The breakthrough by Reform in the recent local elections in England, following the surge in support for populist politicians everywhere from the US and Germany to Italy and Hungary, raises serious questions about the future of journalism.
How should journalists respond? In the wake of authoritarian and often bizarre behaviour by President Donald Trump, can conventional journalism even survive the current threats to liberal democracies.
According to broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips the rise of what he describes as Right Populism looks set to become “the most severe test of the Fourth Estate’s claim to be a vital feature of modern democracies since the rise of hippy radicalism of the 1960s
The challenge is all too real and journalists are facing an anti-establishment force dedicated to tearing up the global consensus on climate change, the value of multinational institutions and the balance between national interests and global responsibilities.
“So far we are failing the exam,” argues Sir Trevor in the introduction to a new book published this month (May) Pandering To Populism? Journalism and Politics In A Post-Truth Age.
Sir Trevor believes there are difficult questions to be resolved on where the boundaries should lie between reporting and campaigning.
For him the answer is clear.
“Journalists are not equipped to be moral philosophers or judges. Our job should be that of observers or analysts. Anyone who wants to be an anti-populist advocate should get themselves elected,” Sir Trevor Phillips believes.
According to Sir John Curtice, the distinguished professor of politics at Strathclyde University and famous pollster, populists succeed by persuading voters that “the establishment,” dominated by a self-serving elite has failed them.
Therefore, a populist party which shares “the people’s values” is the only way to get the country back on track.
Yet even though Reform may only have 667 local council seats out of nearly 20,000 and five seats in the House of Commons out of 650, Sir John argues that populism is more ingrained in UK voters than just opposition to immigration.
Even when attitudes to migration are taken into account the apparently growing number of Reform voters are, according to Sir John, still distinguished by low levels of trust and confidence in government.
The European Editor of ITV News James Mates fears that journalism is facing “a perilous time” as Europe’s populists are “feeling the wind beneath their wings.”
We are now seeing the same “anticipatory obedience” by the media and other institutions in America as happened in Eastern Europe – the bending of the knee to those in power to keep access to that power.
There has not just been a loss of trust in traditional journalism, Mates believes but also the loss of “shared truth.”
In the US, according to research by North Western University’s Medhill Journalism School, in last year’s presidential election Trump won 91 per cent of counties in which there was no professional source of local news.
However, such “news deserts” are often in poorer areas where Trump is also more likely to be popular – correlation not necessarily causation- but Mates fears we may be heading the same way in Europe.
In much of what was East Germany visiting journalists are likely to be greeted with the words “oh you’re from the lugenpresse – “the lying press.”
The ITV News European editor believes the late 2020s are likely to see a tug of war between European Governments trying to fight off vigorous attempts by the White House and US-owned tech giants to push Europe down the same populist road that the US has now embarked upon.
A perilous time for journalism. Certainly “but not uninteresting”, James Mates believes.
Like many other journalists and analysts Bill Dunlop former editorial director of the pan-European channel Euronews and president and chief executive of Eurovision Americas, the US arm of the European Broadcasting Union, laments Trump’s unprecedented assault on American media and journalism.
By now many of the examples are well known. They range from lawsuits against broadcasters, to denial of access to the likes of The Associated Press for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and on to the tech billionaires favouring their business interests over any defence of principles.
And then there is Rapid Response 47, a Trump-backed social media account which aims to get the administration’s point of view out within minutes of any news story breaking.
“It’s an Orwellian mix of re-tweets of Trump’s Truth Social rants, clips from right-wing television channels hailing administration successes and Trump-style personal insults about Democrats,” says Dunlop. He notes within weeks of its launch Rapid Response 47 had more than 1 million followers on X.
Yet for Bill Dunlop there are reasons for hope. Two thirds of eligible Americans either did not vote for Trump or did not vote at all, leaving a massive potential market for considered journalism if the media can use all its tools to find new customers. The New York Times, for example, has become a digital powerhouse with factual, balanced journalism.
This era will pass, Dunlop predicts.
“The challenge will be for journalism to adapt itself and emerge at the other end as strong and relevant as when the era began. With vision and imagination, but most of all with courage, that challenge can be more than met,” Bill Dunlop concludes.
Indeed, but there must absolutely be no pandering to populism by journalists and the media.
Raymond Snoddy is a co-editor and contributor to Pandering to Populism? Journalism And Politics In A Post-Truth Age published by Bite-Sized Books. Available on Amazon here: