday afternoon, the heads of news for the broadcaster’s separate English and French-language services, told staff: ‘Given that paid appearances can create an adverse impact on the Corporation, CBC/Radio-Canada will no longer approve paid appearances by its on-air journalistic employees. In order to further our commitment to transparency, we will continue to disclose all appearances on our websites.’

“The memo was signed by Jennifer McGuire, the general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News and Centres, and Michel Cormier, the executive director of Radio-Canada’s news operations.

“The move comes one month after news broke that Amanda Lang, the CBC’s senior business correspondent, accepted money last summer from the insurer Manulife for moderating a pair of seminars, and from Sun Life for giving a speech. This week, the former CBC journalist Frank Koller noted on his blog that, in addition to Ms. Lang, the broadcaster’s chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge has taken appearance fees from outside organizations in the past few months, as has Diane Buckner, Diana Swain, and Evan Solomon.”

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