Roundup: Sympathy work for the far-right

Posted on by

There are times when it becomes glaringly obvious that legacy media still has no idea how to cover the far-right, whether in the US or here in Canada, and once again, we have been let down precipitously. Yesterday, the CBC published a long sympathy piece about the two main ringleaders of the so-called “Freedom Convoy,” full of lots of photos, and it just once again goes back to how this continues to normalize these narratives. (And no, I’m not going to link to the piece for the sake of giving it hate clicks).

Big feature story by CBC doing sympathy work for those Convoy fucks, normalizing the far-right. Fuuuuuuck that.

— Emmett Macfarlane (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2024-12-09T12:36:10.705Z

A lot of this falls back to the constant need by legacy media to both-sides everything, providing equal time and weight to narratives and concepts that don’t deserve or require equal weight, because it’s false or misleading, and doesn’t call anything out that can’t be couched in “opponents say” rather than just declaring that something is false, misleading, or batshit crazy. And this kind of sympathy work of showing that people who do very bad things are just misunderstood or are suffering because of the consequences of their actions just goes to make what they did more acceptable. It was the same with reporter who tracked down people who attacked them on January 6th and spent time with them, and did similar sympathy work, which just muddies the waters of the unacceptability of their actions, particularly if they feel a level of justification for their actions—in the case of these convoy organizers, they’re showing the boxes of thank-you cards they got from their adherents. Again, this is not only normalizing the far-right, but it is showing it in a sympathetic light. This is dangerous for legacy media to be doing, and there seems to be absolutely no critical thinking (or ethical considering) in what they think they’re doing, and what they inevitably end up doing is contributing to the erosion of democracy.

Meanwhile, the Star has a very good look at how far-right influencers have weaponized Canada as their cautionary tale, and how that has also in turn been changing perceptions in this country about ourselves, and most especially about the current government and the state of things. (I have a column on this later today). This was far better coverage of the far-right, but is still a bit tepid in the dangers of what these narratives can represent, particularly when it starts to normalize and excuse racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia, and how that is very much playing out in several provinces right now. This stuff needs to be explicitly called out, and nobody can do it effectively.

With a quick comment from me near the bottom. Canada has always been of a weird funhouse mirror for US politics. When Americans talk about Canada, they are almost always really talking about themselves. And some Canadian far-right influencers use that for their grift.

— Stephanie Carvin (@stephaniecarvin.bsky.social) 2024-12-10T01:55:07.552Z

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2024-12-09T14:08:01.821Z

Ukraine Dispatch

President Zelenskyy says that he has approved increased funding for drone production for the war effort. Zelenskyy also says that Ukraine is open to having Western troops provide security once the fighting has stopped, provided that Ukraine is accepted into the European Union and NATO.

Good reads:

  • The government survived yet another confidence vote, while the NDP’s motion about expanding the GST cut and making permanent didn’t get any support.
  • Justin Trudeau told a Halifax audience that the answer to Trump is not to panic, but that they are also considering retaliatory tariffs.
  • Chrystia Freeland says the Fall Economic Statement will be on Monday the 16th.
  • Anita Anand has accused union PSAC of spreading misinformation about the public sector pension surplus and what is happening with it.
  • Bill Blair says he reached out to Ukraine and asked if any of the soon-to-be-confiscated firearms would be useful and they said yes (as critics decry the move).
  • Harjit Sajjan says he didn’t end up going to the Taylor Swift concert “after reflecting” on the bad optics (after he sold the tickets he initially bought).
  • Government Sources™ are saying that new border measures to appease Trump could cost upwards of $1 billion, while they also make asylum reforms.
  • While Canada Post is apparently unimpressed with the latest union offer, people in the North who rely on it for essentials are getting antsy, especially for Xmas gifts.
  • The PBO says that the GST “holiday” will cost the federal government $1.5 billion, but could be as much as $2.7 is provinces with an HST demand compensation.
  • The CBC speaks to a Trump ally who says that the problem is not so much fentanyl as organized crime growing its presence in our country. (So why not say so?)
  • The Métis National Council has elected a new president after months of internal division and member organizations dropping out in protest.
  • Here’s a look at how the backsliding of LGBTQ+ rights in Africa hits differently in French-speaking countries, where funding is very disproportionate.
  • LGBTQ+ groups challenging Alberta’s anti-trans laws hope that they can get a swift court process to stop them from being implemented.

Odds and ends:

Need a copy of my book “The Unbroken Machine,” or “Royal Progress,” which I contributed to? Want to give a copy as a gift? Dundurn Press is having a 25% off site wide sale!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-18T23:53:05.945Z

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

One thought on “Roundup: Sympathy work for the far-right”

  1. Dale thank you for comments and analysis on CBC article. I read it and felt very uncomfortable, and then read your comments and found you very helpful . The normalizing of bad behaviour by our media seems to be purposeful and an attempt to prepare Canada for an anti democratic gov’t.
    #CBC has been a light in the darkness of poor journalism. We need it to remain a pillar of our democracy and to be honest. I hope they will learn from you.

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.