Businessman and Internet publisher Stephen Pate has served notice of intent to sue the CBC and producer Donna Allen under the PEI Defamation Act.

PRLog – Oct 23, 2009 – Businessman and Internet publisher Stephen Pate has served notice of intent to sue the CBC and producer Donna Allen under the PEI Defamation Act.

Stephen Pate claims the CBC Compass story of October 20th, 2009 and related web stories “Local blogger kicked out of press gallery” and “Un blogueur expulse” are defamatory in that they limit coverage and thereby distort what occurred in the meeting.

The stories resulted in 17 comments on the CBC website that run from supportive to disability abuse and hatred.

Pate publishes NJN Network, an Internet news journal, which is known for being sharply critical of both the government and the CBC.

Pate in the past reported, among other thing, that the CBC has crossed the line of journalistic ethics by assigning a reporter to the PEI Provincial Nominee Program story when the reporter admitted receiving money from the same scandal-ridden fund.

“The partial reporting of the story creates an entirely false and defamatory impression with the reader,” Pate said in his letter to CBC PEI Program Manager Henk Van Leeuwen.

Pate claims, in his ten page letter, CBC Radio producer Donna Allen defamed him in the October 19th public meeting of the Press Gallery of PEI.

“Donna Allen, a CBC producer, in the public meeting made gratuitous, slanderous and defamatory comments that are being re-printed in the Charlottetown Guardian and other media that must be retracted immediately,” Pate wrote.

Pate has asked the CBC to remove the offending articles and “broadcast and print a full and complete retraction of the story and the public statements of its employees.”

Pate detailed in his notice to CBC that their story fails to disclose material events at the meeting which would inform the viewer or reader and allow them to draw entirely different conclusions.

The CBC failed to report that five CBC journalists were in attendance.

CBC failed to report its employees denied Pate’s request for an adjournment due to the pain and fatigue he was experiencing from post polio syndrome. He alleges the denial of reasonable accommodation amounts to a human rights abuse of the disabled.

“I believe this is a clear case of disability abuse and discrimination,” said Pate. “Courts, tribunals, and Legislative committees have speedily granted my reasonable requests to meeting times better suited to the problems my disability creates.”

CBC failed to report that CBC reporter Pat Martel tried to stop the meeting from expanding complaints against Pate beyond those filed prior to the meeting. CBC did not report the same employee voted against the Press Gallery.

Pate further claims that when another CBC reporter tried to interview him for his viewpoint on October 20th, the reporter’s supervisor re-assigned him thereby eliminating fair comment.

The notice claims the CBC “presents an incomplete story that doesn’t show both sides and thereby defames Pate as someone “kicked out of the press gallery” for good reason.”

The CBC has not issued a response to Pate’s letter.