In a decision handed down Monday, Radio-Canada ombudsman Pierre Champoux concluded that the public broadcaster violated its Journalistic Standards and Practices “by not warning viewers of errors of fact and by not specifying” that The perfect victim is a “point-of-view documentary”.
Posted at 12:19 p.m.
On January 6, Mr.and Michel LeBrun, president of the Quebec Association of Defense Lawyers, filed a complaint on behalf of three other associations of defense lawyers, regarding the broadcast on ICI Télé on December 7 2021 from The perfect victim. The same complaint had been filed on January 4, but had been rejected by the ombudsman since the documentary had not yet been broadcast.
Pierre Champoux recalls that, since The perfect victim is not a Radio-Canada production, it “does not have to respect the principles of impartiality and integrity which constitute two of the five pillars” of Journalistic Standards and Practices. However, Radio-Canada should have told viewers that it was an opinion documentary.
He should also have pointed out to the audience that between the theatrical release of the film in June 2021, and its presentation on ICI Télé, certain inaccuracies were brought to the attention of the directors, Monic Néron and Émilie Perreault. “ The perfect victim being available for viewing on ICI TOU.TV, there is still time to add a correction to the page, for future audiences,” explained the ombudsman.