The alt-right movement has been in and out of the centre of media attention in the last few years. After the Charlottesville protest in Virginia, the world finally got a glimpse of the extreme hateful rhetoric that is at the centre of these groups. However, when we talk about the “alt-right,” we’re not actually talking about one, monolithic movement—it has become a catch-all term to describe many kinds of far right groups with different goals. While coverage in the United States have increased, that’s not the case in Canada. Here, those who closely cover this beat find an absence of coverage in mainstream media.
For this week’s episode, we discuss how media can either trivialize or sensationalize the alt-right movement. We also look at why there is a lack of people of colour reporters on the front lines of the protests, and explore those implications.
Former RRJ reporter Dagmawit Dejene and RSJ student Kosalan Kathiramalanathan join Michal for a panel discussion on Canadian media covering the alt-right. Freelance writer Bashir Mohamed also joins.
Pull Quotes is produced by Lidia Abraha and Michal Stein. Thanks to Angela Glover and Lindsay Hanna for technical help. Sonya Fatah is the executive producer of Pull Quotes.
