Kyrstin Gemar, Ashley Neufeld, Afton Williamson - softball players and university students at Dickinson State University drowned in jeep accident

Death of three college students given the yellow journalism treatment by CBC

Enjoying a late lunch today,  I was startled by the horrible yellow journalism that was broadcast on CBC News Now at 12:45 noon.

The story was the drowning death of three college friends in North Dakota which is reasonably reported on the CBC on their website.

The CBC host, Suhana Merachand, was on the phone interviewing a family friend of Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Manitoba.

The questions and comments from the CBC host were meant to wring that last tear from your eye.

“She was such a pretty girl. It’s a shame she had to die like that.”

Oh, would her death have been less tragic if she was not pretty (sexist comment) or black like Kyrstin Gemar (racist comment).

Then the host started pouring on the yellow journalism.

“How is her mother holding up?”

When the answer didn’t get the right emotional heart string, she went deeper “And how about the father?”

Bingo, she hit pay dirt. The dad was taking it very badly.

“How about friends?” she asked. When the family friend said 1,100 people had made comments on Facebook, the CBC host asked “What kind of comments are they making?”

Must be a slow news day at CBC when the news is full of this kind of yellow journalism including the obvious sexist and racist slant.

Editor – quotes may paraphrased.