"We betrayed the public. We broke their trust... We were quickly shutting down one side of the debate...A little late to the party but, nevertheless, nice one, Marianne.
We branded the doctors and the experts the CBC chose, that we used in our stories, we branded them as competent and trustworthy, and those who questioned and challenged the narrative were portrayed as dangerous and spreading disinformation. That was regardless of what their specialty was, what their background was and what their experience was...
I had people calling me with stories, so I was seeing and I was hearing and I was absorbing all their stories of suffering and pain and they were sharing them with me. And THESE STORIES WEREN'T BEING TOLD! Some of those were from the vaccine injured, some were from people who had lost their job because of their vaccination status. Those whose families had been blown apart and they'd been ostracized. University students who were depressed over repeated lockdowns and mandates, and parents who were calling me. They were agonizing on whether they should vaccinate their child or not.
So all these stories were sitting inside of me, they were left with me and and I felt the crushing burden and the weight of their their truth not being given a voice. And it affected my wellbeing because these people trusted me and I felt I had failed them, and I had let them down. It was like I I had failed these people as a journalist, to give voice to their truth.
So I had witnessed, in a very short time, the collapse of journalism, news gathering, investigative reporting. And the way I saw it is that we were, in fact, pushing propaganda.
And to define propaganda, it's information, ideas, opinions or images that give one part of an argument, which are broadcast, published, in order to influence the person's opinion. And mental health workers have their own definition of propaganda, as manipulative persuasion in the service of an agenda."
Pleased to see you over here with the good guys.
No comments:
Post a Comment