on media


We need to recognise the perils of populism


Can conventional journalism survive threats to liberal democracies asks Raymond Snoddy


T


he breakthrough by Reform in the recent local elections in England, following the surge in support for


populist politicians everywhere from the US and Germany to Italy and Hungary, raises serious questions about the future of journalism. How should journalists respond? In


the wake of authoritarian and often bizarre behaviour by President Donald Trump, can conventional journalism even survive the current threats to liberal democracies? According to broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips, the rise of what he describes as Right Populism looks set to become “the most severe test of the Fourth Estate’s claim to be a vital feature of modern democracies since the rise of hippy radicalism of the 1960s”. The challenge is real. Journalists are


facing an anti-establishment force dedicated to tearing up the global consensus on climate change, the value of multinational institutions and the balance between national interests and global responsibilities. “So far, we are failing the exam,” argues


Sir Trevor in the introduction to a new book, Pandering To Populism? Journalism and Politics in a Post-Truth Age. Sir Trevor believes there are difficult questions over the boundaries between reporting and campaigning. For him, the answer is clear. “Journalists are not equipped to be moral philosophers or judges. Our job should be that of observers or analysts. Anyone who wants to be an anti- populist advocate should get themselves elected,” he believes.


According to Sir John Curtice, the pollster and distinguished professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, populists succeed by persuading voters that ‘the establishment’, dominated by a self-serving elite, has failed them. Therefore, a populist party that shares the ‘people’s values’ is the only way to get the country back on track. Sir John argues that populism is ingrained in more UK voters than just those opposed to immigration. Even when attitudes to migration are taken into account, the apparently growing number of Reform voters are, he explains, distinguished by low levels of trust and confidence in government. European editor of ITV News James


Mates fears journalism is facing “a perilous time” as Europe’s populists are “feeling the wind beneath their wings”. We are now seeing the same


‘anticipatory obedience’ by the media and other institutions in America as happened in Eastern Europe – the bending of the knee to those in power to keep access to that power. There has been not only a loss of trust in traditional journalism, Mates believes, but also a loss of “shared truth”. According to research by North


Western University’s Medill Journalism School, Trump won 91 per cent of counties where there was no professional source of local news. Mates fears we may be heading the same way in Europe. In much of what was East Germany, visiting journalists are likely to be greeted with the words, “Oh, you’re from the Lügenpresse” – the ‘lying press’. Mates believes the late 2020s are


likely to see a tug of war between European governments trying to fight off vigorous attempts by the White House and US-owned tech giants to push Europe down a populist road.


Certainly, it is a perilous time for


journalism “but not uninteresting”, Mates believes. Like many other journalists and


analysts, Bill Dunlop, former editorial director of the pan-European channel Euronews and president and chief executive of Eurovision Americas, the US arm of the European Broadcasting Union, laments Trump’s assault on American media and journalism. Many examples of this, including


lawsuits against broadcasters and denying access to the likes of the Associated Press for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, are well known. Then there is Rapid Response 47, a social media account that aims to get the administration’s opinion out within minutes of breaking news. “It’s an Orwellian mix of re-tweets of


“ ”


Trump’s Truth Social rants, clips from right-wing television channels hailing administration successes and Trump- style personal insults about Democrats,” says Dunlop. Yet Dunlop sees reasons for hope.


Trump won 91 per cent of counties in which there was no professional source of local news. Such ‘news deserts’ are often in poorer areas


Two-thirds of eligible Americans either did not vote for Trump or did not vote at all, leaving a massive potential market for considered journalism if the media can find new customers. This era will pass, he predicts. “The challenge will be for journalism to adapt itself and emerge at the other end as strong and relevant as when the era began. With vision and imagination, but most of all with courage, that can be more than met,” Dunlop concludes. Indeed – but there must absolutely be no pandering to populism by journalists and the media. Raymond Snoddy is a co-editor and contributor to Pandering to Populism? Journalism And Politics In A Post-Truth Age published by Bite-Sized Books?


theJournalist |09


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