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Last night (September 22, 2017), the Fifth Estate (CBC) aired an episode about the “pit bull debate”. We watched it so you don’t have to. Seriously. It’s a confusing mess of an episode and you gain nothing by watching it. You’ll only be giving CBC the clicks and advertising revenue they are counting on by choosing sensationalism over journalism.We have posted an outline below and will be publishing a media critique in several parts over the next week. It's important to deconstruct this sort of coverage and hold reporters accountable. If you did watch it and are aching to respond,...

This week's #BSLbytes are devoted to analyzing and deconstructing the most recent episode of CBC's The Fifth Estate titled “Pit Bulls Unleashed”. If you are not familiar with this piece, see Saturday’s #BSLbyte for an outline. An ethical reporter seeks balanced, non-biased reporting. They try to show “both sides” of an issue. This is harder than you might think. Assuming there are two camps to an issue, there might be multiple perspectives within those camps. It’s not always easy, but we rely on reporters to make an honest effort, and to correct themselves when they don't live up to a journalistic standard. How did...

Fasten your seatbelts as we continue our analysis of the most recent episode of CBC's The Fifth Estate titled “Pit Bulls Unleashed”. We don’t recommend watching it, but you can read our outline on Saturday’s #BSLbyte. Overall, this episode wasn’t about the “pit bull” debate or the pros and cons of breed-specific legislation. It simply advanced the position that there is an organized and established “pit bull lobby”. The "lobby" was described at various times as: ** powerful ** US-based ** Million-dollar ** Fueled by Best Friends Animal Society and their No-Kill movement ** Working to get “…troubled dogs out of shelters and into your home” Can we just...

We continue our commentary on CBC's recent episode of The Fifth Estate titled “Pit Bulls Unleashed”. We don’t recommend watching it, but you can read our outline on Saturday’s #BSLbyte. If you have been following our last few #bslbytes, you’ll know that there’s very little in this news piece we can agree with. But what if we told you there were a few points that did make some sense? Before you hover over the “unfollow” button, hang tight and hear us out. There was a portion of the episode that focused on the role of shelters and rescues. The report profiled a...

Man, we want to stop talking about the train wreck that was Friday’s The Fifth Estate episode on CBC. We really, really do. But the wreckage keeps burning and we can’t let it go. Sorry, guys. We continue to recommend that you do NOT watch it and we promise we will return to regularly scheduled #BSLbytes soon. But here’s the latest. Following all the feedback CBC received about the show, host Mark Kelley made himself available for a Q&A yesterday to address questions. Did he address the many obvious criticisms of the “Pit Bulls Unleashed” episode? 1. Lack of balance in reporting...