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 All rights reserved This book is copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author. Typeset in Garamond This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Abramis is an imprint of arima publishing. arima publishing ASK House, Northgate Avenue Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP32 6BB t: (+44) 01284 700321 www.arimapublishing.com 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