Those who remember Visual Arts Trends, a publication created and edited by my friend Julia Dudnik-Stern in the late 1990s and early 2000s, might recall that I didn’t have kind words about the Rt Hon Tony Blair and his government. In those pre-Iraq war days, one reader was so upset they wrote to Julia, who, to her credit, defended my freedom to express a political view.
It was actually quite rare to attack Blair, Mandy, the Blairites and Labour then—the fawning interviews given to Blair by the likes of Sir David Frost, and so many of the British media establishment made their 1997 campaign relatively easy. They shrewdly pitched themselves, light on substance and heavy on rhetoric, and that may have been what I was calling out. For once, I don’t recall too clearly, but I can tell you that I do sweat, and did so even when the Falklands were on.
How times have changed. In 2019, an independent study has shown that Labour largely gets negative press coverage in British newspapers, while Conservative gets positive. As covered in The Independent, Loughborough University researchers assigned negative scores to negative articles and positive scores to positive ones, to arrive at an index.
In the period from November 7 to 27, 2019, coverage on Labour scored –71·17 in the first week, –71·96 in the second, and –75·79 in the third.
By contrast, the Tories received +29·98, +17·86 and +15·87.
Tonight, Colin Millar’s thread made for an interesting read, where the Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t.
There is a possibility Jeremy Corbyn will be Prime Minister of the UK by the end of next week. There is no better time to highlight how, no matter what Corbyn does or whatever position he takes, his critics will attack him – even if they totally contradict themselves (thread).
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Corbyn is wrong to prioritise the Labour party over the public (The Observer): https://t.co/usSGoxSkNN
Corbyn is wrong to prioritise the public over the Labour party (The Observer): https://t.co/BfZJW2aRy2
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Corbyn is a Red Tory, who doesn't about problems of those on low wages (John Rentoul): https://t.co/ikcq1POBnT
Corbyn is anti-capitalist and spends too much time criticising companies who pay low wages (John Rentoul):https://t.co/NC3eUJbUah
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Corbyn's problem? He's both too centrist. He's also too much of a fringe figure. Both are argued in the same piece by Tom Peck: https://t.co/OZH41FavKm
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn is too nostalgic, argues John Harris: https://t.co/84wYg1Urcd
Jeremy Corbyn is not nostalgic enough, argues John Harris: https://t.co/0LWHFSFMcC
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Corbyn is not like Trump, says James O'Brien: https://t.co/DUQDymtDvB
Corbyn is even worse than Trump, says James O'Brien: https://t.co/zXRWfLMRqU
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn has no chance of power whatsoever (Brendan O'Neill): https://t.co/11cocCMWyv
Jeremy Corbyn's chance of power should terrify everyone (Brendan O'Neill): https://t.co/0OZ92nqF87
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Corbyn is a threat to life as we know it (Brendan O'Neill): https://t.co/73OAz5JriR
Corbyn is no threat whatsoever to life as we know it (Brendan O'Neill): https://t.co/JMLbQIHiJl
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn has no interest in power (Nick Cohen): https://t.co/Ph1D0ITJ83
Jeremy Corbyn is too interested in power (Nick Cohen): https://t.co/gTmejkwA3m
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Nick Cohen believes Corbyn is too radically left-wing: https://t.co/zw3MJVzr5t
But conversely, Nick Cohen also believes Corbyn isn't radically left-wing enough: https://t.co/tLG9Az7Pbj
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Mitch Benn: Corbyn isn't brave enough to change his mind on Brexit: https://t.co/FLkIXxyneG
Mitch Benn: Ok, Corbyn has changed his mind on Brexit – what a coward! https://t.co/19ySzreGtF
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Peter Mandleson: By not opposing Tory Brexit, Corbyn is betraying the national interest: https://t.co/CzUxz4nZac
Peter Mandleson: By opposing Tory Brexit, Corbyn is betraying the national interest: https://t.co/K5KjOzREPy
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Corbyn is set to lead Labour into electoral oblivion: https://t.co/2au0FhXX5M
Corbyn is failing by not winning an electoral landslide: https://t.co/eKhfwswY0H
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) December 2, 2019
Now, I’m sure I’ve shifted my position on things, but generally not in the same year. And yes, Labour itself hasn’t had the best comms in the world.
However, the UK population, and, for that matter, we here in New Zealand, look at the state of news in the US and think we somehow are above the phenomenon of “fake news”. But it’s very clear that we aren’t, and I have insisted for years that we aren’t. This may be uncomfortable for some, but the truth often is. I can only imagine some are all right with being lied to, just as they are all right with being surveilled by Big Tech.
There seems to be little outrage in a week when an article by the UK PM saying that his country’s poor are made up of chavs, burglars, drug addicts and losers emerges, and that poverty is caused by low IQ. In a separate story of his, admittedly older than mine for Julia, he says that children of single mothers are ‘ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate’. One wonders what our former PM, Sir John Key, raised by his mother, makes of that.
Just like 1997, one side is being given a free pass by the British media, whether you like them or not. Are ‘we British’ smart enough to see through it? History suggests we are not.
You may also like
