Fake headlines

There was a marvellous example of the BBC being outed on fake news -- in a Newsnight (16/02) item on Trump not Brexit, although the ideological manoeuvres are very similar. 

The increasingly sad Evan Davis was trying to denounce Trump's lies. The item was fronted by a longish, sympathetic and open-ended questioning of an anti-Trump liberal (B Stretel) , then an interview with a Trump spokesperson (S. Gorka) followed. Quite a different hectoring bullying and aggressive tone for the second as we might expect -- but the spokesperson wiped the floor with Davis by exposing and taking on his agenda, having just dismissed Stretel, with whom he was supposed to argue.

A typical Davis question for Gorka was whether Trump intended to counter media hostility by taking to Twitter and social media -- or by controlling the media. Where did the latter suggestion come from demanded Gorka. Evans did not say. 'That's fake news, right there!' Gorka declared (rightly).

The whole debate nicely exposed the BBC's notion of 'objectivity' -- one loony is allowed to argue with another while the BBC interviewer stands for the reasonable liberal consensus in the middle. The BBC used to do this really well once, when it had interviewers with gravitas who could do objectivity and detachment, but presenters like Davis just cannot forebear to hector and parade their own values.

An older techniques is the fake headline, useful when headlines were emblazoned on hoardings or newstands to catch the eye of busy commuters. The headline announces something as if it were simply 'factual'. A good example today is this headline from the Observer:

EU citizens living in the UK could face legal limbo after Brexit

The actual story is that a group of EU officials 'fear' that the UK will not be able to process the claims to stay of lots of EU nationals in the UK after Brexit. It is a 'fear' expressed by this group in a leaked memo (good enough for  the Observer to be able to think it was not a deliberate plant?) . In a final twist:

Lord Newby, the Lib Dem leader in the Lords, said: “The government [sic]  is generating real fear and uncertainty amongst large numbers of people.”

 

Similar 'stories' have appeared in the Guardian on a regular basis, like this one: 

UK fishermen may not win waters back after Brexit, EU memo reveals

The Guardian warns that this might be one of several 'red lines' drawn up by the EU in its negotiations. No doubt. Presumably, the UK Government has no alternative but to accept them. Of course, this exposes the 'lies' behind Brexit arguments (as ever, rendered as promises).

It might be a bargaining ploy, the actual story quotes a spokesmen for British fisheries as suggesting, but this is (over) 'balanced' by lots of concerned liberals who just see it as a really likely outcome

The paper evidently sees no difference between an opening demand, based on opinions and interests, and an actual final result!  Not exactly fake news but close to it.