Populism, the Pandemic and the Media: Journalism in the age of Covid, Trump, Brexit and Johnson

344 Pages·2021·7.325 MB·English

by  John Mair (editor), Tor Clark (editor), Neil Fowler (editor)

Populism,

the Pandemic

and the Media

Journalism in the age of Covid,

Trump, Brexit and Johnson

EDITED BY

JOHN MAIR, TOR CLARK,

NEIL FOWLER, RAYMOND SNODDY

and

RICHARD TAIT
Published 2021 by Abramis academic publishing
www.abramis.co.uk
ISBN 978 1 84549 785 9
© John Mair, Tor Clark, Neil Fowler,
Raymond Snoddy and Richard Tait 2021
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ebook version published by Routledge
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
The Editors x
Introduction: Journalism under pressure but still a force for good
Nick Robinson, presenter, Today programme, BBC Radio Four 1
Section 1: January 6 and the end of Trumpism?
Dispatches and analysis from the heart of the 21st century American drama
Raymond Snoddy 5
1. January 6 and the challenge to American television journalism
Robert Moore, US correspondent, ITV News 10
2. Ego uber alles: Will the Trump brand play on?
Matt Frei, presenter, Channel 4 News 18
3. Politics, pandemics and the race that Trumped all others
Jon Sopel, BBC North America Editor 23
4. How close Donald Trump came to victory in 2020 – and what it means
David Cowling, King’s College London, former BBC editor of political research 31
5. Navigating the Trump storm
Bill Dunlop, former President and CEO of Eurovision Americas, Inc 38
6. How Trump’s abuse of the media has changed America forever
Philip John Davies, Emeritus Professor of American Studies,
De Montfort University, Leicester 45
7. Donald Trump: Populist victim of partisan impeachment?
Clodagh Harrington, Associate Professor of American Politics,
De Montfort University. Leicester 52
8. The lie in the machine: Truth, big tech and the limits of free speech
Mark Thompson, former Director-General of the BBC and CEO of the
New York Times 59
iii
Section 2: UK politics and the media
Reporting the populist wave
Richard Tait 67
9. Public reactions to Brexit and Covid-19
Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics, Strathclyde University 70
10. When news broadcasters became critical workers
Gary Gibbon, Political Editor, Channel 4 News 83
11. Johnson and Oborne: Parallel lives, diverging views
Raymond Snoddy, media journalist 89
12. Johnson and journalism: Anonymous sources in senior journalists’
social media feeds
David Smith and Julian Matthews, Lecturers in Media and Communication,
University of Leicester 94
13. (Most) Populists aren’t what they seem…
Peter York, cultural commentator, President of the Media Society 101
14. Must Labour lose?
Tor Clark, Associate Professor in Journalism, University of Leicester 110
15. The pursuit of truth… or not
Dorothy Byrne, former Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4 118
Section 3: Covid, journalism and society
The vaccine may be working on the population, but what about the
health of the media?
John Mair 125
16. When the politics of science met the science of politics
Juliet Rix, science and current affairs journalist 129
17. The virus and journalism: Telling truth to the hacks?
Alan Rusbridger, Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford; former editor,
The Guardian 135
18. The view from the hospital frontline
Dr Julian Barwell, Clinical Geneticist and Honorary Professor in
Genomic Medicine at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 139
19. Covering Covid reveals uncomfortable truths
Mark Easton, BBC Home Affairs Editor 143
iv
20. Populism, anti-system politics and the media: A spotlight on Covid-19
Robert Dover, Professor of Criminology, University of Hull 148
21. Now you see ‘race’, now you don’t: The hyper-visibility and hyper-invisibility
of race and Covid-19 in political and public health discourse
Paul Ian Campbell, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Leicester 155
22. Messengers as well as messages in the spotlight
Raymond Snoddy, media journalist 164
Section 4: Outside the metropolitan elite
Introduction: The future of this United Kingdom is in the hands of those
far removed from those who think they rule us
Neil Fowler 171
23. The pandemic and the provincial press
Tor Clark, Associate Professor in Journalism, University of Leicester 174
24. How Britain ends
Gavin Esler, former presenter, BBC Newsnight 180
25. Who was the godfather of the new populism? Archie Gemmill
or Alex Salmond?
Maurice Smith, Scottish business journalist 187
26. Political reality and the issue of perception between Boris and Nicola
John McLellan, former editor of The Scotsman, director of communications
for Scottish Conservatives 2012-13 193
27. Upper-case Unionism vs lower-case unionism: Populism on the streets
of Northern Ireland
Gail Walker, Editor-at-large, Belfast Telegraph 198
28. How populism turned against devolution in Wales
Martin Shipton, Political Editor-at-large of the Western Mail 206
29. Life the other side of the Red Wall
David Banks, former editor, Daily Mirror 212
30. A tale of two challenges: How did the media report Brexit and
Covid in South Asian communities?
Barnie Choudhury, Professor of Professional Practice, University of Buckingham
and former BBC broadcast journalist 217
v
Section 5: Boris and Brexit
The role played by the beastly Europeans and their Euromyths

