As the Guardian has noted this morning, Rupert Murdoch has admitted that he knew Fox News anchors were lying when they said Biden stole the 2020 US Presidential election from Trump, and he let them do so.
I will ignore the discussion of the financial consequences for Murdoch. If he suffers a major loss, so be it.
I will also ignore the discussion of the consequences for Fox News. If its reputation is in tatters who am I to worry about that?
Instead, I want to consider another question, which is if they have not told the truth on this issue then what else have they not told the truth on?
Could it be that they have said that markets deliver optimal outcomes for society and that is not true?
Might they have said trickle-down economics works and this is also not true?
Might they have said what they call the national debt is too big and that might not be true either?
I could keep going. My point is, however, simple. Once you realise that the only thing that sustains right-wing politics is lies what is left of the faith so many have in it? And might it just be possible that other narratives might get a look in once the myths perpetuated by right-wing media are shattered?
I have to live in hope.
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Totally agreed.
But what is worst is when their lies become received wisdom for everyone else.
Why lies? Because in politics interests trump truth: far more often than truth ever triumphs. If that maxim wasn’t true, lies would never win; but we all know – they do. It is the first lesson in history, if you do not wish to read, or write fiction or fairy tales.
Lies have been currency in this country for so long, as you well know, people demonstrate massive cognitive dissonance when presented with the facts. You have detailed many basic ones exploited by politicians of all stripes on a daily basis (the household myth, national debt etc) and have contributed to opening my eyes on the economic side. Politically, it was a campaign handbook entry for the Tories to lie (because of the primacy effect the lie is remembered, the refutation not). It now seems to be currency amongst Labour and the SNP, and in that most conflicted of ‘news’ sources, the Guardian.
What is very concerning is that amongst the young (I teach Post 16), the idea of truth has become untethered, and some random Youtube video can inform a worldview far more than any empirically-founded set of facts. We have had to combat the influence of Andrew Tate, and I’ve even caused dissonance amongst staff by deconstructing the Graham Hancock video (Archaeology) on Netflix as a complete fiction. I would agree with your correspondents previous conclusion that the UK is ripe for the rise of a truly fascist party, providing a compelling fiction for the masses.
I must lead a sheltered life as I’d not heard of Graham Hancock, but Wikipedia does a pretty good take down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Hancock “a British writer who promotes pseudoscientific theories involving many ancient civilizations and lost lands … Reviews of Hancock’s interpretations of archaeological evidence and historic documents have identified them as a form of pseudoarchaeology or pseudohistory containing confirmation bias supporting preconceived conclusions by ignoring context, cherry picking, or misinterpreting evidence, and withholding critical countervailing data. His writings have neither undergone scholarly peer review nor been published in academic journals.”
Enough said. This sort of nonsense is nothing new. I can file him away with Erich von Däniken – and I wrote that before seeing they share space at the top of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoarchaeology
And this sort of thing can be toxic. “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” still has some currency in some quarters, despite being shown definitively to be a hoax since some years after it was first published.
It is essential that more people are taught the critical thinking skills to see through the lies and disinformation.
Two excellent segments from last evenings MSNBC current affairs, shows, Richard, that further your own argument. Both well worth watching. First, Lawrence O’Donnell’s scathing take:
https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-rupert-murdoch-s-temple-of-lies-at-fox-exposed-by-dominion-lawsuit-164149317743
And then Chris Hayes: https://www.msnbc.com/all (Why Fox is the most destructive institution in all of US politics).
But let’s also not forget for a moment the destructive role Murdoch’s media empire (Sun, Times, etc) has played and continues to play in UK politics. Indeed, I’d argue that much of the reason that you are seeing all the current policy ‘fluff’ from Starmer is that the Labour leadership is running scared of our dominant right- wing media, and quite likely trying to emulate Blair’s pre 1997 courting of Murdoch.
Thanks Ivan
I would argue that there is a good case, starting with the Murdoch inspired bizarre sacking of the Australian Prime Minister, Goff Whitlam by Elizabeth Windsor’s Australian Governor General, right through to Fox News’ major contribution to Trump’s presidency, that Rupert Murdoch has had more influence on the politics of the Anglosphere than any other individual in the last fifty years.
Even the cretinous Brexit mess is mostly down to Murdoch’s enmity for Brussels after they made it clear that they would not allow him to dominate European media in the same way he had been allowed to takeover the British media.
“Could it be that they have said that markets deliver optimal outcomes for society?”
Squadron of pigs flew past my office window as I was reading this – winking & smiling.
“the only thing that sustains right-wing politics is” ………the people in it being all part of a cosy club that includes the meeja – who have the same backgound as the politicos & thus shared viewpoints. They all know it’s lies but they stick with it anyway, cos it’s easier that way to keep UK serfs & peasants down – which is what they want – passive, forelock tugging serfs.