Story perspectives

CBC Memo Bars Calling Sept. 11 Attacks Terrorist Attacks

8/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

CBC issued a memo instructing journalists not to label the September 11 attacks as terrorist attacks.
Basem Boshra, director of journalistic standards and public trust, drafted the guidance.
Conservative MP Rachel Thomas called the memo ‘absolutely shameful’ and said it downplays the atrocity.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather urged CBC to keep describing September 11 as a terrorist attack.
CBC said the rule reflects a decades-old policy and is unrelated to U.S.–Canada tensions.

History

Historical Context

In April 1995 Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people and launched the FBI’s massive OKBOMB investigation, which conducted 28,000 interviews. The debate over labeling the attack as terrorism reappeared in 2024 when CBC standards director Basem Boshra memo instructed journalists to omit “terrorist” for the September 11 attacks, prompting criticism from MPs such as Rachel Thomas.

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Story summary

CBC issued a memo instructing journalists not to label the September 11 attacks as terrorist attacks.
Basem Boshra, director of journalistic standards and public trust, drafted the guidance.
Conservative MP Rachel Thomas called the memo ‘absolutely shameful’ and said it downplays the atrocity.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather urged CBC to keep describing September 11 as a terrorist attack.
CBC said the rule reflects a decades-old policy and is unrelated to U.S.–Canada tensions.

1 / 2