Tabloid newspapers and free speech
A journalist I really respect, Johann Hari, has, on Facebook, attempted to defend the purchase of tabloid newspapers.
Here is my response:
People don't buy tabloids for the political coverage, but because the tabloids are clever enough to drip-feed populist politics and prejudices into stories, so people feel that their long-held (but rarely expressed) beliefs are supported by "that bloke/woman in the paper". Papers like the Daily Mail do represent what people feel because that is their strategy for selling papers. I don't oppose free speech, but I oppose giving those with money and power more volume of speech than anyone else unless it is accompanied by critical analysis. Political speech can be like a drug. It can need a health warning on the side. To say this isn't to have contempt for ordinary people, but to recognise that we are a representative democracy because most people aren't even vaguely educated in politics and what it involves. I have very great respect for the ordinary person and voter in the UK. I am proud of this country in which I have recently celebrated 3 years of a civil partnership. But all it takes is a look at popular tabloid newspapers to see what Britain could be like with the right propaganda.
Here is my response:
People don't buy tabloids for the political coverage, but because the tabloids are clever enough to drip-feed populist politics and prejudices into stories, so people feel that their long-held (but rarely expressed) beliefs are supported by "that bloke/woman in the paper". Papers like the Daily Mail do represent what people feel because that is their strategy for selling papers. I don't oppose free speech, but I oppose giving those with money and power more volume of speech than anyone else unless it is accompanied by critical analysis. Political speech can be like a drug. It can need a health warning on the side. To say this isn't to have contempt for ordinary people, but to recognise that we are a representative democracy because most people aren't even vaguely educated in politics and what it involves. I have very great respect for the ordinary person and voter in the UK. I am proud of this country in which I have recently celebrated 3 years of a civil partnership. But all it takes is a look at popular tabloid newspapers to see what Britain could be like with the right propaganda.