The media’s irredeemable failure to challenge ‘graves’ narrative

Wednesday marks the five-year anniversary of the announcement that hundreds of unmarked graves had been discovered at a former residential school site in Kamloops, B.C. - an announcement that made headlines around the world and ignited an emotional debate here at home around the legacy of residential schools. Since then, however, the initial claims about graves at the Kamloops site have been walked back, as has been the case with similar claims at other sites. No actual new burial sites have been confirmed or unearthed. In this interview with Rob Breakenridge, author, journalist, and National Post columnist Terry Glavin argues that sensationalized reporting and political opportunism fueled false and exaggerated claims of "mass graves" and other horrific crimes. That, he says, sparked widespread civil unrest and ultimately damaged the credibility of genuine residential school survivors.