Unnamed Liberal sources burn media as insider info turns out to be #fakenews

Also: Why are only Conservative Catholics scary? Plus! Postmedia turns on Alberta’s Smith and a journalists’ union campaigns to preserve government media subsidies

Mar 17, 2025

Sometimes, media are just patsies.

This happens when they get manipulated by unnamed sources, at least one of whom just hung a CBC reporter out to dry. For context, not so long ago it was extremely rare for newsrooms to publish news based on unnamed sources. Now, with trust in media declining, it is routine. So, the less trust people have in journalists, the more they are writing “just trust me” stories.

Major news organizations explain the practice with phrases like “The Daily Bugle agreed not to identify the sources because they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.”

Which brings us to how David Cochrane of the CBC got lit up. He was fed a “scoop” on what he was told by unnamed sources would be a reduction in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet to only 15 or 20 individuals. This, in turn, got influencers like the Globe and Mail’s Andrew Coyne so excited on X/Twitter he deemed the move “revolutionary,” which gave the Liberals one more evening in which their man was portrayed angelically. But as it turned out, the sources Cochrane used were full of it. Carney appointed a cabinet of 24.

Had CBC insisted the sources go on the record, the sources would have looked stupid but, as it stands, it’s Cochrane that suffers that fate and there is now less reason for people to trust CBC’s reporting. One hopes this is a lesson for all. But, as the saying goes, it’s the hope that kills you.

Then there’s the sin of bias by omission.

Ever since our new PM lied about his role in the Brookfield Asset Management head office transfer to New York, Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre has frequently mentioned Brookfield. When I did a search for “Brookfield” on the National Post website, I got 17 hits since the story broke Feb. 26. The Globe and Mail had one story after that date - Feb. 28 - when it reported Carney saying he “should have been more precise.” (Also a March 6, "Mark Carney's hairsplitting must end” editorial). The CBC showed zero since Feb. 26 while a search of CTV found nothing on that date or since except for two catch up stories March 2. Not saying the Post is the measure for balance, but that’s a big gap.

Then there are the two matters with which media were once seized: religious belief and citizenship.

Andrew Scheer’s bid to become Prime Minister in 2019 was derailed by media who, despite the then-Conservative leader insisting he had no plans to introduce abortion legislation, demanded to know - because Scheer is Roman Catholic - his private, personal beliefs.

Similarly, his dual citizenship (USA) was of great concern.

Carney has citizenship in Canada, Ireland and the UK. Yes, the matter was addressed weeks ago when he said he would dump his non-Canadian citizenships. But to my knowledge no news organization has checked to see if he had actually done so prior to being sworn in. Given how Scheer was vetted, it would seem only fair to ask how many tax forms Carney’s filling out this year.

The new PM, as a recent opinion piece in the Catholic Register pointed out, is also a serious Catholic. Referencing his Pope Francis-inspired book Value(s): Building a Better World For All, Glen Argan notes “Carney does not mention Catholic social teaching, (but) its influence is evident.”

The Roman Catholic church has teachings on a lot of stuff, including the sanctity of life. This is reflected in its steadfast opposition to abortion and euthanasia, practiced in Canada through MAID (medical assistance in dying).

But what obsessed media about Scheer has prompted no questions whatsoever of Carney except via this editorial, also in the Catholic Register, which wondered if “our self-styled guardians of democracy might just collectively and independently agree to ignore the whacky Catholic stuff and simply cheer unabashedly for the latest Liberal prime minister.”

Speaking of survival, the Canadian Media Guild is out of the gate with a campaign to ensure journalists can continue to rely on the government for their jobs.

The Guild, which represents 6,000 workers including those at the CBC and Canadian Press, announced “It’s Time to Stand Up for Canadian News,” raised the alarm about “increased threats” and launched a petition. You can sign up here. The journalists’ union doesn’t say which party you should vote for, but you can probably join the dots on that one for yourselves.

Halifax City News reported that, just in time for the election, cheques from the $100 million news media fund the government forced Google to create are arriving.

But if you want to know who got what, forget it. As the report states:

“Erin Millar, the collective’s outgoing interim board chair and CEO of journalism software firm Indiegraf, refused to name which outlets had received money because of the collective’s “very strict privacy and data collection policies.”

What’s that phrase that drove the appeal for the funding again? Oh ya: Democracy Dies in Darkness.

The oddball story of the week goes to this gem in which a Postmedia reporter questions Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s use of taxpayers’ money for a trip to the USA where she will try to make the case against tariffs at a fundraiser hosted by conservative pundit Ben Shapiro. Smith has been working right-wing American media in the hope their nation’s president will stop behaving like a lunatic. In a phrase more suited to the Broadbent Institute’s Press Progress, the story reports Smith will “appear alongside a controversial conservative podcaster at an event … that comes days after appearing on another American alt-right radio show.”

Journalists need to define terms like “alt-right” if they are going to use them as anything other than some weird dog whistle (if I had my way, adjectives in news stories would only appear in quotes). I asked some journalist friends what alt-right means. Here are three replies:

“I’ve always taken it to mean “fringe” as in “alternative” but also the alt key being on the edge of the keyboard.”

“Hmmm. I’m not sure.”

“We’ve talked about this before - it’s any party to the right of the party you support.”

I am not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly. 😉

A bouquet to CHCH News in Hamilton, which chose not to go along with the herd’s Carney fan girl theme and criticized the new PM.

“An inauspicious start for PM-designate @MarkJCarney in #hamont,” CHCH posted on X. “No questions taken from reporters and his handlers told the camera operator pooling the event to shut off sound when he was inside talking to workers.”

My thanks to Kathleen Petty for having me as a guest with Chris Waddell, Carlton University professor emeritus, on her Alberta At Noon CBC radio show to talk about the future of the CBC. You can also read my latest column for The Hub here and please take in our Full Press podcast here.

And thanks, as always, for your support.

(Peter Menzies is a commentator and consultant on media, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow, a past publisher of the Calgary Herald and a former vice chair of the CRTC)