Was it a conflict of interest for Canadian Broadcast News to air a documentary about a murder trial co-produced by the defense lawyer’s daughter?
The March CBC documentary, The Oland Murder, focuses on the retrial of Denis Oland for the murder of his father; Oland was found not guilty in the 2019 retrial. Oland’s attorney, Alan Gold, is the father of the documentary’s co-producer, Caitlin Gold Teitelbaum, CBC News itself reported.
But, after that disclosure, CBC said it won’t be making changes to the program, with CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson telling CBC News for its story it won’t be putting a disclaimer on the program because Teitelbaum “had no editorial input at all.”
A CBC spokesperson told iMediaEthics, “The Oland Murder is a true crime series that follows Dennis Oland and his defense team as they prepare for his retrial. We believe the documentary gives viewers a fair and thorough account of the trial and its impact on the Oland family; it met all of our JSP guidelines. Caitlin Gold Teitlebaum provided the producers with unprecedented access to the defendant as well as his defence team. She received an Associate Producer credit as a courtesy and while we acknowledge the family connection could be perceived as a conflict of interest, Caitlin had no editorial input.”
iMediaEthics has written to Teitlebaum’s company.