Here’s how U.K.-based tabloid newspaper Daily Mail describes the ongoing trucker protests against Canada’s border vaccine mandate:
“Since DailyMail.com arrived in Ottawa last week we have seen no indication of violence or vandalism or any extremist political agenda. In fact, the demonstrations have shown the opposite. Apart from the incessant honking of their horns, all has been peaceful. … We have not even seen any arguments with the few counter protestors who were in attendance. … Truckers were conscientious of the public streets and kept them free of litter. They also shoveled snow and threw down de-icer making the streets and sidewalks easier to walk on. Kids were welcomed by the truckers. On several occasions they allowed them to clamber up in their cabs and blow their air horns.”
Their article (here) includes photos of inflatable “bouncy castles” set up by the protesters for kids to play in.
But other observers have reported seeing Confederate flags and even Nazi swastikas, and even Daily Mail reported that “Ottawa Police arrested seven people and opened 60 criminal investigations for hate crimes and mischief,” and acknowledged that “protesters in Ottawa shot off fireworks, drivers blared their horns and streets remained blocked.”
Loud blaring of truck horns has been a major complaint of local residents, who say the horns deprive them of sleep and damage their hearing. A local resident has filed a $10 million class-action lawsuit on behalf of himself and 6,000 other local residents against 60 of the truckers and several protest organizers, with the constant horn blaring a major element of the claim for damages.
The Toronto Star, a reputable newspaper, reported (here) that two men believed to be protesters tried to set a 100-unit apartment building on fire and trap the residents — who have complained about the noise — inside by securing the doors. That story also mentions “reports of broken windows and harassment on the streets,” and quotes a resident of that building as saying, “It sounds like a war zone out there.”
And in the video below, a local resident describes being physically attacked when he tried to record the protest with his cellphone.
So, who should we believe? The Daily Mail‘s reporting of this event doesn’t square with reports from other sources that are considered reliable. Potentially, reader comments could serve as a fact-check, but they’re not allowing readers to call out inaccuracies in their reporting, because at the very bottom of their article there’s this: “Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.” Although I’ve used Daily Mail as a source many times, I’ve gotta wonder about their journalistic integrity in this story.