In English media, there are whole organizations and departments devoted to debunking fake news. But in Quebec, a lot of the work falls to one guy: Jeff Yates. He talks to guest host Brigitte Noël about the unique challenges of combatting fake news in French and why he thinks it's time to destigmatize sharing bogus stories.
February 10, 2019
Short Cuts
#189 The Media’s The Problem
Despite bringing the horrifying events at a private school in Toronto to the attention of police, the media have been getting some backlash from parents. A CBC columnist dared to call out the CBC on its Facebook practices, and Jesse makes some connections on the CANADALAND conspiracy cork board.
November 22, 2018
CANADALAND
#215 They Asked Me To Join The Militia
Conspiracies! They’re out there… and Vice Canada‘s Mack Lamoureux is getting to the bottom of them.
You name it, he’s covered it: The Berenst(a)ein Bears. Hollow Earth Theory. Iraq Stargate…
But what happens when these twisted narratives stop being just kooky, and start getting scary? As extremist right-wing groups grow their presence in Canada, and around the world, there’s a personal cost to covering conspiracists.
Mack’s eight-months-long investigation into Canada’s armed, anti-Islamic “patriot” group — ‘the III%ers’— is alarming:
“Connected to the anti-Islam sentiment is a sense of paranoia in the group, one that is reinforced by the sharing of debunked news stories and far-right wing commentary from sites like Rebel Media or Infowars. The members of the group, like their counterparts worldwide, are distrustful of mainstream news and often stray into extreme conspiratorial territory.”
Mack Lamoureux joins guest host Omar Mouallem.
For more on extremist right-wing groups in Canada, check out COMMONS’ deep dive from this past July.
Photo by Mack Lamoureux.
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