EDMONTON—A spat between two politically opposed news websites in Alberta has landed in court, as Rebel Media claims PressProgress defamed it in an article that alleged one of its reporters was getting foreign funding from “an anti-Muslim billionaire.”

Rebel Media is seeking $600,000 in damages and the retraction of an article that singles out Alberta-based Rebel Media reporter Keean Bexte, according to an amended statement of claim filed in Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench on Aug. 30.

Rebel Media says the PressProgress article falsely stated that Bexte received funding from the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC). PressProgress wrote that the centre has been described as a key think tank responsible for orchestrating anti-Islam discourse in the United States, citing the Center for American Progress.

Earlier this week, PressProgress uploaded the statement of claim and its own statement of defence, which says they “deny each and every allegation” by Rebel Media.

None of the allegations has been tested in court. Rebel Media did not respond to requests for comment.

The article was written by Luke LeBrun, who is the editor of PressProgress and a defendant in the case.

PressProgress is a left-wing online publication owned and operated by the Broadbent Institute, a progressive think tank. Rebel Media is a right-wing online news platform founded by Ezra Levant, a former Sun News columnist.

Bexte joined Rebel last year and has reported and commented on provincial politics. The PressProgress story, published on June 11, says Bexte received money from a fellowship named after Robert Shillman, an American billionaire. It calls Bexte a “Shillman Fellow.”

PressProgress reported that the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC) runs a Shillman journalism fellowship. The article stated Bexte received funding from the DHFC and that Shillman has “a relationship” with the centre. PressProgress reported that Shillman is a “major donor” to the DHFC and that he’s served on its board of directors.

However, a Rebel Media lawyer said Bexte is not subsidized by the DHFC as their reporters are part of a different Shillman Fellowship. Rebel Media’s statement of claim also said the article “sensationalized negative aspects of the DHFC.”

The DHFC did not respond to requests for comment. Robert Shillman declined to answer questions.

In its statement of defence, PressProgress said: “It is a matter of public interest that an Alberta-based political correspondent receives support and funding from a foreign-financed program and that such program may have a relationship with or connection to a foreign organization which some institutions and media outlets consider to hold controversial political and social views.”

One reason for publishing the article, according to PressProgress, was that Premier Jason Kenney has embraced the idea that environmentalists in Alberta have been receiving funding from U.S. organizations to impede the province’s oil-and-gas industry. Kenney’s United Conservative government has started a $2.5-million public inquiry into the allegation.

According to the statement of claim, PressProgress didn’t attempt to contact Bexte or Rebel Media.

In an interview with Star Edmonton, PressProgress publisher Katrina Miller said they did not try to contact Rebel Media because “they developed a pattern of never responding.”

Several days after the story was published, Rebel Media sent a defamation notice to PressProgress, asking for a retraction of the article and a public apology.

PressProgress pulled the story down for a few days before republishing it with a correction that acknowledged Rebel Media’s Shillman Fellows are not “run through” the DHFC. The update added that Rebel wished to make clear the organization and its reporters have no association with the DHFC or its namesake David Horowitz.

While PressProgress included Rebel Media’s side in the updated article, Miller said they stand by their reporting.

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“We really see this as just a vexatious lawsuit that is built on really nothing at all,” said Miller. “We are very confident in our ability to defend ourselves.”

In its statement of defence, PressProgress said there was no malice involved in printing the article and that they didn’t defame the plaintiffs.

“To the extent that any defamatory comments were published by the defendants, which is specifically denied, the comments were corrected immediately upon the plaintiff’s contact with the defendants,” it says.

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