A consortium of legacy media outlets is lobbying the federal government to grant them the power to intervene in court cases, and acquit white people charged with crimes against Indigenous people.
“Let’s be honest, it would be a lot easier if we could just step in and say ‘not guilty, leave them alone,’” said CBC Edmonton’s managing editor Wyatt Mann. “I mean, we regularly put Indigenous victims on trial anyway.”
“Instead, we have to write all these victim-blaming articles,” added Canadian Press editor Lily LeBlanc. “Frankly, it’s exhausting.”
The move comes after the Canadian Press published an article all but blaming the victims of a shooting in Alberta, and several media outlets ran the exact same story. That article was eventually re-written to only gently blame the victims.
A spokesperson for the federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada said they are giving the media proposal ‘serious thought’ and made that motion where they gleefully twiddle their fingers together.