- Feb 5, 2002
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The major newspapers seem to believe that the superiority of their political opinions is a self-evident fact that needs no explanation.
There was a time when journalists from respected media outlets like the BBC, the New York Times and the Guardian, at least made a sincere effort to distinguish between reporting the facts and reporting one’s political opinions. But that era is long over. We now live in a world in which journalists blithely dismiss political movements they disagree with as “extreme,” “hard-right,” and “fascistic,” as though the superiority of their own political opinions was a self-evident fact that needed no explanation.
This is perhaps nowhere more clear than in the response of Western mainstream media – in particular media that embrace progressive-leftist positions – to the prospect that Giorgia Meloni will be Italy’s first-ever female prime minister. From the tone of that response, one would think that Meloni was advocating the abolition of democracy, the abrogation of rule of law, or some sort of Putin-style military incursion into neighbouring territories.
Here is a sample of mainstream coverage of Giorgia Meloni’s election:
Continued below.
Italy: a great example of why I take mainstream media coverage of populism with a grain of salt | MercatorNet
There was a time when journalists from respected media outlets like the BBC, the New York Times and the Guardian, at least made a sincere effort to distinguish between reporting the facts and reporting one’s political opinions. But that era is long over. We now live in a world in which journalists blithely dismiss political movements they disagree with as “extreme,” “hard-right,” and “fascistic,” as though the superiority of their own political opinions was a self-evident fact that needed no explanation.
This is perhaps nowhere more clear than in the response of Western mainstream media – in particular media that embrace progressive-leftist positions – to the prospect that Giorgia Meloni will be Italy’s first-ever female prime minister. From the tone of that response, one would think that Meloni was advocating the abolition of democracy, the abrogation of rule of law, or some sort of Putin-style military incursion into neighbouring territories.
Here is a sample of mainstream coverage of Giorgia Meloni’s election:
- BBC: “Ms Meloni is widely expected to form Italy’s most right-wing government since World War Two. That will alarm much of Europe…”
- CNN: “Giorgia Meloni claims victory to become Italy’s most far-right prime minister since Mussolini.”
- El País: “The strong result for the extreme-right obliges the EU to be smart in how it manages its relationship with Meloni.”
- The Guardian: “Giorgia Meloni is a danger to Italy and the rest of Europe.”
- New York Times: “The country’s hard turn to the right has sent shock waves across Europe after a period of stability in Italy led by Mario Draghi.”
Continued below.
Italy: a great example of why I take mainstream media coverage of populism with a grain of salt | MercatorNet
