He is mainly interested in the media treatment of the covid crisis ... and on this point, there is a lot to say! Action, reaction, Diction, Contra Diction ... this is how we could sum up media treatment in 4 words!
Trailer :
Full documentary:
Mirror: https://www.quartierlibre.tv/quartierli ... -le-covid/
Analyzes :
The documentary “This is not a conspiracy” is not conspiratorial but not without flaws
For 36 weeks, the journalist-director Bernard Crutzen was interested in the way in which the French-speaking Belgian press deals with the Covid-19 crisis. If his work asks good questions, it is not free from skews.
“End of March. Not many people on the roads. We are asked to avoid unnecessary travel. Because of a spike in pollution? No, because of a virus. The billboards ask me to stay at home. have never seen such a hype. ” It is with these words that This is not a conspiracy begins, a Belgian documentary which intends to decipher how the media tell the health crisis caused by the Covid-19. It was to be broadcast during the Ramdam festival in Tournai, but the postponement of the event means that it is now available to watch for free on YouTube and on the Vimeo platform, before, who knows, a theatrical broadcast when the situation permits.
It is the attitude of his parents vis-à-vis the coronavirus that prompted the Verviers to take an interest in the issue by interviewing journalists in his circle of relations to find out what they say about the pandemic, but also how they talk about it. and what they are silent. What are they silent? Conspiracy? "I do not think so, no. This is not a conspiracy, ”replies the journalist-director, some of whose documentaries have been awarded and have achieved undeniable success, including Malaria Business. However, some passages seem to indicate the opposite.
A basic premise that raises questions
During the last quarter of the program, which lasts more than an hour, the accusations follow one another: “I can't stand this factory of consent which is running at full speed”, “tyranny of zero risk”, “liberticidal measures”, “Censorship that does not speak its name”, “social distancing and teleworking now prevent the exchange of points of view. Why have the authorities closed all the places where the world is being remade: university campuses, canteens, bistros? ”,“ Disguised vaccination obligation ”or“ does the ban on large gatherings sound the death knell? demonstrations where the population could express their anger? ”…“ In a democracy, shouldn't the press be the first bulwark against the abuse of power, asks Bernard Crutzen. In this crisis, on the contrary, it seems to accompany power, even in its delirium. ”
What the documentary denounces is the anxiety generated by the so-called mainstream or official press, use the terminology that suits you, with great blows of sensationalist headlines, alarmist figures and lack of critical thinking. “This is not a plot but perhaps the use of a health crisis to impose a virtual world, technologist, hygienist. A great opportunity for those who dream of strong power and wise people ”, concludes the director. This is not that far from the conclusion of Hold-Up ...
Welcome transparency
However, the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater. First of all because Bernard Crutzen has the merit, particularly ethical, of having handed his microphone to those whose actions he criticizes: journalists, including the head of the RTBF news, or the epidemiologist Marius Gilbert. Because he is also transparent in the funding that allowed him to make the documentary. Like Hold-Up, This Is Not A Conspiracy was funded exclusively with equity and through crowdfunding. At the time of completing the assembly, there were 1488 of them out of their pocket, which made it possible to collect nearly 85 euros. While most contributors have spent between 000 and 5 euros, some have extended 50 to 500 euros. All the financing and the breakdown of expenses are also clearly indicated and detailed on the KissKissBankBank site on which the transaction was carried out.
Doubt is allowed
There are also undeniable realities put forward by the document. It is certain that faced with the weight of large multinationals, States are increasingly destitute, not to write powerless at times. Finally, even if one does not adhere to the arguments of This is not a conspiracy and its basic postulate as to the role of the media in the current crisis, the fact of doubting established things remains a healthy reflex. Because who can say with absolute certainty that they have the answer to the problems and questions raised by Covid-19 and the management of the pandemic? No one. The situation is unique and poses unprecedented obstacles in front of everyone. We can therefore doubt the media enthusiasm, a certain sensationalist outbidding, a lack of perspective in the figures and even the endangering of democracy and a security drift.
All accomplices
On the other hand, it is incorrect to assert that the so-called mainstream media never give voice to voices expressing differences with regard to established power. To be convinced, just do some research on Google from several examples cited in the documentary, as with a carte blanche published in August by the collective Belgium Beyond Covid. At times, too, This Isn't a Conspiracy uses the same methods to prove its point as it denounces elsewhere. The use of syllogisms is also of the worst effect. Bernard Crutzen points the finger at Bill Gates, a major provider of resources to the WHO and pro-vaccination all-out. But also generous contributor to AFP. However, the media relay the dispatches of Agence France Presse. So here they are de facto guilty and / or accomplices of conveying the “good word” made in Bill Gates to the good people to indoctrinate… A little easy, no?
Examples that make pschiiiiit
There is also a question of collective immunity in the work of the journalist-director, with Sweden as a fulcrum. However, in November, did the Swedish authorities not themselves admit the failure of their strategy? Just like Portugal, which for a long time tried to act as if one could live there normally in times of Covid and which, today, is reconfigured, with compulsory teleworking, non-essential shops closed, as well as bistros and restaurants ...
20000 dead swept away
But perhaps the most shocking lies in a figure, also delivered without any perspective while the document criticizes the method. 20 deaths in Belgium, this represents 000% of the Belgian population. In other words, 0,17% of our fellow citizens have not died from Covid. So why impose sanitary measures on them? Doesn't that amount to brushing aside all these deaths?
And, once again, who can say what it would be if there had been no lockdown? Because, and this is the important criticism that can be addressed to This is not a conspiracy, Bernard Crutzen does not advance any alternative. And if our hospitals have risked or risk saturation, it is because politicians, for years, have disinvested in the health sector. Ok. But what do we do about the speed of the virus spread? Silence…
Not the slightest demonstration
At the end of the day, if the documentary doesn't fall into conspiracy theses like Hold-Up, it doesn't demonstrate anything either. And certainly not that “the coronavirus would only be a smokescreen that masks a much more systemic crisis for which our governments are preparing us under the cover of a health crisis” as it is said. It takes more of the mood than anything else.
https://www.dhnet.be/medias/divers/le-d ... 44d1ff58d0