Thread by @MsAmyMacPherson

1/24 🧵#CDNpoli

Expect this news will make most of you uncomfortable. Plz let me begin with a declaration that the #ClimateCrisis is real & requires immediate action

But you've also heard me address conflict of interest in #CDNmedia & this #thread has serious legal implications

2/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

It's outrageously serendipitous that #Huawei's Meng Wanzhou signed a plea deal today, the #2Michaels are coming home from China, & that Grimes is reporting marital troubles with Elon Musk

Could've never imagined those topics would intertwine like this

3/24 🧵#CDNpoli

When it comes to conflicts of interest in #CDNmedia my criticisms are not partisan

For #J_school legal reasons it has always been imperative for journos to decline reporting on people or matters that involve them & to ethically disclose when that isn't avoidable

4/24 🧵#CDNmedia

Since MSM news has been imploding due to digital disruption, it faced foreign ownership & partisan takeovers across #CDNpoli during its moment of weakness

That in turn fueled reader distrust & bonafide, experienced journos being replaced with talking heads

5/24 🧵#CDNpoli

In the process many legal media standards have fallen by the wayside & it's about to have real consequences

Talking heads don't know the first thing about libel law, nor do they grasp the many ways #CDNmedia can be held responsible for misdeeds beyond defamation

6/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

With that intro for context I will now explain what's happened, 1st & foremost because I'm a champion of the Fourth Estate's role in preserving a functioning democracy

What follows may cause you to cringe, but please know this is not about a journo war

7/24 🧵#CDNpoli

This all began with my thread on the #2Michaels during #Elxn44 & the #CDNmedia blackout that's making Canada appear foolish to all our partners on the world stage. The constant flow of disinfo has been noteworthy

#ICYMI here's that thread

https://twitter.com/MsAmyMacPherson/status/1433694045298102272

8/24 🧵#CDNpoli

Unlike most colleagues in #CDNmedia, I consume news from around the globe regardless of language. That's one of the benefits of internet, automatic translations, & a curious, persistent mind

When foreign press is trying to understand Canada I'm also called upon

9/24 🧵#CDNpoli

That worldly nature & obsession with foreign policy often puts me 2 steps ahead of #CDNmedia that is dominated by partisan bullhorns

I don't fit well in an Ottawa press bubble that is strangely insular to Parliament Hill & sometimes I get predictably slagged

10/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

As it happened, @CANADALAND came at me hard for my thread about the #2Michaels

(Archive for backup)
►archive.is/DHawN

It was a podcast between @JesseBrown & @Garossino that sought to discredit me during the writ

canadaland.com/podcast/710-se…

11/24 🧵#CDNpoli

The claims made by @JesseBrown & @Garossino amounted to #disinfo & slander, but I'm used to seeing that in #CDNmedia & that's not the part that shocked me

What was shocking is Jesse's sexualized & violent references + Sandy's complicity

https://twitter.com/MsAmyMacPherson/status/1441250679352225792

12/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Now, Jesse & I have a long-running beef that stretches back a number of years. I've always contended the evidence he withheld & right he asserted to editorialize Lucy DeCoutere's #MeToo allegation is precisely what got Jian Ghomeshi exonerated

13/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

I was angry that Jesse exploited Lucy in a way that caused her severe harm. He may know OpEds but not how to perform investigative journalism & he's never been sexually assaulted to grasp the legal process

Men giving women bad advice is a huge problem

14/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Instead of a mea culpa Jesse doubled-down & sought to frame me as a woman-hater, as well as undermine public trust in the Canadian judicial system

It was easier for Jesse to abhor me & paint the judge in Lucy's case as a miscreant than admit his error

15/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Without reservation I care for Lucy's wellbeing & my beef had nothing to do with taking Jian's side

But I guess when you're a talking head the fame matters more than facts & legalities that could be spun to his narrative, discouraging women everywhere

16/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

So I understood what motivated @JesseBrown to come at me with sexual & violent depictions. This many years later & he's still obsessed with getting even because I was right about his journalistic malpractice

But for Sandy @Garossino to play along?

17/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Sandy @Garossino is the true reason for this thread, because it didn't take long looking into her background to discover what the problem is

The fact that @NatObserver & @Linda_Solomon never disclosed this may put them in legal hot water as well

18/24 🧵#CDNpoli

Sandy @Garossino has one of the biggest undisclosed conflicts of interest in #CDNmedia, as mother to Canadian music sensation Grimes & grandmother to Elon Musk's baby

Via Globe & Mail 12-yrs ago when she spoke freely about her daughter
►archive.is/kGo1P

19/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

I suspect this is what right-wing activist Vivian Krause was holding over Sandy Garossino's head & why @Garossino put so much time & energy into fending off the oil patch's & Jason Kenney's darling of 'un-Albertan' activities

►archive.is/K2Z9y

20/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

So Krause receives money from Alberta oil & Garossino has her daughter & grandbaby's green income to protect that arises from Elon Musk & Tesla

I have none of these conflicts & no personal entanglements with the energy industry to limit my statements

21/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

I have nothing against Elon Musk & I've been for test drive in a Tesla. I also have no stock holdings in any company to warrant ethical disclosure

With that said, Musk has been in trouble with SEC for jacking with markets

►archive.is/l6qDb

22/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Since Sandy @Garossino has written extensively for @Linda_Solomon & @NatObserver to promote green energy & decry fossil fuels without providing her disclosure & family ties to Elon Musk, it's conceivable they could be investigated by the SEC as well

23/24 🧵#CDNpoli

It doesn't give me pleasure to make this disclosure on behalf of @Garossino & @NatObserver. Reality is that I'd like to see Canada become as green as possible as fast as possible

But this is why it's imperative that #CDNmedia journos behave legally & ethically

24/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Once I became aware of Sandy Garossino's relationship to Elon Musk, it made sense why she would join Jesse Brown in disinforming Canadian news consumers RE the #2Michaels

#Huawei directly competes with #Tesla, on everything from satellites to transit

25/24 🧵#CDNpoli #CDNmedia

Postscript:

There is nothing conspiratorial about conflicts of interest, ethics, & disclosure. It's actually integral to maintaining credibility & legitimacy as a Fourth Estate. Academia has to deal with this all the time

►archive.is/uYAWH