The problem is that the MSM, of which I used to be a part, operate by 20th century rules that no longer stand in the age of populism, lies and the destruction of norms. See the BBC and Sky today analysing Reform’s immigration proposals as if they have substance. In the eyes of casual viewers, this gives validity to the invalid and elevates fringe voices to the level of serious parties of government. We don’t need balance and even-handedness. We do need people saying this is crap and not worthy of your time and bluntly stating what is an abject lie.
I think a big part of the problem is that Big Tech (primarily Google and Facebook) destroyed the MSM's financial viability by taking away so much of their advertising revenue, increasingly turning it into the money-losing propaganda plaything of eccentric right-wing billionaires.
Where it’s right to go to town on Reform is when they announce an actual policy like on Tuesday, because the role of the media (old and new) is surely to scrutinise such policies and hold Reform to account. In doing so, flaws can be exposed - such as the fact that Farage has had to back track on swiftly deporting children.
Where it’s wrong to keep giving Nigel Farage so much oxygen is when journalists just turn to him for his views about anything and everything like he’s the Leader of the Opposition.
PS: note to Bear - there haven’t been smoky pubs in Westminster for eighteen years!
Keep it up. You and other notable names need to keep highlighting how Farage and his cronies are leading this country down a very dangerous road, all for personal gain.
We can’t trust a lot of the main stream media to hold their plans to account and under real scrutiny. Trouble with Reform’s plans and policy is that the devil is in the detail, by which I mean, if looked at closely there ain’t none.
Love them or laugh at them, old Ed Davey's 'stunts' in the last election did the same job - it was click bait that got him on the news. There's no such thing as bad publicity, PT Barnum said.
You are right Bear, we need to cut off the oxygen of publicity. Or be more Gavin Newsom in our attacks - echo them back to show how ridiculous they are. Farage is married to a German and lives in Belgium doesn't he?
Farage the Foreigner basher. He is a figure of ridicule.
I know it can be said that it would be seen as stooping to their level but it would seem that those who shout the loudest get the attention. There is an old Geordie saying that was often repeated, “Shy Bairns Get Nowt. This seems to be the case here.
I too was thinking of Gavin Newsom, by mimicking Trump and his postings on Truth Social, brilliantly I may add, he is gaining popularity and being heard.
LOL I also keep thinking of the expression “He who smelt it, dealt it!” with these politicians! Screaming and shouting about behaviour that is their own LOL
I absolutely support Newsom for his Trump trolling - a vibrant 57 year old against the (dying) demented Trump? No contest. Would he make a good President? I don’t know. His ex is a real problem for me. Is she a bellwether?
Very interesting as always. I have to say that pretty much wall to wall coverage yesterday became as boring as sticking a pin in my eye once l had seen the same piece of footage time and again. Even Cathy Newman was insisting the interviewee answered her questions when he extremely clear he was not going to play the game that Farage would be next PM. I said on Insta yesterday why so much attention do we really think he will take the next GE and l got quite a few affirmatives.
A while back l had started decrying the fact that we never see Lib Dem’s, rarely hear their ripostes or questions in the House when the news is showing it. I voted LIB Dem at the last election because she is a really good local MP. Always on top of her game. I know she thinks similarly to me on Gaza. So when l heard that there was a cohort of Palestinians unable to take up their places at Oxford etc because the paperwork can’t be dealt with, l automatically wrote to her. By the way l wrote to the Good Law Project as well and see it has been taken up. Back came my reply documenting the questions asked about this in the House, responses etc, all neatly documented. Not a mention have l seen on any news channel nor paper on this being brought up by the Lib Dem’s.
This is a disservice to the country. One of the bigger parties is being totally ignored. Our picture of what is happening is totally skewed.
I think maybe, well probably you are right. Yes Farage is a polished orator and he’s quick and on the money. He leaves both the PM and Leader of the Opposition standing. But no one is really challenging his statements. Kemi Badenough’s response was to say he was copying her. She wishes. We need the gap filled by sense and Ed Davey and his gang can and are providing it in part. If the mainstream are not making the point dear Bear, perhaps it is over to you and others on your seats on the margins to come into the centre and inform those of who enjoy informed debate.
