Difficulties faced by Canadian journalists during Black Lives Matter protests in

COVID-19 times

Three Canadian journalists provide a tell-all on their experience, from fear of contracting the virus to
worry of violence erupting during the protests.

By: Sofia Ariza

Dec. 14, 2020

During the Black Lives Matter protests that took place during the summer in Canada while the
pandemic was still active, journalists covered the protests despite the possible COVID-19 danger
or protest violence.

In the U.S., countless protests erupted into violence, and many journalists were attacked, injured,
or arrested. Such as photojournalist Linda Tirado, who while attending a protest in Minneapolis,
was shot with a rubber bullet by police which left her permanently blind in one eye.

When reading and watching news about dangerous situations, the audience often forgets that
behind it all there is a journalist; bracing themselves and facing the difficulties to get the story
and inform the public.

The Dangers

In the protests that took place across Canada, crowds of hundreds of people attended to advocate
against police brutality and racism against Black people, many wore masks but due to the
summer heat, taking them off was inevitable.

The Committee to Protect Journalists created a tracker, “Press Freedom Aggressions During
Black Lives Matter Protests” — which documented the number of journalists that experienced
aggression during the Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. since late May.

Anchal Sharma, a CBC reporter who attended a protest in Ottawa, said that she told people in her
social circle she would be attending the protest in case anything bad happened.

“I was concerned that I might be arrested or detained, but it ended up being a peaceful event, and
although police officers were present, they kept a respectful distance,” said Sharma.

According to the World Health Organization, you should “maintain at least a one metre distance
between yourself and others to reduce your risk of infection when they cough, sneeze or speak.”

Eloise Therien, a reporter for Global News, attended a protest in Brooks, Alta. and said that the
vast majority of people that attended the protest wore masks, as physical distancing was not
possible.

“I suppose the fear of contracting COVID-19 is always higher when a crowd of people is
present,” said Therien.
Stephanie Babych, a reporter for the Calgary Herald & Sun, who attended a protest in Calgary
said that the fear of COVID-19 was always in the back of her mind.

“I got tested for COVID-19 a few days after the Black Lives Matter protest that I attended, and
the test wasn't a pleasant experience. I tested negative but it definitely helped calm the fears after
the protest since I had been around so many people,” said Babych.

Babych said that journalists should be encouraged to ask for extra pay when they are covering
stories that place them in dangerous situations. “If protests in your community became violent or
there were seriously concerning moments at the protests, then I think an employer might be more
open to discussions about adding some extra pay.”

The Stories

To write quality stories, most journalists had to try to get official comments from authority
figures, which was a difficult thing to do because of the tense political climate around the Black
Lives Matter protests.

Therien said that the police wouldn’t talk to reporters at the event she attended, and she was only
able to speak to protesters and organizers.

Babych said that authority figures put out their statements quickly, and many of them didn't
address some of the key concerns that Black Lives Matter organizers called out or requested
action for.

“Because there's a statement, the politician won't take interviews or media availabilities where
they would receive a little or a lot of pushback about what their statement said,” said Babych.
“And press secretaries love to point reporters to a politician's online statement when you ask for
an interview.”

Journalists are at high risk of facing backlash and disapproval from their audiences when
covering sensitive or controversial topics.

Therien had to write a story about the media’s coverage of the protests. Sources were constantly
critiquing her and other reporters, which was very challenging.

“The interviews were full of criticism that the media needed to hear but I was responsible for
somehow portraying that in a 500-or-so word story. It was a really heavy story to write and all
the interviews were heavy because it was so clear that reporters in Calgary had failed them,” said
Therien.

After writing articles about the Black Lives Matter protests, Therien and her colleagues received
hate mail and backlash.

“The emails that reporters received while writing about Black Lives Matter were disgusting, and
we received so many more emails than we would on a normal day of reporting,” said Therien.
“There were some people who were hateful towards Black Lives Matter in the emails but there
were also readers who were hateful towards us reporting it.”

Sharma said that she always worries when covering race-related stories because of potential
backlash or the public seeing her coverage as biased. “More newsrooms are starting to re-
evaluate how they assign stories and how they present facts, for example, using active vs passive
language in headlines,” said Sharma.

Therien said that journalists should prepare before covering stories by doing their research, by
taking any precautions necessary, and by informing their employers of what they do or don’t feel
comfortable reporting.

“Any journalist should be comfortable expressing when they’re uncomfortable, It’s important to
know when to take yourself out of a situation if it becomes dangerous,” said Therien.

Sources:

Anchal Sharma
anchal.sharma@cbc.ca

Stephanie Babych
sbabych@postmedia.com

Eloise Therien
eloise.therien@globalnews.ca