Why CBC Dodges Saying ‘Terrorist’ on 9/11

Words are not scenery in journalism; they are instruments that either clarify reality or blur it. The dispute over whether reporters should label the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks as “terrorist” is really a dispute about the core function of a public newsroom: to inform with precision while avoiding language that substitutes judgment for reporting.

The Short Version

  • CBC’s house style instructs reporters to avoid using “terrorist” in their own voice and to prefer attributed language; this has long applied to 9/11 coverage as “the Sept. 11 attacks.”
  • The rationale: avoid inconsistent, politicized labeling that can undermine impartiality across global conflicts and actors.
  • Critics argue this suppresses plain language about mass murder of civilians and confuses audiences; they highlight CBC archival materials that previously used “terrorist.”
  • This is not uniquely Canadian: BBC-style guidance and UNESCO briefs similarly urge caution and attribution for loaded terms in coverage of political violence.

What CBC’s editorial standard actually says

CBC’s published guidance is explicit: journalists should “exercise extreme caution” with the words “terrorist” and “terrorism,” generally avoid labeling a bombing or assault a “terrorist act” in the reporter’s own narration, and use the terms with attribution to a source instead. The note states the same approach applies to the 2001 attacks against the United States, which CBC prefers to call “the Sept. 11 attacks” or similar wording. The underlying logic is pragmatic rather than ideological: once a newsroom assumes the role of adjudicating the label, it invites inconsistent usage across theaters and actors, and the word itself can become an impediment to reporting rather than a clarifier.

That framework is not a one-off. CBC reiterated in its political reporting that the policy is longstanding, that reporters can carry the word in quotes or recorded clips from others, and that the goal is to minimize “endless questions about consistency and impartiality.” In short: tell audiences what happened in concrete terms, and when the “terrorist/terrorism” label is essential, make clear who is applying it.

Why newsrooms police loaded labels

“Terrorism” is both a description and, in many jurisdictions, a legal category. As an editorial term, it signals the deliberate targeting of civilians for political or ideological ends. CBC’s own material acknowledges that conceptual core even as it cautions against using the label un-attributed in the reporter’s voice; the caution flows from the fact that in live conflicts different governments, factions, and publics contest who counts as a terrorist and when. A newsroom that anchors its authority in verification and neutrality will instinctively prefer specific, observable facts (who did what to whom, with what means and effects) over terms that arrive pre-loaded with political freight.

Global guidance points the same direction. UNESCO’s briefs on terrorism coverage emphasize that words and framing can inadvertently advance perpetrators’ aims or polarize audiences; they encourage meticulous description, careful sourcing, and restraint with emotive terminology. The BBC’s approach, widely debated for years, similarly does not “ban” the word but requires attribution rather than declaration, for precisely the consistency and impartiality reasons CBC cites. These are not fringe ideas; they are mainstream editorial risk controls in high-stakes coverage.

The friction: precision versus plain speech

Critics counter that some events are so clear in both intent and outcome that avoiding the word “terrorism” reads as euphemism. The Sept. 11 attacks—coordinated hijackings targeting civilians and symbolic infrastructure, killing nearly 3,000 people—are held up as the paradigmatic case where reticence seems to insult common sense and the victims. They also point to CBC’s own archival products—such as a 2001 program guide and anniversary materials—that used the phrase “terrorist attacks,” to argue that the current style feels like revisionism rather than rigor. The tension is real: audiences expect moral clarity where facts leave little doubt about intent and target selection.

From a standards perspective, however, the question is less about any single event and more about maintaining a rule that scales across events, actors, and decades. A style that names 9/11 “terrorism” in a reporter’s voice but insists on attribution elsewhere will quickly face boundary disputes: which attacks qualify, what threshold of evidence is required on intent, whose designations are definitive, and how to apply the same test to state actors versus non-state groups. CBC’s answer is to keep the definitional debate outside the reporter’s narration and inside sourced statements, backgrounders, and analysis, while the straight news copy sticks to verifiable acts and consequences.

Mechanics of attribution: how the guidance works in practice

In coverage built under this standard, a newscast or article will lay out specifics—who hijacked which flights, where and when they crashed, casualty counts, claims of responsibility—and then carry the label via quoted authorities: “The Government of Canada designated X as a terrorist entity,” or “the U.S. Attorney General called the attack an act of terrorism.” The newsroom’s voice avoids adjudicating the label; sources do the labeling, and the outlet ensures balance and context. This preserves clarity—audiences still encounter the term and the stance of relevant institutions—without the reporter implicitly taking a side in contested theaters. CBC leaders have publicly affirmed this “with attribution” pathway, including in testimony-related coverage.

It also explains why the guidance references the practical hazards of inconsistency. Imagine covering a week in which a government calls one bombing terrorism and another “counterinsurgency,” though both kill civilians; or a month in which one coalition partner insists a group is terrorist while another resists the designation. An attribution standard passes through those fractures untouched: the audience hears what each actor asserts, and the outlet’s credibility remains moored to facts, not labels.

Addressing the 9/11 exception argument

Does 9/11 merit making the newsroom itself the labeler? The moral intuition behind “yes” is strong—and many media organizations, including CBC’s earlier public-facing material, have used the word without attribution in anniversary or documentary contexts. But standards are designed for worst cases, not best: for days when verification is partial, designations are in flux, or actors exploit media language to recruit or radicalize. A rule that demands attribution even in the clearest cases avoids whiplash in the hardest ones. That is the core of CBC’s position, and it is defensible on editorial-process grounds even if it jars with audience expectations in emblematic cases.

What this means for readers and viewers

Two practical takeaways help decode coverage built on this approach. First, absence of the word “terrorist” in a reporter’s narration does not imply moral neutrality about the act; it reflects a house style that separates description from judgment-laden terms. If the term appears in quotes, you are still getting the signal—just with a name attached to it. Second, hold outlets to the standard they set: if a newsroom claims to avoid labels in its voice, it should apply that rule consistently across conflicts and actors; if it relaxes the rule for commemorative or documentary formats, it should be transparent about why those genres differ from straight news. CBC has publicly articulated both the rule and its rationale; audiences can fairly evaluate whether the execution matches the promise.

Sources:

linkedin.com, cbc.ca, mediaite.com, halifax.citynews.ca

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