I saw independent media like Andrew Lawton of True North defending Evan Solomon using much the same reasoning as you did, that he actually walked among the protestors and "gave them as much time as they wanted".
The problem is, even after experiencing it firsthand, his takes were still atrocious. He would make snarky tweets nightly with evidence of his walk-throughs while sneering at the working class, then go to work every morning to fabricate malicious lies about them.
Sadly this guy is the most fair CTV reporter, he actually spent time at the protest talking to people at length.
But then he also called it the "occupation on Parliament Hill" https://twitter.com/AndrewScheer/status/1495518195389812739
I saw independent media like Andrew Lawton of True North defending Evan Solomon using much the same reasoning as you did, that he actually walked among the protestors and "gave them as much time as they wanted".
The problem is, even after experiencing it firsthand, his takes were still atrocious. He would make snarky tweets nightly with evidence of his walk-throughs while sneering at the working class, then go to work every morning to fabricate malicious lies about them.
The bar for MSM is so low that anyone not hiding in their office or apartment and willing to speak to people on the right makes them stand out.