It’s true that you can’t always believe what you read in the newspapers and today one could add on social media and the TV or radio. Most newspapers, sadly like most news channels, are infected with political or social bias to some degree, which clouds the presentation of information, where facts are selected or spun to suit an opinion or agenda. So much so-called news today is recording opinion not factual truth, and it is easy to mistake one for the other. Identifying the relevant facts can be so difficult that forming reliable judgements is a risky game.
The departure of Cressida Dick as Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police and the background circumstances obviously gave rise to poles apart opinions on whether her resignation was a good or bad thing. This also put a particular focus on Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, whose loss of confidence in Cressida Dick caused her resignation. His own record on policing as Mayor, one of whose primary roles is securing the streets of London, has therefore attracted attention. Two articles of 13 February, one in the Sunday Telegraph and the other in the Observer, illustrate perfectly how the absence of agreed facts, or selectively choosing facts, or the ways facts are spun, lead to fundamentally opposite impressions. Of course, these two newspaper groups are often poles apart on their views about events given their respective political leanings. No judgement is made here on whether the two Telegraph journalists or Sadiq Khan himself are more accurate.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH PIECE
The article headlined “How Sadiq Khan destroyed the capital” was written jointly by Gordon Rayner and Yolanthe Fawehinmi. They portray him as a weak leader who “when mud is being thrown, none of it sticks to him”, and when it comes to crime the writers are crystal clear on the facts “Under Mr.Khan, there have been more homicides in London in each of the last four years than in the year he took office. Robberies soared by 86 per cent in his first four years, knife crime rose by 60 per cent over the same period, and 2021 saw the worst-ever toll of teenage killings, despite Covid lockdowns reducing the number of people on the streets”. The impression and conclusion to draw is evident.
THE OBSERVER PIECE
The article headed “I recall the bad old days. Never again” was written by Sadiq Khan himself. He wrote of his concerns and care for policing and the need to see a level of change which is urgently required, and for him that meant “new leadership at the top”. He cited his success as Mayor in tackling crime and again was crystal clear on the facts “During my time as mayor, crime has fallen in the capital. We have managed to buck the national trend, with burglary, gun crime and knife crime involving under-25s all down by around a quarter since 2016”. Not only are the facts presented different, but the polar opposite impression is given. Of course, people with polar opposite opinions will spin information to suit themselves.
THE NEED FOR BALANCED NEWS
Never has the UK and the world generally needed more a focus on true information, simple facts fairly presented, and not selectively, not with a view to spinning an argument or to suit an opinion or an agenda. Is there a news organisation in the mainstream somewhere which can and has the appetite to do that? The new GB News hailed itself as counter- balance to extreme wokeness and the BBC, but soon revealed its own true biased extreme side on the right. True news is about facts and balanced presentation, not providing soap boxes for whatever a person wants to promote. While less exciting than speculation and personal likes and dislikes, true facts fairly presented, and leavened with good values, are the bedrock of good judgement. Should not the UK mainstream media up its game and treat the public with more respect?
See also COMIC CARR, CATS, CRISPS AND CARRIE – CALIBRATION OF NEWS NEEDING A RESET?
