You can just ignore journalists

Ben Sixsmith has a useful Critic piece on the loosening of the narrative grip exerted by mainstream media. Worth reading. 


You can just ignore journalists

The fact that something is being treated as controversial does not actually make it controversial

In 2019, the New Statesman published an interview with the late conservative philosopher Roger Scruton. Scruton was reported to have made “a series of outrageous remarks” — about a “Soros empire”, for example, and about Chinese people being “robots”.

Scruton was a titan of British conservatism. Conservative MPs hurried to prove themselves — by throwing him under the bus. “Antisemitism sits alongside racism, anti-Islam, homophobia, and sexism as a cretinous and divisive belief that has no place in our public life,” yelped Tom Tugendhat MP, “And particularly not in government.” “No brainer,” snorted Johnny Mercer MP, “Let’s not take our time on this. @TomTugendhat absolutely right.” Scruton was promptly fired, and the New Statesman’s George Eaton posted a photo of himself drinking champagne.

Eaton, it turned out, had done a poor journalistic job. When Scruton had talked about Chinese people being “robots”, a transcript revealed, he was referring to government conditioning and not to their essential nature. Other “outrageous remarks” simply were not outrageous. If we can refer to a “Murdoch empire”, or a “Koch empire”, why can we not refer to a “Soros empire”? Scruton was reinstated amid awkward apologies.

The lesson for British right-wingers should have been clear. When a journalist says “jump”, you don’t have to ask “how high?”