To cover or not to cover the far right
Experts weigh in on how much of a spotlight fringe groups deserve
Some believe sunlight is the best disinfectant, and exposing extremist ideas to public scrutiny is the best way to defeat them.
But there is growing concern the media spotlight might also be legitimizing marginal groups in Quebec like La Meute, whose “membership” on its public Facebook page doubled after coverage of the Aug. 20 protests in Quebec City.
“It’s a dilemma, and I have no solution for it,” said Aurélie Campana, the head of research on terrorism and extremism at Université Laval in Quebec City, who has just finished four years of research into extreme-right groups in Canada.
“It’s a growing social and political phenomenon, so we can’t not talk about it. But we should not give them more attention than their numbers merit. … As a citizen, I feel the media is leading people to believe that they have become so much more important (than they are).”
Indeed, to speak of members is itself misleading, as protests last weekend attest. Storm Alliance, for example, might have 1,700 people on its Facebook site. But only about 100 joined protests at the border on Saturday, despite the appeal by organizers to show commitment to the cause. Storm Alliance was protesting what they call illegal immigration through Roxham Rd. and other border areas in Canada.
Similarly, a women’s march and picnic at the National Assembly Monday — to denounce the Quebec government and “the Muslim invasion” — brought out only 14 people.
La Meute, on the other hand, says it has 43,000 members. But, they are really only Facebook friends, Campana points out, or in some cases, Facebook acquaintances. The membership on the site’s secret Facebook page, where people are free to comment, has not changed significantly despite months of coverage by Quebec media.
How to address the far right is a quandary for media seeking to cover issues in a neutral way. RadioCanada is reportedly working on an internal guide for reporters to use, while the Fédération Professionnelle des Journalistes du Québec is working with the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence (CPRLV) to prepare a seminar on covering the far right at its annual conference in November.
“We’re all thinking about the coverage — it’s always a trap with these groups,” said Benjamin Ducol, the director of research at the CPRLV, which has itself become a favourite target of abuse by La Meute. “They need the media coverage, without it they can’t exist. But we can’t not cover them, in the same way we can’t just say we’re not going to cover ISIS because it will give them a platform.”
What language do we use when we speak of acts by extremists? Do we name suspects? These are some of the questions news organizations have to ask themselves.
The tragedy in Las Vegas, for example, was almost immediately called a mass shooting by a “lone wolf,” before anyone could establish a motive.
For Ducol, the answer is not to ignore the far right, but to provide balance in reporting. A story that airs only the views of members of far-right groups without providing any dissenting voices leans toward propaganda. No one would dare quote a member of ISIS without providing a counterpoint, he said.