Journalism

Wednesday June 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 12, 2019

Vigilance the best protection from plague of fake news

Canadians will be voting in federal elections in four months. Many have already made up their minds. Regardless, attempts will be made to shift voters’ perceptions. We know this is coming and we need to prepare for it.

Facebook admitted in 2017 that Russian operatives bought political advertising on its social media site intent on disrupting the U.S. elections the previous fall. U.S. citizens (let’s face it: all of us) were subjected to fake news, absurd memes and all manner of slander in a Moscow-driven attempt to affect the vote.

It didn’t end there. Facebook closed down hundreds of fake Facebook accounts, at least one of which had 3.6 million users, set up to help Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Facebook also shut down hundreds of accounts linked to an Israeli political consulting firm, Archimedes Group, whose primary goal is to win campaigns in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

In Canada, we can expect the same. An alleged email made the rounds recently purporting to be from a People’s Party of Canada organizer bizarrely suggesting that non-white Canadians who join Maxime Bernier’s anti-immigrant, Islamophobic party should be displayed prominently but never consulted about policy because “they are all liberals anyway.”

Similarly, the U.S. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, was featured in a video in which she was made to look like she was slurring her speech. U.S. President Donald Trump was among those who tweeted the fake video. In this case, Facebook refused to take the video down, claiming it is not its responsibility to censor.

On Monday, Facebook Canada announced that anyone wishing to buy political ads on its platform will need approval. The authorization process involves several steps to confirm the group buying the ad is real and based in Canada. Starting June 30, political ads appearing on Facebook will show who bought the ad and will allow social media users to view information about the ad’s reach.

The Pelosi video, however, is not considered advertising and would have been allowed on the site.

In that case, Facebook is actually correct. Free speech is free speech is free speech. As disgusting as the video is — it was created by slowing down an actual clip of Pelosi speaking and then altering the pitch of her voice to mask the manipulation — it does not qualify as hate speech. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Saturday May 19, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 19, 2018

Why Prince Harry is giving the British press the cold shoulder

In many ways, Prince Harry’s raucous relationship with the media has been leading up to this.

August 23, 2012

His upcoming wedding to Meghan Markle signals the culmination of a lifelong tug of war over access to him and his family. And by allowing nearly no journalists into St. George’s Chapel on May 19, Harry may be indicating he finally has the upper hand.

“The Prince Harry that I know doesn’t like the press,” said Duncan Larcombe, a former tabloid reporter who wrote the book Prince Harry: The Inside Story.

While 28 reporters and 17 still photographers were allowed into Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, only one reporter and two photographers will be welcome this time — a reflection, perhaps, of Harry’s antagonism.

“William allowed the press in,” Larcombe said. “Harry is basically shutting the door.”

Larcombe concedes the chapel in Windsor can only hold a fraction of the 1,900 guests invited to Westminster Abbey for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s nuptials.

But, he said, “hiding behind the excuse that this is a private wedding is pretty nonsensical.”

Longtime royal photographer Arthur Edwards describes Harry as genuine and warm in private. But he acknowledges the prince’s relationship with the press has “been a little bit difficult recently.” (Source: CBC News) 

 

Thursday June 29, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 29, 2017

Peter Mansbridge plans quiet exit from ‘The National’

Peter Mansbridge doesn’t want to make a fuss about leaving the anchor’s chair at CBC’s  The National.

At Issue

Nearly a year after telling viewers he planned to retire from the public broadcaster’s flagship program, the 68-year-old newsman who defined an era at CBC News plans to sign-off for the final time with little fanfare.

“Don’t expect much,” he said in a recent interview. “I’ve never wanted it to be about me, this program.”

As Canada’s 150th celebration nears on Saturday, so does Mansbridge’s chosen date to say goodbye. The procession begins Wednesday night when he delivers his final broadcast of The National from the CBC’s Toronto studio.

Brian Williams

Carole MacNeil helms Thursday’s show, which will pay tribute to Mansbridge’s 50-year career, including almost 30 years as The National anchor. He’ll then return to the newscast one last time on Friday from Ottawa, before leading the CBC’s Canada Day broadcast at Parliament Hill.

“I’ve always taken most of the summer off anyway, so it seemed like a good exit point,” he said.