I do wonder why the Greens & LibDems ARE so bad at seizing the narrative . Is it a natural reluctance to not be showy , not be noisy , a lack of ideas, being so used to having no power they are locked in that mode ?
But the world has got to change , they need to find a topic & a slogan that they can flog. Something we can get behind .
God knows Labour haven’t a clue either .
Reform is successful because they find these headlines . Snappy
& evocative . The people who are attracted to them don’t want ‘in depth ‘ .
All decent parties need to get off their backsides & challenge the Reform narrative now . Get the orators & the slogans out there NOW .
Farage is already assumed to be the next PM . That is nonsense but a growing ‘truth.’
The reason that the Greens and LibDems are not seizing the narrative has several components. Firstly it is easy to have a snappy, catchy, headline-y policy if you don't care if it works or not. Just make stuff up - there are plenty of people who want to believe that there are simple answers to hard questions. Secondly, lowest common denominator. If you don't care about the vulnerable, minorities, the powerless and the victimised, you can just say nasty things and blame everything on them. If you are responsible and compassionate, you don't want to. Thirdly, the MSM and new media want click-bait. They are not, for the most part (present company excepted) interested in nuance, detail and complicated explanations. Conspiracy beats complexity. Blame beats acceptance. Easy beats difficult.
Thanks - top rate response, which got me to subscribe.
(I empathise with your surprise at finding yourself with a large number of followers for your non-professional journalism. Some years ago I was in a similar position, but on a much smaller, niche scale, when I found myself with a world-wide enthusiastic audience for my blog promoting LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic church. Life sometimes suprises - keep it up.)
I suppose I'm being naive to ask why 'compare and contrats' has kind of been abandoned? Can't any analysis of Reform's latest unhinged horror be set against its sane counterpart from the Green Party and the Lib Dems?
Exactly. Reform get the attention and engagement (including yours!) as a result of fomenting outrage. The problem with sane alternatives is that outrage is by definition insane, so will never be a source of engagement.
I'm sure someone with your turn of phrase could develop some rhetorical tricks to use Reform's antics to engage, then pivot to airing and amplifying the more progressive parties and ideas. "Your Party" will be coming up soon, so will be interesting to see how much engagement they can garner.
I'm sadly not convinced of the value of the 'new media' (but I'm open to persuasion). It's often partisan but not self-aware enough to acknowledge it. (Not All New Media, obviously, but you get my point.) And, of course, it has a major problem that it can end up singing to the choir - and attracting the heretics who want a row. It ends up being a bit of a circus, just like the rest.
What some elements of it try to do - which I really welcome - is holding media giants to account. It may not turn the tide, but it certainly helps me with some of my real life conversations. The accounts that challenge figures with actual data are great for me - but I'm also aware that a lot of people don't care at all whether things are verified or not. It's all about the vibes.
Political reporting now belongs with drama rather than policy. We get an announcement from the Government (or a political) party and then we get what the opposition (or the Government) says in response. What we don't get is analysis of the issue. Commentators generally seem to believe that managing a national budget is the same as managing your personal finances. There's enough around to say that isn't so. (It's probably [a] much simpler and [b] much harder.)
I've turned from being a news junkie to someone who jumps for the switch on the radio when we get lots of comment but no analysis. It's doing wonders for the listener figures for Radio 3.
I too have largely stopped listening or watching the news. I used to enjoy Newsnight, but now it has become a parody of itself and of the BBC obsession with 'balance'. Every discussion has to have polarised viepoints, usually from someone that is long on opinion, short on information and devoid of insight. Newsnight has turned into "Brass Eye".
I’ve found independent media. I would call it actual journalism a lifeline. Just take Byline Times. I’ve bought that for a few years now. I just could not get that level of factual reporting off the tv. Most national print media is not worth the paper it’s printed on. And it’s expensive. I came across BTimes via Twitter. So Twitter originally was a springboard but not now of course. I read more books about politics. If you rely on the mainstream you won’t get the truth. What I see instead is amplification of Farage. Take Newsnight last night. Just saying one guest crowing about how “charismatic” Farage is. Farage is not challenged, he gets virtually no pushback and he lies virtually all the time. His promises are not even realistic even if you can stand the nastiness of his politics. Now he likes to pretend he’s not the National Front all over again. And he apes Trump the democracy demolishing orange nightmare. He is the same thing. He must realise there is a limit to who can stomach his politics.
