The Derfel affair continues
CBC talked to Aaron Derfel, who says he was surprised François Legault blamed him for anglos being more concerned about the pandemic. Derfel actually should be wearing this as an accolade: as the saying goes, news is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.
Rima Elkouri likens Legault’s response to Derfel’s reporting to Trump’s cries of “fake news”.
Derfel’s Twitter thread from Thursday updates us on the numbers, and gently digs back at Legault, reminding us the premier had withheld CHSLD figures for two weeks. It seems clear that what Legault didn’t like about Derfel’s work was that he’s been keeping the numbers in the public eye at a time the premier was wishing he could keep them quiet.
Here’s Derfel’s Friday piece on Legault and the CHSLDs.
It seems to me if Legault wants to throw some serious shade, he should be reminding us that his government is coping with fallout from the austerity measures brought in by Couillard and Barrette. It’s come up, but it’s much more cromulent than hitting out at a journalist doing his job.
Daniel 10:15 on 2020-05-15 Permalink
Pointing a finger at a journalist seems like — if nothing else — a tactical error on Legault’s part, perhaps born out of frustration with a situation that’s out of control. It seems tantamount to an admission of incompetence, i.e., if you have to blame “the media” (and turn it into a language issue, to boot) you’re not doing so hot.
I’ve watched in horror as the pandemic plays out as a political issue in the States. And, as is perhaps predictable enough, I’m wincing as it takes on shades of a language issue in Quebec.
Douglas 15:22 on 2020-05-15 Permalink
That reporter has been reporting like the sky is falling and I am of the impression he thinks we should shut down until 2021.
The wheels are turning for a re-open. As long as the momentum is building to re-open that reporters opinions or reporting doesn’t matter
walkerp 20:32 on 2020-05-15 Permalink
You did see that schools in Montreal are now closed through September? That wheel seems to have stopped turning, Douglas.
Kate 22:33 on 2020-05-15 Permalink
Douglas is unable to take in that the facts (as Derfel has been reporting them) are not amenable to human wishes. We can’t make the virus go away by waving our hands and pretending it’s not there.
Every so often I think about King Canute.
Kevin 13:03 on 2020-05-16 Permalink
King Canute was an awesome troll, surrounded by idiots.