The Strongest Victim of All

By  TheCanerdian     7:54 PM     

There's a morbidly fascinating direction to media cycles.  When a crisis occurs, the immediate reaction is to seek an explanation.  How did this happen?  Who do we blame?  How can we help?  We aren't after information; information is obtained through rigour, not through rapid development.  We're after judgement, and the quicker the better, because the intoxicating power that comes with being on the side of judgement is something we love to taste when the opportunity comes.  Feeding this frenzy are the parties involved.  Say the right words, spin the right message, find the right button to push, and you can wield that brief moment of opportunity like a glove.

Such is the case with the ongoing development of Jian Ghomeshi and the CBC.

Some framework:  what do we know so far?

1)  On Sunday, Oct. 26, the CBC issued this statement for immediate release:
"TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2014 /CNW/ - The CBC is saddened to announce its relationship with Jian Ghomeshi has come to an end.  This decision was not made without serious deliberation and careful consideration.  Jian has made an immense contribution to the CBC and we wish him well."

2)  As Chuck Thompson was the designated contact person for further information on the announcement, he was contacted by several journalists for additional comment.  The Globe and Mail quotes Thompson, in an email, as saying:
“Information came to our attention recently, that in CBC's judgement, precludes us from continuing our relationship with Jian Ghomeshi.”

3)  Subsequently, Ghomeshi, through his agent, issued a media release indicating his intention to file suit against the CBC for damages in the amount of $50 million, and to seek reinstatement in his position.  Ghomeshi also retained the services of a "high-stakes public strategy and communications firm," Navigator.

4)  Finally, on his public Facebook page, Ghomeshi issued a statement outlining his belief that his termination from the CBC emerged from, in his words "the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer."

From a purely PR perspective, it doesn't take much critical thought to realize who has obtained that crucial first step.  That one party accomplished this isn't surprising.  What is surprising, even alarming, is how quickly that first step has been picked up as the dominant narrative in this situation.

Already, the online argument is being framed around if we think the CBC was right or wrong to fire someone over private sexual conduct, if an employer has any business knowing our personal life, if consent is applicable in this situation, etc. etc. etc.  All of this has been accomplished in the span of hours.  I'd be impressed if I didn't find the whole thing so repellant.

DaveBleasdale via Compfight cc

I shouldn't be surprised, really.  We've seen this happen before.  People who are otherwise sane, forward thinking individuals, supporters of equal rights and a new dialogue around rape culture, suddenly forming ranks and drawing lines in the sand to support one of their own.  As ever before, it relies on the individual in question issuing a pre-emptive statement, "getting ahead of it," as it were.  We've seen it with Woody Allen.  We've seen it with Roman Polanski.  We'll undoubtedly see it again.

"Presumption of innocence," goes the reply, when I become critical of the unique treatment these people seem to receive.  Indeed, presumption of innocence is one of our most sacred rights.  Unfortunately, that's not what's at stake in today's events.

In the sequence of events I have listed above, there is no accusation.  There is no criminal charge.  In order for there to be a need for presumption of innocence, one must first be charged with an offence.  Ghomeshi has not been charged.

No.  What we are dealing with now is something different.  We are dealing with the presumption of conspiracy.

By issuing his statement, Ghomeshi has thrown into question every aspect of whatever eventual consequences might have befallen him / may yet befall him still.  His statement attacks the character of potential accusers, not actual ones.  That they may transition to a point of actual accusers following this means they begin their position under scrutiny.  In his statement, there are a myriad of different forces to be accounted for:  the CBC, the jilted lover, the freelance writer, the various friends (including ex-girlfriends), a major Canadian publication.  That none of these are named specifically means the audience is free to interpret however they like.  And there we have it:  presumption of conspiracy.  Conspiracy, until proven otherwise, no matter how unprovable that may be.

Of course, one cannot have a conspiracy without having an objective, and that is where the final piece of the narrative falls into place:  the victim.  This narrative would not be complete without reminding us of the human cost at stake.  This "campaign of vengeance" as Ghomeshi calls it, is taking its toll only "two weeks after the death of my beautiful father."

I have no doubt that in days to come, there will be further additions to the narrative, from Ghomeshi or from other parties, that he has begun this crisis as a victim.  That he is proceeding forward from a place of weakness.

Make no mistake.  By taking careful pains to frame the conversation, Ghomeshi has begun from the strongest position of all.

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