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The Dead Candidate's Report - A Memoir.
"The Dead Candidate's Report" is the memoir of Lesley Hughes, an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and media coach as she is removed from her candidacy for the Liberal Party during Canada's 2008 Federal Election. This took place one day after her confirmation as a candidate by then Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. This was all based on the opinion of an anonymous blogger alleging that Lesley Hughes was an anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic, 9/11 conspiracy theory nutcase who was infit for Parliament. Hughes tells the story of her tenacious fight to clear her name and restore her reputation. Hughes discovers how powerful, conventional media and social media, have become in controlling the thoughts and opinions of others regardless of the validity and accuracy of what was being written and said. Follow her story as it unfolds in 17 Episodes.
Episodes
19 episodes
Episode 15: Final Thoughts - The media is a minefield.
Episode 15 - The Media is the MinefieldMother Theresa was right to distrust and avoid contact with what is now called Legacy Media. But journalists in the new, more diverse Information Age will still need individual courage if they inten...
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Episode 14 - The last nice country in the world.
14. The Last Nice Country in the WorldHer old life is beyond reach, but a new one takes shape. Lesley Hughes has witnessed first hand that the free press in Canada turning its back on democracy and on its own freedom. She contemplates wr...
Episode 13 - Disappeared. Again.
13 Disappeared. Again.Vindicated! The Dead Candidate's Recovery Team releases the news that she has been cleared of all charges during the election of 2008. The story sinks like a stone. Hughes decides to demand accountability from her ...
Episode 12 - All the justice money can buy.
12. All the Justice Money Can BuyHughes learns why seeking justice in court is like following a drowning with a firing squad. She mortgages her house to pay legal bills. Her lawyers dodge a gag order. After almost five years of struggle ...
Episode 11 - The First Lawyer.
11 The First LawyerThe dead candidate takes her defamation case to a highly respected lawyer. The names on her defendants list (which includes Canada's prime minister) cause him to "scare her for her own good." He warns that her powerful...
Episode 10 - Looking for the exit.
10. Looking for the Exit Canada's election of 2008 is history, but it continues to corrode the daily life, the family and mental health of The Dead Candidate. Slowly, grief and confusion give way to anger. She accepts advice from To...
Episode 9 - Memories of McCarthy
9. Memories of McCarthyUnwilling to live with the odious label of anti-Semite, Hughes traces the tactics used to defeat her to their roots in McCarthyism. In the fifties, communists were the target. Six decades later, "truthers" who chal...
Episode 8 - The Pundits, the Prime Minister and the Polling Booth.
Episode 8 - The Pundits, the Prime Minister and the Polling Booth,Allegations of bigotry have succeeded and as Hughes watches her televised defeat on election night, she realizes she is part of a select group of truly bizarre los...
Episode 7 - A Private Fidelity.
Episode 7 - A Private Fidelity. Supporters loyal to the disgraced candidate urge her to run for Parliament as an independent. But first, she must confront thecontempt of voters who now believe she is an antisemiti...
Episode 6 - Fog on Fog: The Hughes Paragraph.
Episode 6A long ago interview with espionage writer John le Carre foreshadows the difficulty of getting reliable truth from intelligence agencies. Hughes is dragged into the impenetrable fog lingering over September 11 and the bloo...
Episode 5 - A Tale of Two Columns.
More pieces of the puzzle come together. Two previous columns rise to haunt the award winning journalist Lesley Hughes. The first defied George Bush' official story behind September 11, 2001. The second urged Canadians to stay out of the Americ...
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Episode 4 - Off With Her Head.
Episode 4A single anonymous blogger emerges as the source of Hughes'disgrace. Opposing candidates demand as apology which Hughescannot give. Her humiliation is widely celebrated in social mediaand Canadians believe h...
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Episode 3 - Waking Up Evil.
Episode 3Hughes' credibility, her past and her future are gone amid accusations of conspiracy mongering and antisemitism. National media portray her a poisonous conspiracy monger allegedly hostile to Israel and the Jewish community.<...
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Episode 2 - Your Execution May Be Televised.
Hughes' exciting and promising campaign is abruptly shut down when she is sideswiped by media telling her she's been dumped by her party as an unworthy candidate, unfit to govern. The scrum capturing her shock leads national radio, tv and newsp...
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