Author: Hannah Sabourin

Categories
Opinions

Fact-averse journalism is not journalism

For all pandemic news, journalists must base themselves on fact, not opinion.

According to the Canadian Association of Journalists’ ethics guidelines, journalists should not make assertions in their pieces. An assertion is a declaration used to express one’s personal beliefs, opinions, and feelings. Even if an assertion bears some truth, it is not a factual statement.

So because assertions may hold some factual integrity, they are sometimes hard to distinguish from facts. For this reason, social commentators who masquerade as journalists pose a threat to public safety — especially during the pandemic. Journalists should therefore separate their opinion from fact. If they do not, they should acknowledge how their views impact their ability to report with accuracy.

According to Statistics Canada, 90 per cent of Canadians relied on the internet for up-to-date information about COVID-19. This group mostly consulted online news sites, but they also consulted social media posts from news outlets, influencers, and other users. Furthermore, 53 per cent of Canadians have shared information about COVID-19 on social media without verifying its accuracy.

Based on these numbers, many Canadians do not have the time to fact-check the information they read. So, for the benefit of public health, journalists need to commit to the truth. 

One media outlet that blurs the line between assertion and fact is Rebel News. This right-leaning media outlet pairs factual information with misinformation. At the very least, they seem to omit information to increase the credibility of their claims. For example, this October a Rebel News journalist reported on the effectiveness of natural immunity to prevent COVID-19. They argued that this immunity is a more effective way to fight COVID-19 compared to Pfizer vaccines. To support the argument, they cited an Israeli study that also formed this conclusion. However, this study has not been peer-reviewed.

Once someone gets the virus and recovers, their immune system retains some memory of the virus. This means that their body has a blueprint for how to combat the virus in the future.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a peer-reviewed study in November that also studied the effectiveness of natural immunity versus vaccination immunity. It found that natural immunity does help stave off future infections but it is not as reliable as immunity gained from vaccinations.

These researchers also explained that the Israeli study analyzed the benefit of Pfizer vaccinations six months after injections were given. This time gap may have skewed the results because the immunity effects of the mRNA vaccines may have worn off.

The study also found that in some cases, natural immunity can help protect someone from COVID-19.

However, to become naturally immune to COVID-19, one needs to get the disease. So, it becomes a public health concern when journalists encourage people to get the disease or imply that all of our bodies can protect us from it.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, unvaccinated people are more likely to contract COVID-19. Since December 2020, there have been 837,239 reported COVID-19 cases. Of this group, 82 per cent were unvaccinated. Further, unvaccinated people accounted for 77 per cent of COVID-related deaths.

Misinformed health journalism becomes dangerous when you consider the death toll of COVID-19. This is especially serious because many people do not have time to fact-check every piece they read.

Also, in my opinion, misinformation pushes people to fear the COVID vaccine. A Canadian study looked at a randomized sample of 3915 tweets from Canadians who express anti-vaccination sentiments. They found that 48 per cent of tweets included worries about vaccine safety. So, if you pair this fear with the consumption of misinformation, it may encourage more people to expose themselves to COVID.

When it comes to health news, journalists have an imperative to consult and disseminate factual information. Those who assume this role cannot cherry-pick information to reinforce a political stance. They must investigate and accurately explain vaccine safety. Without this commitment, so-called journalists let Canadians down.

 

Feature graphic by Madeline Schmidt

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

CSU Election Ballot to Include Question on Diversity

The CSU BIPOC Committee Chairs. Faye Sun, Shivaane Subash, and Camina Harrison-Chéry.

During the general elections, Concordians will choose whether to open a service centre for BIPOC students

From Nov. 16 to 18, students will vote on whether to open a diversity office in the CSU Elections.

This office will advocate for marginalized students and staff. It will also advocate for the inclusion of these students in the CSU. The point is to make the CSU hospitable for students with disabilities, who are a part of the BIPOC or 2SLGBTQA+ communities, or who are migrants/refugees.

A diversity office, which will operate independently from the CSU, will promote inclusivity regardless of the elected council. To fund the office, the union will ask each undergraduate student to pay $0.20 per credit in their student association fees each semester, starting winter 2022.

The BIPOC Committee’s executive team came-up with this idea. This committee hosts fundraisers and events that support local charities. They also offer grants to BIPOC students who start and run clubs or initiatives.

Committee chairs Camina Harrison-Chéry, Shivaane Subash, and Faye Sun believe BIPOC students must overcome barriers at Concordia.

To counter these problems, the diversity office will encourage students to speak their minds,  find community, and offer resources such as “mental health support, student advocacy, and other resources that are often not accessible to them given their identity and circumstances,” according to Sun.

“[Students of marginalized identities] don’t often see the point in reporting or talking about their experiences because they know that the people who read [their complaints] are also a part of the problem.”

