CBC Commits a Chart Crime in Representing its Funding and Revenue Sources
CBC, which on Sunday received the “Government-funded Media” label on Twitter thanks to a campaign by Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, seems guilty of committing a massive chart crime. Its “revenue and sources of funds” chart has been manipulated to make it look like it received less funding from the government than it actually did, Twitter user Tristin Hopper found.
The chart sneakily employed a double tilde to fold (or really, omit) the value between $700 million to $1.7 billion, i.e. an entire. billion. dollars.
Twitter user Miranda Veracruz de la Hoya Cardinal created a correct version of the chart. It now more accurately shows that the purple portion of government funding dwarfs the revenue the news organization earns from advertising.
CBC is the latest high-profile news outlet to receive the label. Like BBC, PBS, and NPR, CBC has contested the accuracy of the label and said that while they receive nearly 70% of their funding from the government, the label falsely describes the organization and has maintained that their “journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue.”
Twitter, which defines the label as an identifier for “outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content,” took a different (but not unexpected) route and “corrected” CBC’s label to “say they’re ‘less than 70% government-funded.’”
Information for this story was found via Twitter, CBC, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
