We use this editor’s blog to explain our journalism and what’s happening at CBC News. You can find more blog posts here.

CBC News finds itself once again in a swirl of confusion about how our journalists use the words “terrorist” and “terrorism,” this time about the al-Qaeda attacks on New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001. 

The confusion stems from the leak of an excerpt from our internal language guide that was published and amplified by a number of outlets without full context or explanation. It has caused significant concern, anger and hurt for many people who believe CBC News seeks to minimize or obscure the horror of that day and who was behind it.

That is the last thing we want to do. And our reporting on 9/11, through thousands of stories over the past 25 years, is an unflinching account of the devastating attacks by al-Qaeda, the hunt and prosecution of those responsible, the thousands of lives that were lost on that day and the incalculable loss and grief experienced by so many others as a result. 

And we intend to mark the forthcoming 25th anniversary of 9/11 with extensive, special coverage that will continue to respectfully and thoughtfully reflect on the monumental nature of this tragedy.

CBC’s reporting on terrorism, wherever it occurs, has always been guided by the principle of attribution, and like other major news organizations, it has been our practice for decades. The reason for the extreme care around the use of the words “terrorist” and “terrorism” was detailed in this earlier editor’s blog. 

But to be clear, CBC News has never said what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, was not terrorism, as some commentators have stated in recent days. We have reported fully and accurately on the reasons and motivations for those attacks as determined by police, governments and an independent commission. We’ve just made sure to do it with attribution.

Clarity and understanding are at the heart of our journalism. The leaked excerpt without context or explanation has raised more questions for the public that we must now answer. 

After reviewing our current language guidance, we have decided to adjust it to clarify that direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism. 

We are doing so to remove what has unfortunately (and unintentionally) become an impediment to clarity and public understanding. 

At the same time, as new acts of politically or ideologically motivated violence occur in our world, we will continue to follow the journalistically sound practice of attributing causes and motivations to officials and experts.

Peter Cullen, the Canadian voice actor who starred as the heroic Optimus Prime in a convoy of Transformers films, TV shows and video games and as the gloomy Eeyore in dozens of Winnie the Pooh projects, has died. He was 85.

Cullen died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, his agent, Kevin Motley, told The Hollywood Reporter.

He “passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family — and held in the hearts of his many friends and countless fans worldwide,” his family said in a statement. They ask “that you honor his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity and loyalty and always remember ‘be strong enough to be gentle.’”

The Montreal-born Cullen also voiced King Kong for the 1976 remake and the evil K.A.R.R. (short for Knight Automated Roving Robot) on Knight Rider series in 1982 and 2009, and he came up with the scary clicking sounds that emerged from the mouth of the monster in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring Predator (1987).

Early in his career, he was a live-action performer and served as the announcer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

In a 2014 NPR interview, Cullen noted that he initially approached playing Optimus Prime with puzzlement. “I auditioned like everybody else,” he said. “I was told it was a hero, and I was told it was a truck.”

The good-natured Cullen got the job and voiced the honorable leader of the Autobots for the first time on the 1984-87 syndicated series The Transformers, based on the Hasbro toy line and produced by Marvel in association with Toei Animation of Japan and then AKOM in South Korea.

Optimus’ death after a duel with the tyrannical Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) caused a huge and unexpected outcry, prompting producers to bring Cullen and the character back for the 1987 straight-to-video movie The Transformers: The Return of Optimus Prime.

When director Michael Bay resurrected the property for the big screen with DreamWorks’ Transformers (2007), starring Shia LaBeouf, it was a no-brainer to rehire Cullen after two decades away.

“I describe it as kind of slipping into an old pair of very comfortable shoes that you haven’t worn for a while,” he told IGN in 2007. “I just slipped right into them, and they felt as good as the last time I put them on.”

With Cullen as the Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck, the film grossed $709.7 million worldwide — the fifth-highest grossing movie of the year. He followed with the sequels Revenge of the Fallen (2009), which raked in $836.3 million, and Dark of the Moon (2011) and Age of Extinction (2014), which each raked in $1.1 billion.

Cullen also played Optimus in The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018) and Rise of the Beasts (2023). (Chris Hemsworth voiced the character in 2014’s Transformers One.)

Cullen began as the voice of Eeyore on the 1988-91 series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and he portrayed the droopy donkey in the feature Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) and on other shows and videos.

“I get an awful lot of reactions from, especially, young kids, when I go up and just say [in Eeyore’s voice], ‘Hello. Thanks for noticing me,’” Cullen said.

One of four children, Peter Claver Cullen was born in Montreal on July 28, 1941. His parents, Henry, a longtime newsprint executive with the International Paper Sales Co., and Muriel, were Americans.

