About Face: Hypocrites and Outliers in Canadian News Coverage of Masking and Anti-Masking During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has generated renewed public debate about different forms of masking. In this article I analyze news frames that circulated in English-
language Canadian news outlets throughout 2020, performing an informal discourse analysis of coverage of Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, alongside coverage of two anti-mask protests held in Aylmer, Ontario. In the case of Bill 21, I argue that the predominant frame that shaped coverage was one of hypocrisy, which foregrounded the discriminatory nature of the legislation but obscured the Christian cultural politics otherwise embedded in the law. In the case of the Aylmer marches, I argue that news coverage centered on the role of the religious outlier, particularly through attention to outspoken Church of God Restoration pastor Rev. Henry Hildebrandt. This frame amplified Hildebrandt’s political statements but downplayed the more quotidian role of conservative Christianity in shaping some anti-mask sentiment. In both cases I argue that attending to the Christian cultural politics which were obscured by dominant news frames can help us better understand the persistent role of religion in shaping public discourse.