I started working with @DoubleDownNews partly because I see them as the future, and partly because BBC News and Current Affairs won't touch these issues (and will scarcely touch me).
Now many of these videos are getting bigger total audiences than *any* BBC NCA programme.
Now many of these videos are getting bigger total audiences than *any* BBC NCA programme.
.@BBCNews inhabits a fairytale world. You must suspend disbelief to enter it. In this world, government policy represents the will of the people, the billionaire press represents public opinion, and power resides in Parliament. In reality:
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
More than any other media platform, the BBC contributes to our political dysfunction. The bigger the idiot, the greater the airtime: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
In the BBC's fairytale world, everything is accepted at face value. Once you have suspended disbelief, British politics does what it says on the tin. Our corrupt, antiquated, dysfunctional system is treated as a healthy, lively, democratic polity.
This wilful naivity extends into everything @BBCNews does. If @iealondon calls itself a "free market thinktank", rather than an opaquely-funded corporate lobby group, that's the description the BBC gives it.
Because Brendan O'Neill claims to be on the left, the BBC treats him as such, bringing him on for "balance" against the right. Never mind that his magazine is funded by Charles Koch, attacks every major left position and defends Katie Hopkins, Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage etc
The same goes for Claire Fox. She was a Brexit Party MEP, for God's sake. But she says she's on the left - in my view a deliberate tactic to wrongfoot her opponents - so she's brought on to balance rightwing commentators. Right vs far right = balance, in the BBC's magic kingdom.
The BBC's political meta-narrative is a fantasy, propped up by wilful stupidity and a failure to see the bigger picture. Broadly speaking, the shallower the political analysis, the better it serves the right. Dig deeply, and people might start asking troubling questions.
If the BBC did its job, Double Down News wouldn't be needed. But it fills some of the massive gaps left by the BBC and other mainstream media. The astonishing audience figures show how keen people are to get a deeper analysis, and to hear voices the BBC won't host.
Double Down News is funded entirely through subscriptions on Patreon. It belongs to its members. Please join: patreon.com/doubledownnews
Here's another film that might interest you:
And here's the latest film I've made with DDN:
I'm really grateful to have this platform. DDN was set up by two young and remarkably gifted film makers, with laser-like political insight and an uncanny ability to cut to the heart of an issue. Working with them is a delight.
