The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is defending an internal memo that instructed reporters and editors not to independently describe the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as “terrorist attacks,” saying the guidance reflects the public broadcaster’s longstanding policy of using terms such as “terrorist” and “terrorism” only with attribution, as reported by Fox News.

The memo, written by Basem Boshra, CBC News’ senior director of journalistic standards and public trust, surfaced ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

It was first reported by Toronto Sun columnist Warren Kinsella, who said the directive was sent to CBC News staff.

“Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks,” the memo said.

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Instead, the guidance described the events as hijackings that resulted in passenger jet crashes in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Manhattan, while also noting that the World Trade Center was destroyed.

CBC Public Affairs Director Kerry Kelly defended the memo in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“It is the practice of the CBC to exercise extreme caution before using the words ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism,’” Kelly said.

“The memo was a reminder of the longstanding practice that favours the use of these terms with attribution in our reporting.”

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The policy drew sharp criticism from political leaders and Jewish advocacy groups in Canada and the United States.

New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino called the guidance an insult to the victims of the attacks and accused the broadcaster of distorting the historical record.

“The CBC guidance is frankly outrageous and insulting, but it stands as a stark warning for what happens when you allow institutions of public trust to be taken over by leftists and foreign interests,” Paladino said.

“This is not merely a callous disregard for the memory of those who perished on 9/11; it is a deliberate effort to undermine the fundamental truth of what happened that day in direct service to Islamism, as Europe, Canada, and the United States become increasingly overwhelmed by Islamist politics. We must not tolerate it any longer and dedicate ourselves to fighting this poison with every tool we have available before it’s too late,” she continued.

Conservative Canadian Member of Parliament Rachael Thomas, who represents Lethbridge, Alberta, also condemned the directive, calling it “absolutely shameful.”

“The CBC is choosing to redefine terrorism in a way that downplays the atrocity of 9/11. Refusing to call it an act of terrorism dishonors the victims, their families, the survivors, and the first responders who witnessed the horrors of that day. 9/11 was an act of terrorism. Full stop,” Thomas said.

This is absolutely shameful. ⁰The CBC is choosing to redefine terrorism in a way that downplays the atrocity of 9/11. ⁰Refusing to call it an act of terrorism dishonours the victims, their families, the survivors, and the first responders who witnessed the horrors of that day.… pic.twitter.com/svqqyk65fq

— Rachael Thomas (@RachaelThomasAB) August 26, 2026

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also criticized the memo, arguing that describing the attacks merely as hijackings that resulted in crashes amounted to “sanitizing” history and represented a “collapse of journalistic standards.”

CBC officials, however, pointed to an established editorial policy rather than a new rule specifically created for the upcoming anniversary.

In a 2023 editor’s blog, CBC News general manager and editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon explained why the network generally avoids independently assigning terrorism labels to organizations or events.

“We bear witness. But CBC News does not itself designate specific groups as terrorists, or specific acts as terrorism, regardless of the region or the events, because these words are so loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that they can end up being impediments to our journalism,” Fenlon said.

According to the public guidance, CBC prefers phrases such as “the Sept. 11 attacks” and applies a similar attribution-based approach to other major attacks, including the 2005 London bombings, the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the 2011 bombing at a Moscow airport.

The policy stands in contrast to how U.S. and Canadian government agencies officially describe the events of Sept. 11.

The FBI has identified the attacks as the deadliest terrorist attacks in history. Nineteen al Qaeda operatives hijacked four commercial airliners, killing nearly 3,000 people and prompting the largest investigation in FBI history.

The Canadian government also lists al-Qaeda as a terrorist entity and states that the organization carried out the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

As the 25th anniversary approaches, the CBC memo has revived a broader debate over whether journalistic neutrality requires avoiding widely accepted terminology—or whether, in this case, the network’s editors may have tied themselves in knots over a word that governments, investigators and much of the public record have used for a quarter-century.

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