[thread] While we’re at it, I worked for @LauraPidcock for 2.5 years & the way right-wing outlets like @politicshome, @GuidoFawkes , @DailyMailUK, @TheSun, @spectator etc treated her was a case study for me of why we can’t have an honest political culture in this country. (1/11)
Because none of it is journalism in any real sense. There’s not even the cursory commitment to factual reporting or debating the arguments. What we have instead is sly propaganda for a narrow, right-wing politics. Most people don’t recognise it as such because: (2/11)
(a) it’s hidden within the language used & small falsehoods in the reporting of what left-wing politicians & activists say & (b) because these slippages are spread via social media & wider liberal media outlets, so their origin is never really checked. (3/11)
I wrote about it the way it works a while ago, here, talking about her comments re: Tories: …worldturnedupsidedownne.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/tor… important thing is that these outlets don’t change peoples minds by telling huge whoppers, but by incremental slippage, which most people hardly notice. (4/11)
It was clear to anyone reading the original comments that Laura was talking about MPs in the House of Commons. She even described how ridiculous it would be for her to “go for pints” with precisely the same MPs who’d just voted to consign her constituents to more poverty. (5/11)
But that wasn’t good enough for the propagandists. It might be a popular view 😱 (do we like the idea of opposing MPs, laughing along with each other, drinking subsidised alcohol on the terrace?) So the story became about Laura hating Tory voters. A lie - but a clever one. (6/11)
So many people lapped it up. What a ridiculous thing for a politician to say: how could you possibly win elections if you hate half the population & won’t speak to the thousands of Tory voters in your constituency? Yeah, it would be ridiculous & illogical. If it was true. (7/11)
And so, never ones to pass up an opportunity, the right-wing @spectator played the same trick again the other day. Read the quote below. It’s clearly about Tory MPs & the HoC. But the wrapping around it is all about “winning over” Tory voters. (8/11) 
It doesn’t make any sense. No @UKLabour MP has to “win over” Tory MPs. They’re there to represent their constituents & the party. But the @spectator know this, so they tie it to the previous & fabricated outrage of Laura’s ‘Tory friends’ comments. And so the lie continues. (9/11)
What happened next is that there was another outraged social media storm, which confirmed the false narrative exactly as the right-wing hacks had planned. No one will ever check Laura’s true words & meaning. Hatchet job done & another victory the fake news propagandists. (10/11)
The only answer to this is in new media, of course. But I would make a plea in the meantime: esp if you’re in our party (the party of the labour movement), please check the source & read critically before you spread this propaganda & do more harm to our party. Thanks. (11/11)
Correct link: …worldturnedupsidedownne.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/tor…