Mansbridge’s storied journalism career was launched at 19 thanks to a stroke of luck. He was plucked from an airport cargo job in Churchill, Man., after a CBC Radio manager heard his broadcast-ready voice over an intercom system. (Source: Global News) 

 

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Tuesday November 10, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Tuesday November 10, 2015 New film raises bothersome questions about city hall culture A new documentary film raises troubling questions about corporate culture at Hamilton City Hall. "The Push" analyzes a controversial 2014 incident in which Coun. Lloyd Ferguson pushed independent journalist Joey Coleman during a heated exchange in the lobby outside council chambers. The film was publicly screened for the first time at The Zoetic Theatre on Concession Street Sunday as part of the Hamilton Film Festival. Coleman alleged actions against him by city staff following the incident were nothing more than an attempt to silence him. "This is an effort to end independent journalism at city hall," he said. In the incident, Coleman said he was standing in the foyer outside council chambers holding his video camera and waiting for the start of a news conference. Ferguson, Coun. Brad Clark and city staffer Mike Kirkopoulos were standing nearby in a huddle. Ferguson, thinking Coleman was eavesdropping on their conversation, physically moved him away. "He took a very tight grip on my arm; we were going to the floor," Coleman said. "Everyone else was frozen with shock and I thought he was going to punch me in the face." Bystanders separated the two and the next day Ferguson apologized to Coleman personally and to city council, backing his words with a self-imposed $1,000 donation to an Ancaster charity. Coleman accepted the apology and said he considered the matter closed. It was revived, however, by complaints to the city's integrity commissioner. The incident was also investigated by provincial police and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. (Ferguson was, and remains, chair of the Hamilton Police Services Board.) The city commissioner found Ferguson did violate Hamilton's anti-violence policy but no sanctions were recommended. The other investigations also concluded there were no grounds for other c

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 10, 2015

New film raises bothersome questions about city hall culture

For SaleA new documentary film raises troubling questions about corporate culture at Hamilton City Hall.

“The Push” analyzes a controversial 2014 incident in which Coun. Lloyd Ferguson pushed independent journalist Joey Coleman during a heated exchange in the lobby outside council chambers.

The film was publicly screened for the first time at The Zoetic Theatre on Concession Street Sunday as part of the Hamilton Film Festival.

Coleman alleged actions against him by city staff following the incident were nothing more than an attempt to silence him.

“This is an effort to end independent journalism at city hall,” he said.

Tuesday March 3, 2015In the incident, Coleman said he was standing in the foyer outside council chambers holding his video camera and waiting for the start of a news conference.

Ferguson, Coun. Brad Clark and city staffer Mike Kirkopoulos were standing nearby in a huddle.

Ferguson, thinking Coleman was eavesdropping on their conversation, physically moved him away.

“He took a very tight grip on my arm; we were going to the floor,” Coleman said. “Everyone else was frozen with shock and I thought he was going to punch me in the face.”

Bystanders separated the two and the next day Ferguson apologized to Coleman personally and to city council, backing his words with a self-imposed $1,000 donation to an Ancaster charity.

Coleman accepted the apology and said he considered the matter closed. It was revived, however, by complaints to the city’s integrity commissioner. The incident was also investigated by provincial police and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. (Ferguson was, and remains, chair of the Hamilton Police Services Board.)

The city commissioner found Ferguson did violate Hamilton’s anti-violence policy but no sanctions were recommended. The other investigations also concluded there were no grounds for other charges or actions.

In the two-hour film Coleman and others argue the incident and its aftermath illustrate a culture of fear at city hall in which employees are held to a policy dictating “zero tolerance” for violence while a veteran councillor can manhandle a citizen with impunity. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Wednesday June 25, 2014

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 25, 2014

Wednesday June 25, 2014

Family of jailed Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy blames Harper for outcome of ‘sham’ trial in Egypt

Fadel and Wafaa Fahmy entered a courtroom in Cairo Monday to hear the verdict on their son, journalist Mohamed Fahmy, expecting an acquittal and a prompt return to their home in Montreal where the family has lived for 23 years.

Instead, a surprise finding of guilt on terrorism-related charges and a sentence of seven years in a harsh prison sent Mrs. Fahmy into turmoil, bursting into tears and stomping her feet on the floor.

The entire family was stunned, most of all Mohamed Fahmy himself, the Cairo bureau chief with broadcaster Al Jazeera English. The dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen was found guilty along with two journalist colleagues, an Australian and an Egyptian, of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt, and with fabricating news reports that undermine Egypt’s security.

On Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he will not interfere in court rulings, despite an international landslide of condemnation and calls for el-Sissi to intervene. Egypt’s constitution gives the president the right to issue a pardon or commute the sentences.

He said he called the justice minister late Monday to repeat that sentiment, despite what he described as debate over the rulings against the journalists.

After a trial and verdict, declared by Amnesty International to be “a complete sham” where no evidence of a nefarious conspiracy was heard, Mr. Fahmy was instead declared guilty and returned to his cell, but not before he angrily called out from behind the bars of the prisoners’ cage: “I swear they will pay for this.”

The anger was a reflection of how crushed his brother was by the verdict, said Mr. Fahmy’s brother, Sherif.

“It’s insane. There is nothing that makes any kind of sense at all. The evidence is insane,” Sherif said in an interview from Kuwait. “It was a very, very heartbreaking scene. We were very optimistic. We never thought this was coming.”

Sherif said he holds Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, responsible for the outcome because the Canadian government failed to aggressively address the case.

“If you compare what Canada has done to what the Australian, English and Dutch have done, it is not much. [Mr. Harper] did not mention Mohammed once,” Sherif said. (Source: National Post)