John Mair 223

31. Are the ‘beastly Europeans’ really ‘trying to do us in’?

James Mates, Europe Editor, ITV News 226

32. How Britain was let down by its press over Brexit –

and how that can change

Will Hutton, former Principal of Hertford College, Oxford and columnist,
The Observer 232

33. Did the British ever understand the European project?

Deborah Bonetti, UK correspondent, Il Giorno and director of the

Foreign Press Association in London 238

34. Al promised you a miracle – Life under ‘greased piglet’ Johnson
Steven McCabe, Associate Professor and Senior Fellow, Centre for Brexit Studies

and Institute of Design and Economic Acceleration, Birmingham City University 242

35. Deceptively silly – the role of the cucumber in Boris Johnson’s ideology

Imke Henkel, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, University of Lincoln 250

36. Getting Brexit done and the future of the UK-EU relationship

Alistair Jones, Associate Professor in Politics, De Montfort University, Leicester 256

Section 6: The new populism and the media
The undermining of truth in a changing and unreliable media environment

Raymond Snoddy 263

37. Artificial intelligence and extremist content: a recipe for insurgency
Alex Connock, Fellow in Management Practice (Marketing),

Said Business School, Oxford University 268

38. ‘Enemies of the people?’ Will populism be the death of

impartial journalism?

Richard Tait, Professor of Journalism, Cardiff University 278

39. The populist press: Conservatism, ‘common sense’ and culture wars

Julian Petley, Professor of Journalism, Brunel University London 290

40. Journalism ethics in a populist age

Sara McConnell, University Teacher in Journalism, University of Sheffield 299

vi
41. Journalism safety in the time of populism: A cautionary tale from the US

Elena Cosentino, director of the International News Safety Institute 305

42. Insurrection or over reaction? One afternoon in Manchester

Jim White, sports writer, the Daily Telegraph 314

43. Over here, over there: Lessons from the USA on why British TV
journalism needs to stay fair and impartial
Clive Myrie, BBC BBC News journalist and presenter,

RTS Journalist of the Year, 2021 320

44. Misinformation and the decline of shared experience
Ken Goldstein, President of Communications Management Inc,

based in Canada 325

vii

Acknowledgements

This book is the third in a trilogy after Brexit, Trump and the Media in 2017 and
Brexit, Boris and the Media in 2020. They have examined in great depth the rise of
‘populists’ especially in the UK and the USA. That phenomenon shows little sign
of abating despite Donald Trump’s loss of the office of president. Brexit is done,
Covid has come and not gone and Boris Johnson is seemingly in the saddle for a
long period. This book examines the media’s role in all of this. Cheerleader, critic
or what?
The book is the work of five editors working harmoniously week after week over
various technology platforms.
We are, as ever, grateful to Richard and Pete Franklin at Abramis, our publishers,
and Dean Stockton for designing another very stylish cover. We could not do it
without them.
Enjoy the book.
John Mair, Oxford
Tor Clark, Leicester
Neil Fowler, Northumberland
Raymond Snoddy, London
Richard Tait, London
ix