The other night I watched a doc about the attempted insurrection at the Capitol and had some very real concerns bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod… which I will share in a thread.
The doc featured illuminating interviews with many of the people who stormed the Capitol but it was really concerning that no context was given about their views or their previous careers.
Men spoke who were described as "filmmakers and activists" - but this hid the fact that one was an anti-abortion extremist who vandalised a Planned Parenthood clinic with the slogan "babies lives matter"
Another guy - described in the same way - repeated the QAnon conspiracy theory and said that Trump would save children from kidnap and sexual violence. This is a CONSPIRACY THEORY that is linked to KILLINGS. There was no challenge to it, he just said it!
This matters because it exposes a lack of understanding of how the modern far-right works. These are not neutral views or neutral observers. And they have been given a massive platform in a mainstream BBC doc to share misinformation. It's really dangerous.
If I did not know what I know, I would never have realised that the personable young man talking about filming the riots had a history of anti-abortion actions, or that this stoned chap chatting about Trump was spreading a dangerous conspiracy. That's not informing the audience.
The doc in my view really risked mainstreaming extremist views by not having a challenge *to those views*. Even a flash saying "this is an unfounded conspiracy" would have helped. (It also featured police, staffers, senators & professional journalists for balance)
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