In 2019, the CSU surveyed 1023 students about their on-campus experiences. The survey revealed a discrimination problem at Concordia, where nine per cent of students felt discriminated against by professors, staff, or peers. Also, 12 per cent of students witnessed another student who experienced discrimination at Concordia. According to the survey, discrimination includes harmful jokes, unwanted physical contact, hateful remarks, and the display of hateful messages or images. 

More recently, a report revealed that Concordia students and staff filed 20 official complaints about instances of racist discrimination during the 2019-2020 school year.

Harrison-Chéry believes the diversity office can improve the experience of BIPOC students.

“Our motion responds to years of recurring systemic issues,” said Harrison-Chéry. “So, there is a clear need for this service.”

The diversity office will comprise of an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) advisor, who is currently being onboarded. Community directors will also be hired if the fee-levy passes in the coming weeks.

“Black and Indigenous peoples have a very specific history of being enslaved or genocided on this land,” said Subash. So, the CSU wants to put more energy into those groups. Once they see what these community directors are able to accomplish, they will create community advisor positions for other minority groups on campus.

The EDI Advisor will ensure that the CSU adheres to inclusive policies. The advisor will also recommend ways to improve diversity within the CSU which will help to foster a more welcoming environment for marginalized students. The selected advisor is Sandra Mouafo, who also works with Concordia’s Anti-Racist Pedagogy Project.

Subash said that marginalized council members often feel undervalued. These council members are compelled to address BIPOC issues on top of their studies and regular councillor work. According to Sun, these members, “are forced into situations where they have to experience discrimination.”

“It can feel like you’re being stretched in a thousand different directions with everyday microaggression and the institution itself being unsafe,” said Subash.

Harrison-Chéry believes that the CSU can only function if it welcomes diversity.

“It’s about promoting effective leadership. If we do not address the problems in our institution then we cannot help students. So, we need to improve our governing culture and policies,” she said.

“Diversity work often gets offloaded onto the few BIPOC employees in a work space. […] I think it’s unfair to have a small group of people do this work,” said Sun.

According to Sun, diversity work is emotionally laborious, especially for those who are marginalized. “So, having many people doing this kind of work together spreads out the workload and it’s more fair,” she said.

Meanwhile, the community directors at the office will focus on student issues. They will help BIPOC students embrace leadership opportunities. They will also work to foster a community where students feel at ease.

 

Photograph by Hannah Sabourin

Categories
Arts

Sumarnótt: A night without darkness

Montrealers can experience Iceland’s endless summer days in a captivating exhibit by Ragnar Kjartansson

Sumarnótt, meaning “summer night” in Icelandic, is the name of Ragnar Kjartansson’s new art installation. In a 77-minute music video, the artist captures a long summer night in Iceland, where the sky never goes dark. To create this piece, he partnered with American band The National and Icelandic band múm. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will host the exhibit until Jan. 2, 2022.

Early Thursday morning, I was the first to visit the installation. For 10 minutes, I stood alone amidst a circle of seven floor-to-ceiling screens. The room was dark, but the screens shone bright, showcasing expansive plains and grey skies.

The video featured two sets of twins dressed in wool sweaters, long skirts, and light scarves. They walked from screen to screen, singing, “by the stream, my love,” “in the dark, my love,” and “death is elsewhere.” I caught myself spinning in unison with the twins. Their hair was unbrushed, and the women wore no makeup. They seemed comfortable in the plains, as if they played music there every night.

While I stood in that dark room, I imagined long grass brushing against my shins. I also envisioned a sharp wind blowing against my face. The singers worshipped where I stood. For the length of the performance, I felt like I was an idol at the centre of a spiritual ritual. I transcended into something bigger than myself, something worth reverence and contemplation.

The song, a blend of acoustic guitar and soft harmonies, put me in a trance. It invited me to lay down in the grass and close my eyes. The setting is peaceful and beautiful. However, it morphed into something different. It made me aware of my impermanence.

The singers embraced each other, and they sometimes held each other’s gazes. Once in a while, they stopped to look through the camera and into the dark room where I stood. In their eyes I saw a reflection of my fears and worries. I saw the human condition we all share — mortality.

To emphasize human triviality, Kjartansson gives the grassland more screen time than the performers. He also trivializes the topics they sing about. They sing about death, but the wind continues to blow, and the clouds still move in the sky. Human life and worries are set against a backdrop of a never-ending horizon. The setting is constant and devoid of feeling.

At first, this juxtaposition inundated me with angst. I, the person who stood in the middle of this landscape, was insignificant. But as the singers circled around me, again and again, I started to see the beauty in my temporality. I was suddenly a part of nature. So, I relinquished my worries about what nature had in store for me. Like the twins’ song, for a moment, I chose to believe that love is the continuation of life after death. Love is “in the dark.”

 

Photograph by Hannah Sabourin

 

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