On Saturday, December 23, 2017 at 12:48:47 AM UTC-8, Dutch wrote:
It took all of 10 seconds to find proof that your Islamophobic sources are liars, 'dutch'. Are you now going to back peddle furiously and claim you were duped and it was an honest mistake? TVA admitted EIGHT FUCKING DAYS AGO THAT THE STORY WAS COMPLETELY FALSE. And here you are today happily republishing the original LIES.
'More than 100 protesters — most of them non-Muslims — gathered in front of the headquarters of TVA Nouvelles Wednesday night, accusing the TV network of routinely broadcasting fake news and fomenting Islamophobia.
Some of the protesters pelted the building on de Maisonneuve Blvd. E. with pieces of ice, chanting “F–k you, TVA.” A row of anti-riot police stood guard in front of the entrance to the building, and the hour-long demonstration ended peacefully at around 7:30 p.m.
“TVA, the most popular news station in Quebec, produced a story meant to fan the flames of hatred against Muslims,” the organizers said in a statement that was distributed by activist Jaggi Singh.
The statement was alluding to a Dec. 12 TVA news story — since retracted — claiming that two mosques in Côte-des-Neiges banned women from a construction site outside their doors. Three days after the report aired, TVA issued an apology on its website, admitting that the story was false.
The TVA news network apologized Friday for a controversial and since debunked report on mosques banning women from a nearby construction site, but a national Muslim organization says the network needs to go further.
At the mosques Friday, worshippers filled the halls and leaders praised the government and other media for their quick work to bring out the truth, but many said the damage wrought by the news report had already been done, once again stirring anti-Muslim sentiment and bringing fear and a sense of exclusion to members of the Muslim community.
Outside the mosques, roughly a dozen protesters claimed they were there to denounce discrimination against women, saying they still believed the news report to be true. They were surrounded by dozens of police officers.
Standing a few metres away, Scott Weinstein of the Independent Jewish Voices Canada organization stood with a small group of counter-protesters, the two groups separated by barrier tape and a row of police officers, who also helped to escort Muslims headed to prayers.
“We as Jews know what happens when a religious group or ethnic group is targeted for hate,” he said.
In their statement, TVA offered an apology to those “affected” by the news story.
“The report was based on comments made on camera Tuesday by two entrepreneurs. However, the versions we received from these individuals has changed since yesterday,” the statement said. “TVA Nouvelles regrets this situation and wishes to apologize to the different individuals and viewers who were affected by this news story.”
The company said its management will continue to conduct an internal investigation to verify the steps of the journalistic process undertaken.
The news network issued the statement a day after the Commission de la construction du Québec found no sign whatsoever that anyone associated with two mosques in Côte-des-Neiges asked for women to be excluded from a work site outside their doors.'
http://montrealgazette.com/news/tva-apologizes-for-mosque-story-says-it-will-investigate-journalistic-process
' Protesters chant “welcome to Muslims” Wednesday night before pelting the TVA Nouvelles building with ice for airing a since-discredited report about Muslims in Côtes-des-Neiges.
pic.twitter.com/mJsmzjRtNl— Aaron Derfel (@Aaron_Derfel) December 21, 2017
But the protesters argued that TVA and Québecor Media Inc., which owns the network, have a long history of publishing and broadcasting what they consider to be Islamophobic news reports and opinion pieces.
“It’s time to denounce the completely unethical way in which Québecor has steadily nurtured Islamophobia in Quebec for years now,” the organizers said in their statement.
Singh and other organizers declined to be interviewed. The protest attracted anti-fascists, Marxists and a group called Alternative Socialiste.
A few Quebec Muslims did show up at Place Émilie-Gamelin, outside the Berri métro, where the protesters rallied before marching east along Ste-Catherine St. to TVA. Essra Daoui, a 24-year-old university student who was wearing a hijab, thanked the protesters for their “heroism” in taking a stand against TVA and Islamophobia.
“TVA Nouvelles, or should I say, TVA poubelle, is contributing toward Islamophobia and racism,” Daoui said in an interview, using the French word for trash can in a play of words on the news organization’s name.
“It’s the Fox News of Quebec,” she added. “It engages in demagoguery, and this has to stop.”
Moustafa Chamli, a 33-year-old independent game designer and Muslim, accused TVA of a lack of “journalistic rigour” whenever it pursues news stories that cast doubt on Quebecers of the Islamic faith.
“It’s exasperating, and it’s getting tiresome,” said Chamli, who seeks to debunk anti-Muslim stereotypes in the gaming industry.
The CBC and other news media reported on the protest. TVA Nouvelles, in contrast, did not mention the event on its website.
http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/debunked-mosque-story-rally-targets-tva-nouvelles-islamophobia