This is the big question for the day and one which left unanswered threatens to fundamentally undermine our democracy. I don’t have any easy answers as to how the MSM covers debate except that having right wing sympathisers high up in their management & being owned by off-shore billionaires probably isn’t helping. These are issues which our government needs to deal with through legislation and urgently imho. I do think our valiant opposition parties need to be much much more savvy- dear Ed Davey is to be applauded for his increasingly death-defying stunts, but what happens when doing a parachute jump isn’t enough to draw the MSM photographers - do a jump without one? Also, do people talk about the issues or about the stunt? I think they could learn a good lesson from Mamdani across the pond who’s got into the hearts and minds of the good people of New York not by pulling stunts but by engaging with them as the people he would like to represent as mayor, and talking about the issues in their language and with good humour and honesty, and making this engagement very, very public. Essentially he’s doing what right wing populists do, but of course the content is his, not theirs, & in doing so he has completely pulled the rug from under his more traditional Democrat and Republican opponents who are reduced to unconvincing dirty tricks. That’s my penny’s worth anyway.
Thanks for this. As a LibDem election agent and member, I found this so horribly accurate that I have now forwarded the link to our regional executive. Let's hope they actually do something positive, as Reform is taking hold, like a cancer, herr in rural Hampshire.
The problem is that the MSM, of which I used to be a part, operate by 20th century rules that no longer stand in the age of populism, lies and the destruction of norms. See the BBC and Sky today analysing Reform’s immigration proposals as if they have substance. In the eyes of casual viewers, this gives validity to the invalid and elevates fringe voices to the level of serious parties of government. We don’t need balance and even-handedness. We do need people saying this is crap and not worthy of your time and bluntly stating what is an abject lie.
Agreed Mark - this 'there are two sides to every story that both deserve equal debate' has to stop.
I think a big part of the problem is that Big Tech (primarily Google and Facebook) destroyed the MSM's financial viability by taking away so much of their advertising revenue, increasingly turning it into the money-losing propaganda plaything of eccentric right-wing billionaires.
Where it’s right to go to town on Reform is when they announce an actual policy like on Tuesday, because the role of the media (old and new) is surely to scrutinise such policies and hold Reform to account. In doing so, flaws can be exposed - such as the fact that Farage has had to back track on swiftly deporting children.
Where it’s wrong to keep giving Nigel Farage so much oxygen is when journalists just turn to him for his views about anything and everything like he’s the Leader of the Opposition.
PS: note to Bear - there haven’t been smoky pubs in Westminster for eighteen years!
Keep it up. You and other notable names need to keep highlighting how Farage and his cronies are leading this country down a very dangerous road, all for personal gain.
We can’t trust a lot of the main stream media to hold their plans to account and under real scrutiny. Trouble with Reform’s plans and policy is that the devil is in the detail, by which I mean, if looked at closely there ain’t none.
Love them or laugh at them, old Ed Davey's 'stunts' in the last election did the same job - it was click bait that got him on the news. There's no such thing as bad publicity, PT Barnum said.
You are right Bear, we need to cut off the oxygen of publicity. Or be more Gavin Newsom in our attacks - echo them back to show how ridiculous they are. Farage is married to a German and lives in Belgium doesn't he?
Farage the Foreigner basher. He is a figure of ridicule.
This was my thinking too.
I know it can be said that it would be seen as stooping to their level but it would seem that those who shout the loudest get the attention. There is an old Geordie saying that was often repeated, “Shy Bairns Get Nowt. This seems to be the case here.
I too was thinking of Gavin Newsom, by mimicking Trump and his postings on Truth Social, brilliantly I may add, he is gaining popularity and being heard.
LOL I also keep thinking of the expression “He who smelt it, dealt it!” with these politicians! Screaming and shouting about behaviour that is their own LOL
I absolutely support Newsom for his Trump trolling - a vibrant 57 year old against the (dying) demented Trump? No contest. Would he make a good President? I don’t know. His ex is a real problem for me. Is she a bellwether?
