Like his producer at the Fifth Estate, Harvey Cashore, reporter Mark Kelley has demonstrated a pattern of creating false narratives and trying to coach people he interviews into following his own invented scripts. Both have been sued several times due to their shoddy journalism.
In every step of his reporting on WE Charity, the Fifth Estate’s Mark Kelley and his producer Harvey Cashore pursued a false, preconceived narrative despite clear evidence that it was wrong.
Teachers and donors have gone on the record to flag the duo’s attempts to coach them on how to respond to their questions on camera – urging them to follow their own invented thesis that donors were mislead by WE Charity about how their donations would be spent.
While in Kenya, Mark Kelley and Harvey Cashore showed up unannounced at schools in villages and began filming while asking questions to students and teachers. This was done without the permission of the Kenyan Ministry of Education – during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when strict health and safety regulations were still in place.
It is hard to imagine reporters showing up to an elementary school in North America with cameras rolling while they looked in windows and approached children to ask questions about fundraising and donations. They would likely be arrested.
In their final report on the Fifth Estate, Kelley and Harvey pushed a dramatic narrative of WE Charity working with the Kenyan government to chase them out of the country. It was filmed like a spy movie, with embellished footage of Mark Kelley running down the streets and ultimately getting on a plane to “escape”. In reality, Kenyan government officials had simply asked the duo to stop showing up, unannounced, at children’s schools without proper permission or safety protocols.
The continued misrepresentation of facts, harassment of students and donors, and pushing of false narratives left WE Charity with no choice but to pursue legal action against Kelley, Cashore and the CBC.
Experts and people knowledgable on WE Charity share what happened and why.
CBC falsely claimed that WE Charity built only 360 schoolrooms in Kenya. They said the number “360” was WE Charity’s own count. From the outset of its reporting, CBC knew that WE Charity built far more than 360 schoolrooms in Kenya but lied about the figure because the real number contradicted their false story about missing schoolrooms.
The CBC falsely claimed that WE Charity “inflated” the number of schools it funded in Kenya by including latrines in its count of 852 schoolrooms. From the outset of its reporting, the CBC knew this allegation was false but lied because its entire donor deception story was premised on WE Charity’s full count of 852 schoolrooms being wrong.
The CBC falsely claimed that WE Charity was engaged in a cover-up to “block the scrutiny” by the CBC’s investigation. CBC's false claims of obstruction were essential to its preconceived narrative because it gave them an excuse not to visit or verify the 852 schools and schoolrooms WE Charity funded.
CBC’s reporting lacked transparency, notably in showcasing permissions for school visits, explaining their method of counting schools, and describing how WE Charity used donor funds.
Mark Kelley consistently misrepresented WE Charity's work in Kenya. He reported that 360 schools were built, when he was provided evidence, multiple times, that WE Charity had built and renovated 852 schoolrooms in Kenya alone. This included classrooms, libraries, science labs, dorms and other structures essential for learning.
There is a lack of local knowledge and understanding, given the limited experience of their lead producer in developing countries and their reliance on a non-journalist for guidance in Kenya.
CBC journalist Mark Kelley has a pattern of behaviour of misrepresenting facts and creating knowingly false narratives. He has been the subject of numerous lawsuits against him for questionable journalism and a clear pattern of repeated unethical behaviour.
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In What WE Lost, readers are shown how Mark Kelley, abetted by his producer at CBC (Harvey Cashore), pressured WE Charity donors into saying things that weren’t true and coached them to follow the CBC’s invented script.
Listen to Martin Luther King III describe how Mark Kelley pressured donors and tried to coach their answers for cameras from CBC’s The Fifth Estate.
