Canada: Rachel Gilmore Asks For A Comment, Polivivre Clapbacks With A Press Release Calling Her "Disingenuous"
Location: Canada, TorontoDate: July 15, 2022
Conservative candidate for Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Poilievre clapped back at Global News journalist, Rachel Gilmore claiming that it was because of journalists like her that nobody had any trust in the news anymore. Rachel Gilmore had written two articles criticizing the conservative candidate for his support of anti vaxxer James Topp who is a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces and has ties to several members of the far right. The journalist took to Twitter to express her frustration when Poilievre refused to answer questions and then came for her in a press release attacking her integrity while evading the questions.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns these tactics to silence journalists and requests that politicians answer questions as they are public servants that are held accountable when journalists talk to them about their campaigns and policies.
No wonder trust in the media is at an all-time low.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) July 7, 2022
One of Global News' so-called journalists decided to smear me & thousands of other Canadians because we criticized the federal government's unscientific & discriminatory vaccine mandates.
My campaign's response to this attack. pic.twitter.com/P1W4PTcswR
Just so everyone knows, a lot of these far-right guys like to photoshop fake articles and share them around to see who bites.
— Rachel Gilmore (@atRachelGilmore) July 9, 2022
The latest popular one falsely states that Diagolon is behind the Rogers outage.
Not true. It's just a lame bit. pic.twitter.com/Gn2ZhugsLU
This, which was just sent to me and is apparently circulating online, is also fake.
— Rachel Gilmore (@atRachelGilmore) July 10, 2022
Gotta say though, it’s very flattering that the troll behind this thinks it would be be believable for CP to actually write this.
I’m really not that important, guys. pic.twitter.com/63fLr6cuHp
Rachel Gilmore asked Pierre Poilievre questions about his ties to James Topp and Topp’s connection to a terrorist organization called Diagolon. The politician declared her “unprofessional” and then issued a statement in which his team wrote about dwindling faith in the Canadian media and Global News being a liberal mouthpiece of the Trudeau government.
Rachel became the target of an online troll campaign in which fake news that she was being targeted by Poilievre supporters was circulated. She took to her Twitter to clarify this misconception that she was not on a leave of absence just because of what a politician thought about her.
Even though the rumors about her went in the opposition's favor it takes a significant toll to clarify what is being said about you online. It takes away from the mental space and time that a journalist should be dedicating to their job in uncovering the truth and reporting stories for the public. Rachel started receiving threatening emails and tweets from the moment the statement went up.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism extends solidarity to Rachel Gilmore and urges law enforcement agencies to take action against this incitement to hatred. It is no secret that right-wing sentiment can be provoked on social media fairly easily, resulting in real-life consequences for members of vulnerable communities. Social media platforms need to devise more vigilant ways to prevent incidents like these.
Here’s my most recent Instagram pic, a series of photos from my time in London with my mom.
— Rachel Gilmore (@atRachelGilmore) July 4, 2022
The comments under it all came after covering Poilievre’s march with James Topp, who has ties to extremist figures.
This is what it’s like to be a journalist in 2022. pic.twitter.com/hOiWVg58lo
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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