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Canadian Television Runs Programs Strongly Biased in Favour of Assisted Suicide

CTV "The Verdict's" moderator accused of bias favouring pro-assisted suicide view

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

CANADA, November 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life Canadians are protesting the November 24 broadcast of the entire two hour pro-assisted suicide propaganda movie "The Suicide Tourist" on the Canadian Television (CTV) network. "The Suicide Tourist" provides a sympathetic look at several people who go to Switzerland to commit suicide, which is legal according to Swiss law. This was preceded by a biased Nov. 22 examination of the assisted suicide issue on the CTV program "The Verdict".

On the first segment of "The Verdict", a clip from "The Suicide Tourist" showed a healthy woman and her sick (heart disease), but very talkative and healthy looking husband explaining why and how they have planned to kill themselves at the Swiss assisted suicide facility. The producer of the movie, John Zaritsky, was also interviewed about his justifications for his pro-assisted suicide production.

In an attempt to provide the "balance" required of television broadcasters in Canada, the CTV program included other segments that featured medical ethicist Margaret Somerville in debate with an aggressive male pro-suicide Dying with Dignity activist. This was followed by another segment, this time with pro-life speaker, Mark Pickup, who suffers from advanced MS, against another euthanasia activist, Margaret Fuchs of the Right to Die Society. Also set up against Pickup was a pro-euthanasia couple who presented a heart-rending story about the wife's sister who had seemingly unbearable cancer symptoms and was eventually assisted by others to commit suicide.

The final segment featured two pro-assisted suicide male lawyers versus a somewhat anti-suicide woman lawyer who weakly conceded some points to her assisted suicide opponents. In all segments, The Verdict's moderator Paula Todd tended to skew the sessions in favour of the pro-assisted suicide side. She repeatedly allowed the suicide advocates to interrupt the anti-suicide spokesmen and at times revealed a clear bias in her comments.

Pro-life journalist Wesley J. Smith noted on his blog, Secondhand Smoke, that "the balance of the show was completely skewed - three against one in Mark's segment, four if you include the moderator who asked no tough questions of the pro side and clearly rooted for assisted suicide."

"So typical of the MSM on this issue: Ignorant. Biased. Skewed," wrote Smith. "With the moderator, one Paula Todd, clearly rooting for one side, as her final emotional commentary made clear, in one of the most astonishing assertions of radical individualism I have ever seen: 'If death is so important, why leave it to the amateurs?' Sickening, really."

Pickup also emailed the show, "about the blatant pro-assisted suicide bias of your program November 22nd", as he referred to it in a follow up letter. "This was not only my assessment, many people have contacted me with the same assessment."

Noting that the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is currently holding a major international symposium in Toronto this weekend, Pickup observes that "An impressive array of speakers will be in Toronto and CTV's The Verdict (or any other current affairs program) could take the opportunity to send a crew to interview any of them - if you were truly interested in presenting balance."

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is urging pro-life Canadians to call the show to request that they air the Coalition's exceptional anti-euthanasia documentary "Turning the Tide" to provide some genuine balance to the previous program which was aired two day in a row.

The Verdict program segments may still be seen at: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:CwMbG4UKnPgJ:http://www.ctv.ca/generic/gener...

See the CTV Nov. 16 announcement of its upcoming Nov. 24 broadcast of the Suicide Tourist
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20071116/ctv_release_071116/...

Contact Information:

CTV Television Network
P.O. Box 9, Station 'O,' Scarborough Ontario, Canada M4A 2M9
Telephone: (416) 332-5000
TTY/TDD: 1-800-461-1542

Reports on Turning the Tide video:

Euthanasia Video, Turning the Tide, Incredibly Well Received
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07091010.html

Powerful Anti-Euthanasia Video Now Available
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07050701.html

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