He spent time on a relative’s farm as a kid, and “I remember the very first summer, I could imitate the cows, the calves, the chickens, the different dogs they had,” he recalled.

He left the National Theatre School of Canada as a member of its first graduating class in 1963, studied acting under operatic coach Bernard Diamant, did Shakespeare for a summer in Stratford, Ontario, and was a member of the repertory company at The Crest Theatre in Toronto for a year.

He also worked as an announcer for the Montreal radio station CKGM and played an astronaut named Commander Bi Bi Latuque on the 1967 slapstick kids series The Buddies for the Montreal TV station CFCF. He then starred in Les Anglaises, a CBC radio comedy about a French Canadian man and his English Canadian wife (Joan Stuart) for the series Funny You Should Say That.

Cullen headed to Hollywood and landed on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967, and he took part in comedy sketches for the Sonny & Cher program and The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Comedy Show.

To play Optimus Prime, Cullen said he channeled the spirit of his older brother, Larry, a decorated U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam from 1965-68.

“When he came home, I could see a change. He was quieter and he was a man and a superhero to me,” he said in 2006. “I watched him and listened to him. I’d never had an opportunity to do a superhero, and when that came, [that voice] just came right out of me, and I sounded like Optimus.”

He also got to voice Autobots weapons specialist Ironhide, which he based on Chill Wills, an actor in classic Hollywood Westerns.

Cullen’s performance in the first season of the 2010-13 series Transformers: Prime earned him a Daytime Emmy nomination.

At the urging of his agent, Cullen auditioned for Predator even though he was coughing up blood after working long hours on another project, he recalled in 2018. Producers initially didn’t want to show him what the creature looked like, hoping to keep that a secret, but the actor insisted.

“If I can’t see the character, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I have to have something to relate to, to put myself inside of,” Cullen said of his voice-acting playbook.

“I saw this ugly, ugly face and these tentacles [moving around]. It reminded me of an upside-down horseshoe crab dying in the sun on a beach when I was a kid. Nasty. But from that was coming all these crackling sounds, bubbles that were coming out and bursting.”

Back on the animation front, Cullen also voiced the cheese-obsessed mouse Monterey Jack on Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers; Coran and King Alfor in the Lion Voltron series; Ramrod in the anime show Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs; Commander James Hawkins in the Vehicle Voltron series; Mario in Saturday Supercade cartoons; and Councillor 1 in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He was involved with NASA and the Optimus Prime Spinoff Award, which is presented each year to youngsters studying space, science, technology and math.

Survivors include his children, Angus, Claire, Pilar and Clay, a stunt performer and coordinator.

“The phenomenon of Transformers itself is mind-shaking,” he said. “Being a part of it is not only historical, it’s a part of your life that says, ‘Gee, I’m glad.’ I did something in my life that stood out, and I’m really grateful for that. Humbled by it.”

The contract extension, increasingly inevitable, will not be about the term.

It will be about making the Avs’ Cale Makar’s team.

This will be disputed because of the presence of captain Gabe Landeskog and former MVP Nathan MacKinnon.

But a long-term agreement, which is inching closer according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, makes this part of Makar’s legacy. And burden.

He will be here long after Landeskog retires and MacKinnon fades from superstardom.

When you sign a monster contract in your prime and are headed to the Hall of Fame, the pressure is on to deliver another championship.

Two would be even better. But Makar is too great to only hold one Cup.

After a flameout of historical proportions against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Avs reacted with more complacency than urgency.

Operating general manager Joe Sakic made tweaks to the roster, but the heaviest lift involved clearing salary cap space by trading Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury.

The moves made it easier to accommodate Makar. And if you still don’t understand why he is the biggest of deals, follow the money.

Even if he does not finish with the NHL’s highest average annual value for any player — not just a defenseman — the floor should be $17 million. Whether it runs for eight years — a possibility if signed before Sept. 15 — or a shorter period, the financial commitment will explain his significance.

At 27, he is the present and the future.

Makar has never put the Avs in a difficult position, always playing nice, playing well and playing hurt. He has all the leverage and could be demanding, cackling to the armored truck as he boxes in the organization.

He would never do that. The only thing Makar regularly features more than ability is humility.

But a new deal means he can never just be one of the guys again. No blending into the curtains. If healthy, no forgettable postseasons.

Like Makar, several Avs players were hurt against the Golden Knights, which provides a reason, not an excuse for their elimination.

It does not make it any less embarrassing. The Knights suffocated and frustrated the Avs, turning the middle of the ice into a barnyard for pigs to slop.

After Las Vegas completed its Legion of Broom, MacKinnon could not be bothered to meet the press despite multiple requests. He was injured, but it was not his larynx. He should have talked. It is part of the responsibility that comes with his stature.