Horticulture, Populism, Trust and the Media
The Sunday before Christmas and a pleasant conversation with a plantsman at a garden centre deep in rural Devon took an unexpected turn.
“Anyway, I’m an optimist about life. I mean look at all the great things that have happened in 2016.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Well, Brexit — I mean Labour, Conservative, Labour, Conservative — it frees us to think differently!”
“Ok...”
“And Trump — his election is brilliant.”
“In what way?”
“Well for a start it stopped Hilary Clinton being elected. She and her husband are paedophiles you know- terrible people. And she was planning nuclear war with Russia — thank goodness we’ve all been saved from that.” This was said almost with a note of festive cheer.
“You know those things aren’t true, don’t you?”
“Yes they are — Google them and see! And the top 68 people in the world are wealthier than the bottom 50% of the worlds population. Trump will sort that out!”
“I’m not sure his team of multi-millionaires have that top of their list.”
Pause. “Maybe not, but most people don’t like them because they understand Russia. I think that’s a good thing. I mean what has Russia done to us recently? They helped free Aleppo which was the best possible thing for all those poor people.”
I suggested those in Syria watching their families being executed might not agree and swftly brought the conversation* and visit to a close.
Of course if you do Google Hilary and paedophilia or nuclear war you can guess which results come top.
I worked in newspapers and the BBC for more than thirty years and was always sceptical about whether the media really steered public opinion. 2016 has put me right. The depth of misinformation and confusion among the public is profound.
Since the American election we have had a panic about fake news on social media, echo-chambers and filter bubbles, and how, for the right price, Google search will deliver lies over truth. The technology companies will doubtless make some changes — their brands are at risk, although it is unlikely they will prioritise public interest over profit. But these are merely symptomatic, surface issues. We will still be left with big structural changes to how we learn about the world and lingering confusion and distrust among the public.
Traditional media organisations have been among the many institutions to suffer from the wave of scepticism washing through the public in Europe and the U.S. — along with political parties, government, and other public institutions. It’s not just that many no longer believe even reputable media. The legitimacy of any fourth estate role is now under question.
There has been no shortage of self-criticism on the part of the media — or of advice about how to deal with this new populism. Marty Baron of The Washington Post has some of the best.
At heart, as I have spoken and written about for a number of years, lies a problem with media literacy. Algorithms, social media and the impact of failing business models on traditional media have left much of the public behind. Many simply don’t understand how it works — or where scepticism or trust are appropriately applied. What appears on the internet is flattened and homogenised so that a casual blog or passing thought on Facebook can look much the same as a rigorously researched piece of analytical journalism.
One of my favourite quotes is from Peggy Noonan in the WSJ in 2011 after Osama Bin Laden was killed. In response to a wave of conspiracy theories she said:
“Here is the fact of the age: people believe nothing. They think everything is spin and lies. The minute a government says A is true, half the people on earth know A is a lie. And when people believe nothing, as we know, they will believe anything.”
I believe in the long term we need to make a major commitment to civic education and media literacy — but even if that happens it will take at least a generation to straighten the confusion we currently experience. We have disappeared down a rabbit hole — and it’s a long tunnel out.
As I drove off, the Devon plantsman gave a broad smile. “Happy Christmas — and a peaceful new year!” I wish I shared his optimism.
(*NB: for the avoidance of doubt, this conversation was real although I didn’t take a shorthand note I’m afraid)
