I had two very contrasting experiences yesterday evening. First, watching a beautiful film in a local cinema. A spur-of-the-moment act, but a wonderful experience. Both the cinema, the film itself and its messages were quite something. I would happily go along and watch it again, and once more.
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I got back to the hotel in which I am staying and flicked through some channels. Newsnight had just started and one of the topics of the times in the UK, as is something being discussed in much of Europe and in America at the moment, is that of immigration.
I had to switch it off after just a couple of minutes.
A few seconds in, they introduced one of the panellists and announced that (this is me paraphrasing) this person had previously been "far right" and who was no "far left", and standing up against the "far right".
Why do so many mainstream news stories, when it comes to this topic of migration (and many others, see below), lead with this terminology?
By leading with "far right" and "far left", they are leading with DIVIDE.
Why?
Well, there could be a number of reasons. My best guess is that the mainstream media are increasingly coming under pressure for viewers, in the ever-changing media landscape where the streaming platforms and YouTube are gaining more and more ground on this old industry.
I find myself thinking of the war in Afghanistan, and the unfortunate disaster that saw US troops being pulled out and the Taliban coming into power and imposing outrageous and damaging laws, including those of girls not being able to go to school.
Changing the culture of a place is very difficult indeed. Whether it's a country,
And the more people there are in that culture (or industry), and the longer it's been around, the more difficult it is to meaningfully change that culture.
If you're interested, this longitudinal study talks about how organisations naturally resist cultural change and that the older and more established the culture, the harder it is to change; rather, employees cling to 'core' values that are resistant to modification.
This is why wars can't really be "won", so to speak.
A country can be thought of as a very large organisational culture. People feel very wedded to their culture, to identity, to land... this is playing out as we speak in Israel and Palestine, and Russia and the Ukraine.
(I know a bit about workplace culture having studied a Psychology Masters with a thesis exploring the culture of workplaces of different sizes).
With THE UNITED TIMES, the idea is to bring nuance and objectivity to the key issues affecting us all. I have noticed over many years of conversations and research that there appears to be a disconnect between what is being shared, and the day-to-day realities and thoughts of people actually in the local communities that these news networks are meant to be serving.
In the UK and the US, the news networks have a duty to ensure fair and accurate reporting to th citizens they are servings, and there are editorial standards that exists that are (supposed to) uphold this duty.
In fact, the requirement that broadcast media -- using public airwaves -- must serve the “public convenience, interest, or necessity” is embedded in U.S. law through the Communications Act of 1934.
And the first amendment of the US Constitution reads as follows:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”
THE UNITED TIMES exists to uphold the above, and steer the giant behemoth of the mainstream news media, increasingly competing for our clicks and our attention through divisive language like "far right" and "far left".
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The usage of both "far-left" and "far-right" terms has risen significantly across US and UK news outlets. In the US, left- and center-leaning outlets mention "far-right" extremism far more frequently than "far-left," while right-leaning outlets mention both more evenly, but still with more focus on "far-right.
— David Rosado, from research gathered from 18 million articles across 44 popular news media outlets in the US, and from 14 million articles from 10 popular news outlets in the UK)
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We'll be back on Friday with the latest news from this week -- including more on migration and other important issues affecting our local communities.
Jazz Hothi
THE UNITED TIMES
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