Is the British Press partly to blame?

martin363

martin363

martin363

Associate
Joined
18 Jan 2012
Posts
995
Location
Peloponnese, Greece
As a UK guy who lives overseas, but visits, The press is my window on the UK, and I am sure for many others too.

Some newspapers, the Mail especially just appear to love a crisis. It seems to me that if the UK newspapers can magnify a national negative, or even twist a positive they will do it, to the absolute detriment of the UK country, people, society, politics and economics.

The mainstream newspapers appear to have no interest in talking the UK up, or constructively supporting and selling a positive UK, but thrive on selling and creating negativity and decline. This is not a plea for press control but rather a hope of positivity and nationalist support from the general UK press, who I think have a responsibility they abjectly choose to ignore.

I am not saying the UK is perfect, there are clearly stupid and inept political leaders and parties who are their own worst enemies, and economically times are not good, but the approach to publishing and discussing these challenges can radically exacerbate and worsen the perceived situation I think, and in my opinion it does, it contributes to the general feeling of hopelessness, challenge and resignation, when it could be better used as a force for positive change and good.

I wonder if the apparent state of the UK (as reported) is really largely catalysed by the approach of the UK press? and if so, surely something must change and be done about this. The UK press should have a responsibility to support the nation, rather than try to drag it down?


I find the whole approach very frustrating, They should represent the national interest, not pull it further down.
 
A ghoulish cabal of right whingers has been shaping the UK for decades. We would probably be a much nicer place if they had never existed. They shamefully lie, exaggerate and attack people to suit their agenda. Really is horrendous. Can only hope the decline of the newspaper and younger generations coming through reduces their influence.
 
Yes the British press is garbage but it's worse now the BBC has turned to crap. The BBC is the active face of the UK and it's so far gone to a woke agenda it's embarrassing, should have stayed neutral, stiff upper lip etc.
 
Efour said:
Yes the British press is garbage but it's worse now the BBC has turned to crap. The BBC is the active face of the UK and it's so far gone to a woke agenda it's embarrassing, should have stayed neutral, stiff upper lip etc.
Click to expand...
Example? I hear this all the time and I can't really ever remember being that arsed by what the BBC said. A lot of forum members seem to share this opinion - generally those who are anti-license fee/stealth tax too.
 
I try to avoid all news as much as possible and have seen first hand many times how a story is completely fudged by journo's, either fail to report what was written, dictated, or wish to make something out of a nothing.

Locally you are better off trusting the gossip boards of social media to grab the bits that can make the news.
 
Yes. Newspapers have adapted to the social media age and what gets the most engagement? Division. Argument and hot takes. The Dailymail quite regularly will change their angle twice within 2 articles just to wind both sides up.

As to the BBC, its becoming more and more reflective of the younger generation which means more social focussed, more opinion pieces vs factual reporting and more of a focus on anything diversity related. Still good for the weather and sports though for the most part.
 
The BBC has done a good job of diversifying their offering to offer something for everyone in the UK, which just happens to rile up a certain demographic that thinks everything should continue to cater solely to them.

The BBC News output has wavered a little under attack from the Conservatives....it's definitely a light touch now in terms of holding the government to account after all the threats to it's funding. It's primarily up to the Mail and the Guardian to take on that role these days.

The BBC News website itself has been infected by the cancer of A/B testing, so it's full of sensationalist clickbait rubbish, although you can block a lot of it with UBlock to make it more palatable.
 
dLockers said:
Example? I hear this all the time and I can't really ever remember being that arsed by what the BBC said. A lot of forum members seem to share this opinion - generally those who are anti-license fee/stealth tax too.
Click to expand...
Well from an outside perspective I follow BBC London which seems to be moderated by a team that has a "queer agenda" and thus the bias is very slanted that way, just annoying sometimes. I prefer neutrality on my stabbing reports.

I probably jumped the gun on BBC world service etc, it's fine I was just being reactionary. Though the point you raised about tax etc I can agree with.

In Sweden they changed it from an"optional" fee to directly being drawn from your tax contribution about 200 quid a year ... So lol..... Get out of that... UK should do the same :p

One thing that's disturbing is the Swedish press linking to the daily mail
That rag seems to have a huge influence....
 
Do you really need a news organisation/editor/journalist to do your thinking for you considering the amount of alternative sources of information and discussion. Get your main source from the AP.
 
100%. Same as some others here, I pay very little attention to the news these days. The media exists to whip people up into a frenzy and deliberately divide and polarise the population for the purposes of selling papers / getting clicks, and most people are too stupid to see through it. The whole thing is hugely amplified by the internet (in particular social media) of course. I largely feel the same way about free media as I do about democracy in general - I understand the importance of it, but it really highlights the stupidity of people sometimes.
 
I don't do Facebook or Twitter or any other sm (sadomasochistic) output. I do glance through the papers on my tablet. Those that are not pay walled anyway. If you read the Mail and Guardian and interpolate between you can get a more balanced opinion.
 
Hagar said:
I don't do Facebook or Twitter or any other sm (sadomasochistic) output. I do glance through the papers on my tablet. Those that are not pay walled anyway. If you read the Mail and Guardian and interpolate between you can get a more balanced opinion.
Click to expand...
This is the fallacy though isn't - the ones that aren't paywalled are clearly incentivised to create froth/outrage/generate clicks.

And then a lot of us are so used to free (as in money) press that we won't dare subscribe to a reputable source.
 
dLockers said:
This is the fallacy though isn't - the ones that aren't paywalled are clearly incentivised to create froth/outrage/generate clicks.

And then a lot of us are so used to free (as in money) press that we won't dare subscribe to a reputable source.
Click to expand...

I do also buy papers but not daily. I quite like the Times for its opinion pieces and refreshingly not ultra left or right. I also like the crossword which often takes some time.
 
The British media as mostly gone.

Professionalism as gone out of the window and so its difficult to actually glean any impartial information because the reporter/journalist is always sticking their ideological oar in.

Some of the media as gone completely degenerate. The second story in the daily mail one day last week was about the different shapes of Kim Kardashians butt. The media is trying to dumb down the people, and be patronising while doing it. Sadly some don't even see the demeaning nature of how they are being talked down to.

They purposely create conflict on issues instead of trying to find a solution to the problem. They do it on the big issues, but also bully celebrities and the public by writing silly and vindictive stories about them, indirectly inviting the public to comment negatively. Then of course they will be the first to condemn trolls, even though they create most of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom