My father, Sir Nicholas Winton, was an avid reader of the Times of London. At breakfast he would invariably sit with the broadsheet newspaper open wide in front of him scanning for articles of interest about the world about politics about economics.
During this ritual we would have conversations about news gathering and the vital role it played in a modern democracy. He would point out that we rely on the news to stay informed about the world. Among many reasons are to hear messages coming from those in power and authority. Those are the messages that we need to base our decisions of whom to vote for come election-time.
This conversation about news became a topic of grave importance when we were older. He would show me that it was now quite common for newspapers to have relatively few facts wrapped up with quite a large amount of ‘padding’ and opinion. As this became more commonplace, he was worried that people would mistake opinion for facts and make bad decisions based on their misinformation.
He would challenge me to read any article in any newspaper and underline the facts that were being reported, ignoring the rest of the copy. I was then to make my own mind up about what might be the implications of these facts.
After doing this for a few days it was clear that trying to get the bare facts about almost any subject was extremely difficult. Indeed it has become common to write articles that are opinion pieces which are supported by facts rather than vice versa.
Occasionally it has been unfortunate to hear so called ‘news’ being reported before it has even happened. If one ever hears the phrase “later today, so and so will say” that is clearly not news but the use of a press release of what is expected to happen but not yet true. No doubt this is because one of the problems facing rolling news channels is the voracious appetite for content and their need to be first to publish.
This is such a dangerous area for news channels if they wish to retain their authority.
Also the choice of headline creates gigantic scope for miscommunication.
One recent example was a headline on news feeds that read “all flights cancelled from London Heathrow”.
What could possibly cause such massive disruption to London’s infrastructure?
A terrorist bomb?
A catastrophic air crash?
It turns out that the article contained a list of the flights that had been cancelled from Heathrow on that day. No doubt the sub-editor gave it that provocative title as ‘click-bait’ when the full heading should have been “all [the] flights [that had been] cancelled from Heathrow”.
One can easily see how such a small error could cause a major panic.
At least with respectable news publications one can have some confidence that the few facts that are presented are likely to be true. The publisher has a reputation to uphold and acts as the guardian of “their truth” so there is some reassurance that what few facts are available are likely to be accurate. Although remember that even reputable publishers have a bias which may be quite strong and must be taken into consideration.
One of the more famous examples of bias is whether a person is labelled as a ‘terrorist’ or a ‘freedom fighter’. Either term could be used for someone committing violent acts but the choice of description indicates a clear ideological bias and colours the facts with strong opinions.
Another more insidious form of bias is what the managing editor of a channel chooses to include in their coverage – or to what not to include.
By bringing our focus to a particular topic, it elevates that issue to one of great importance – whether it be to focus on inflation and how people are feeling poorer; or to education and how our children are losing out; or to climate change and whether or not we are on the verge of (yet another) global catastrophe. Each one leads us, as consumers of the news, down a path to a view of the world predetermined by the editor – while other, possibly more significant issues are ignored.
My father’s advice was simple:
- Does what you are reading make sense? If not, then question the reliability of the report
- What are the sources and how trustworthy are they? Does the source have a reputation for checking facts and making sure they are correct
- What is the publishers ‘agenda’ or ‘politics’ and how does that affect what they report?
- What do you think are the facts and what do they mean to you?
We are living in uncertain times with key elections in many western democracies. We rely on the media to tell us the messages from those who want power, from those who want our vote. Make sure the information you read is true.
My father would be very concerned – and so should we all.
© Nick Winton 2024