An Opinium poll from September 2019 conducted just over two months before the 2019 general election, suggested that the climate crisis would influence how the majority of the public would vote in the next general election. Two-thirds of people felt the climate emergency “was the biggest issue facing humankind”, 63% supported a Green New Deal, and 81% supported tree planting measures. …

Some might argue that the question posed in this title is simply academic. “Whether they have one or not isn’t the point,” they might say. “The point is that they are perceived to have one, and therefore they must act on antisemitism as if they have an antisemitism crisis.”

This is a bewildering (but common) logic that attempts to say that truth no longer matters. It belongs very comfortably in the post-truthist camps of the right and far-right than any intelligent, liberal discourse. But truth still matters. It always has and it always will.

It’s important.

It’s also important that…

Most of the news media is either corporate owned or heavily tied to corporatism. This is a big problem because they have a huge influence over what society ends up thinking is important. And media coverage tends to be generally favourable to corporatism.

The relentless focus on Brexit in news media is an interesting example of this in action. Through giving Brexit a disproportionate focus, corporate media removes from the limelight, certain forces and aspects of capitalism that have put us at such peril and intend to push us perilously further.

Journalists have huge responsibilities, but they consistently fail to…

We are living at a time, at least in my lifetime, when we most need to engage with those whose views differ from ours, even — perhaps especially — when those views seem drastically and fundamentally opposed. This creates a rather unnerving paradox if you also accept a harsh but basic truth of life: some people are simply best avoided. Take, for example, the people who regularly choose champagne as their drink of choice. I’m sure that they’re not all superficial, crass and tacky, but there’s a very good chance they will be. …

“Now, you listen here. He’s not the Messiah; he’s a very naughty boy. Now, go away!”
Life of Brian, 1979

Jean Pierre Meersseman is the founder and former head of the Milan Lab — an institution given near legendary status by many football journalists. Throughout the years, Meersseman and his former lab have received incredibly glowing reportage in The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Four Four Two, These Football Times, BBC Sport and many more outlets.

If you’ve read UK coverage about the Milan Lab and Jean Pierre Meersseman’s supposed achievements, then it would not be…

This is the fourth and final part of my essay on journalism with particular focus on The Guardian.

Part One looked at

· the dangers of exaggerating the impact of Big Data and Fake News on those recent elections

And explained:

· how and why The Guardian are exaggerating the influence of Big Data and Fake News

Part Two outlined, examined and explained:

· The Guardian’s complicity in state-corporate propaganda through analysing its output in relation to Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model as outlined in the seminal work Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.

Part Three focussed…

This third part of a four part essay looks at principles of journalism and how The Guardian frequently fails to meet them.

Part One, examined and explained:

· the dangers of exaggerating the impact of Big Data and Fake News on those recent elections

· how and why The Guardian are exaggerating the influence of Big Data and Fake News

Part Two, examined and explained:The Guardian’s complicity in state-corporate propaganda through an introduction of Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model. It then examines The Guardian’s output in relation to the model’s five filters.

Finally, Part Four will outline, examine and explain:

…

This second part of a four part essay examines and explains The Guardian’s complicity in state-corporate propaganda through an introduction of Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model. It then examines The Guardian’s output in relation to the model’s five filters.

Part One, examined and explained:

· the dangers of exaggerating the impact of Big Data and Fake News on recent elections

· how and why The Guardian are exaggerating the influence of Big Data and Fake News

Part Three will outline, examine and explain

· some basic principles of journalism, and how The Guardian frequently fails to meet those principles

Finally…