Canadian Broadcasting Corporation defends memo telling staff not to call 9/11 a 'terrorist attack'

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is facing backlash after confirming it circulated internal guidance instructing reporters and editors not to describe the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as "terrorist attacks" ahead of the 25th anniversary of the atrocity. "It is the practice of the CBC to exercise extreme caution before using the words 'terrorist' and 'terrorism,'" a CBC rep said, adding that the broadcaster prefers those terms be attributed to outside sources rather than applied independently by CBC journalists.