Very interesting as always. I have to say that pretty much wall to wall coverage yesterday became as boring as sticking a pin in my eye once l had seen the same piece of footage time and again. Even Cathy Newman was insisting the interviewee answered her questions when he extremely clear he was not going to play the game that Farage would be next PM. I said on Insta yesterday why so much attention do we really think he will take the next GE and l got quite a few affirmatives.
A while back l had started decrying the fact that we never see Lib Dem’s, rarely hear their ripostes or questions in the House when the news is showing it. I voted LIB Dem at the last election because she is a really good local MP. Always on top of her game. I know she thinks similarly to me on Gaza. So when l heard that there was a cohort of Palestinians unable to take up their places at Oxford etc because the paperwork can’t be dealt with, l automatically wrote to her. By the way l wrote to the Good Law Project as well and see it has been taken up. Back came my reply documenting the questions asked about this in the House, responses etc, all neatly documented. Not a mention have l seen on any news channel nor paper on this being brought up by the Lib Dem’s.
This is a disservice to the country. One of the bigger parties is being totally ignored. Our picture of what is happening is totally skewed.
I think maybe, well probably you are right. Yes Farage is a polished orator and he’s quick and on the money. He leaves both the PM and Leader of the Opposition standing. But no one is really challenging his statements. Kemi Badenough’s response was to say he was copying her. She wishes. We need the gap filled by sense and Ed Davey and his gang can and are providing it in part. If the mainstream are not making the point dear Bear, perhaps it is over to you and others on your seats on the margins to come into the centre and inform those of who enjoy informed debate.
I do wonder why the Greens & LibDems ARE so bad at seizing the narrative . Is it a natural reluctance to not be showy , not be noisy , a lack of ideas, being so used to having no power they are locked in that mode ?
But the world has got to change , they need to find a topic & a slogan that they can flog. Something we can get behind .
God knows Labour haven’t a clue either .
Reform is successful because they find these headlines . Snappy
& evocative . The people who are attracted to them don’t want ‘in depth ‘ .
All decent parties need to get off their backsides & challenge the Reform narrative now . Get the orators & the slogans out there NOW .
Farage is already assumed to be the next PM . That is nonsense but a growing ‘truth.’
Enough !
The reason that the Greens and LibDems are not seizing the narrative has several components. Firstly it is easy to have a snappy, catchy, headline-y policy if you don't care if it works or not. Just make stuff up - there are plenty of people who want to believe that there are simple answers to hard questions. Secondly, lowest common denominator. If you don't care about the vulnerable, minorities, the powerless and the victimised, you can just say nasty things and blame everything on them. If you are responsible and compassionate, you don't want to. Thirdly, the MSM and new media want click-bait. They are not, for the most part (present company excepted) interested in nuance, detail and complicated explanations. Conspiracy beats complexity. Blame beats acceptance. Easy beats difficult.
Thanks - top rate response, which got me to subscribe.
(I empathise with your surprise at finding yourself with a large number of followers for your non-professional journalism. Some years ago I was in a similar position, but on a much smaller, niche scale, when I found myself with a world-wide enthusiastic audience for my blog promoting LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic church. Life sometimes suprises - keep it up.)
I suppose I'm being naive to ask why 'compare and contrats' has kind of been abandoned? Can't any analysis of Reform's latest unhinged horror be set against its sane counterpart from the Green Party and the Lib Dems?
Exactly. Reform get the attention and engagement (including yours!) as a result of fomenting outrage. The problem with sane alternatives is that outrage is by definition insane, so will never be a source of engagement.
I'm sure someone with your turn of phrase could develop some rhetorical tricks to use Reform's antics to engage, then pivot to airing and amplifying the more progressive parties and ideas. "Your Party" will be coming up soon, so will be interesting to see how much engagement they can garner.
I'm sadly not convinced of the value of the 'new media' (but I'm open to persuasion). It's often partisan but not self-aware enough to acknowledge it. (Not All New Media, obviously, but you get my point.) And, of course, it has a major problem that it can end up singing to the choir - and attracting the heretics who want a row. It ends up being a bit of a circus, just like the rest.
