[LINK] "Jian Ghomeshi’s Implosion Was Overdue"

[rfmcdonald]

Vice's Patrick McGuire writes a remarkable essay starting by noting the quiet collaboration of Canadian journalists in keeping Jian Ghomeshi's alleged abuse under wraps, then noting his own publication's participation in that same process.

[A]s the calamity of exposing Ghomeshi continues to unfold, we've learned that there was a woman working for Q who alleges Ghomeshi told her he wanted to "hatefuck" her. We also learned abo​ut an allegat​ion today, on Jesse Brown's Canadaland podcast, from a former Q producer who claims Ghomeshi grabbed a woman from behind and "[dry] humped her... four or five times... with a big smile on his face" in the workplace. That same producer also alleges that he was told a rumour from an executive producer at Q pertaining to Ghomeshi choking a woman.

Beyond that, Western University had been warning their students not to take internships at Q because of Ghomeshi'​s lecherous and abusive reputation. A lecturer from UWO told the Star the ban on Q internships arose after Ghomeshi "prey(ed) on a young grad who wanted to work (at Q)."

If these rumours had drifted over to London, Ontario, and were credible enough to stop students from pursuing internships at Q, the questions becomes: why did it take so long for all of this to surface? What's wrong with the CBC that they weren't able to put two and two together and discipline their rising star in the face of alleged complaints? Or at the very least, launch an investigation into the veracity of these claims. An executive producer at CBC claims that Brown's reporting on a Q staffer complaining to her bosses is not t​rue, but Brown maintains he has evidence to the contrary.

[. . .]

Even though the amount of allegations has rapidly increased over the past week, and the Toronto Police are now involved, it has not yet been proven that Ghomeshi has done any of the things he is being accused of. Flawed as it may be, we have no other choice but to let the criminal justice system handle these allegations as they come. Especially now that Ghomeshi's career has been shattered.

We at VICE Canada had to confront the problem of handling anonymous sources, who had allegations about Jian Ghomeshi, head-on in September. Back then, we were approached by Jesse Brown, a freelance reporter who is now widely known for exposing the allegations about Jian Ghomeshi along with the Toronto Star. During our meeting, Brown brought VICE Canada a set of graphic and disturbing accounts that he was looking to publish--in the form of interview transcripts and audio recordings. Brown had approached us because (at that time) his story was put on ice by the Toronto Star. He was looking for a new media partner.

[. . .]

At the time, while these allegations were believable and credible despite coming from anonymous sources, they were not substantial enough to responsibly publish a story.