What some elements of it try to do - which I really welcome - is holding media giants to account. It may not turn the tide, but it certainly helps me with some of my real life conversations. The accounts that challenge figures with actual data are great for me - but I'm also aware that a lot of people don't care at all whether things are verified or not. It's all about the vibes.
Political reporting now belongs with drama rather than policy. We get an announcement from the Government (or a political) party and then we get what the opposition (or the Government) says in response. What we don't get is analysis of the issue. Commentators generally seem to believe that managing a national budget is the same as managing your personal finances. There's enough around to say that isn't so. (It's probably [a] much simpler and [b] much harder.)
I've turned from being a news junkie to someone who jumps for the switch on the radio when we get lots of comment but no analysis. It's doing wonders for the listener figures for Radio 3.
I too have largely stopped listening or watching the news. I used to enjoy Newsnight, but now it has become a parody of itself and of the BBC obsession with 'balance'. Every discussion has to have polarised viepoints, usually from someone that is long on opinion, short on information and devoid of insight. Newsnight has turned into "Brass Eye".
I’ve found independent media. I would call it actual journalism a lifeline. Just take Byline Times. I’ve bought that for a few years now. I just could not get that level of factual reporting off the tv. Most national print media is not worth the paper it’s printed on. And it’s expensive. I came across BTimes via Twitter. So Twitter originally was a springboard but not now of course. I read more books about politics. If you rely on the mainstream you won’t get the truth. What I see instead is amplification of Farage. Take Newsnight last night. Just saying one guest crowing about how “charismatic” Farage is. Farage is not challenged, he gets virtually no pushback and he lies virtually all the time. His promises are not even realistic even if you can stand the nastiness of his politics. Now he likes to pretend he’s not the National Front all over again. And he apes Trump the democracy demolishing orange nightmare. He is the same thing. He must realise there is a limit to who can stomach his politics.
This is the big question for the day and one which left unanswered threatens to fundamentally undermine our democracy. I don’t have any easy answers as to how the MSM covers debate except that having right wing sympathisers high up in their management & being owned by off-shore billionaires probably isn’t helping. These are issues which our government needs to deal with through legislation and urgently imho. I do think our valiant opposition parties need to be much much more savvy- dear Ed Davey is to be applauded for his increasingly death-defying stunts, but what happens when doing a parachute jump isn’t enough to draw the MSM photographers - do a jump without one? Also, do people talk about the issues or about the stunt? I think they could learn a good lesson from Mamdani across the pond who’s got into the hearts and minds of the good people of New York not by pulling stunts but by engaging with them as the people he would like to represent as mayor, and talking about the issues in their language and with good humour and honesty, and making this engagement very, very public. Essentially he’s doing what right wing populists do, but of course the content is his, not theirs, & in doing so he has completely pulled the rug from under his more traditional Democrat and Republican opponents who are reduced to unconvincing dirty tricks. That’s my penny’s worth anyway.
Perhaps Media ownership and leanings plays a large part, and those ‘influencers’ who steer the ‘curious’ in the direction that the owners lean to.
https://www.mediareform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-Who-Owns-The-UK-Media-report.pdf
Thanks for this. As a LibDem election agent and member, I found this so horribly accurate that I have now forwarded the link to our regional executive. Let's hope they actually do something positive, as Reform is taking hold, like a cancer, herr in rural Hampshire.
Great piece Bear. So glad we have people like you who do give a balanced view and in a way we can all understand .
A lot to read
I said, "If Keir Starmer tackles media bias.
If Keir Starmer implements Proportional Representation"
Then I'd be pleased with that
Obviously I want more, a whole lot more, but those two things could do so much to help fix our broken political system.
Lucky for us (hooray in a sarcastic drawl)
I see it like the 1920's like the 1930's
Newspapers were the new mass media, spreading lies, hate, spin.
The Internet is like that, and at some point people will get bored, bored of the no facts right wing spreading scare stories.
Well, we can hope! 😊
Without any single Doubt!
"(I bet you no one has ever called JRM a Crotchgoblin in a Guardian op-ed)" No, but I'll bet they've wanted to.