What Is Truth?: Reflections on the Current State of Journalism
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: SPECIAL REPORT What is truth?: Reflections on the current state of journalism Madrid, November 2016 Barcelona • Bogota • Buenos Aires • Havana • Lima • Lisbon • Madrid • Mexico City • Miami • New York City • Panama City • Quito • Rio de Janeiro • Sao Paulo Santiago • Santo Domingo • Washington, DC WHAT IS TRUTH?: REFLECTIONS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM PRESENTATION The newspaper Ahora was founded on September 18th, 2005. PRESENTATION Inspired by Miguel Ángel Aguilar, it was an initiative of a HOW TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTED group of the old school journalists, the one based on the tenets THE TRUTH of thoughtful journalism, giving priority to rigor against rush. 1. INTRODUCTION One year later, its disappearance has been announced. Someone 2. DOES THE TRUTH MATTER ANYMORE? once said that with each closure of a means of communication, democracy and freedom die a little. This is true, but unfortunately 3. LIES AND FACTS hardly anyone takes any notice of it. And here we are, convinced 4. MAXIMIZING UPTIME that we will never lack of sources to satiate our thirst for news. 5. A NEW WAY OF CONSUMPTION We just need one “click” and starting an app or getting access to 6. DIGITAL ADVERTISING our social networks from our perfect smartphones. The question 7. WALKING THE STREETS is to what extent this overwhelming information is actually 8. THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE true, useful and relevant in our daily lives. “What is truth?” Jesus queried Pilatus… and we are still seeking answers. Prior to its disappearance, Ahora published on August 12th an article of the British journalist Katharine Viner, which had been published one month earlier at The Guardian. The article is an extensive analysis on the current state of journalism and its degradation because of both its unthinking adaptation to trends and social networks as well as the increasingly impoverished judging ability of many conformist citizens. From Developing Ideas, we share this article because of its unquestionable interest. Arturo Pinedo Partner and General Director of LLORENTE & CUENCA Spain and Portugal 2 WHAT IS TRUTH?: REFLECTIONS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM HOW TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTED THE TRUTH 1. INTRODUCTION their source was an MP, who said he had seen photographic Social networks cover the evidence: “His extraordinary news, threaten the viability suggestion is that the future of journalism based on public PM inserted a private part of interest and have contributed his anatomy into the animal.” to a time in which opinions are replacing facts. The story, extracted from a new biography of Cameron, One Monday morning last sparked an immediate furore. September, Britain woke to a It was gross, it was a great depraved news story. The prime opportunity to humiliate minister, David Cameron, had an elitist prime minister, committed an “obscene act with and many felt it rang true a dead pig’s head”, according to for a former member of the the Daily Mail. “A distinguished notorious Bullingdon Club. Oxford contemporary claims Within minutes, #Piggate Cameron once took part in an and #Hameron were trending outrageous initiation ceremony on Twitter, and even senior at a Piers Gaveston event, politicians joined the fun: involving a dead pig,” the paper Nicola Sturgeon said the reported. Piers Gaveston is allegations had “entertained the the name of a riotous Oxford whole country”, while Paddy university dining society; the Ashdown joked that Cameron authors of the story claimed was “hogging the headlines”. At first, the BBC refused to mention the allegations, and 10 Downing Street said it would not “dignify” the story with a response – but soon it was forced to issue a denial. And so a powerful man was sexually shamed, in a way that had nothing to do with his divisive politics, and in a way he could never really respond to. But who cares? He could take it. Then, after a full day of online merriment, something shocking happened. Isabel Oakeshott, the Daily Mail journalist who had co- written the biography with Lord Ashcroft, a billionaire businessman, went on TV and 3 WHAT IS TRUTH?: REFLECTIONS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM admitted that she did not know make up their own mind. But whether her huge, scandalous based on what? Gut instinct, scoop was even true. Pressed intuition, mood? to provide evidence for the sensational claim, Oakeshott admitted she had none. 2. DOES THE TRUTH MATTER ANYMORE? “We couldn’t get to the bottom of that source’s allegations,” she Nine months after Britain “It seemed that said on Channel 4 News. “So we woke up giggling at Cameron’s merely reported the account hypothetical porcine journalists were no that the source gave us … We intimacies, the country arose longer required to don’t say whether we believe on the morning of 24 June believe their own it to be true.” In other words, to the very real sight of the there was no evidence that the prime minister standing stories to be true, prime minister of the United outside Downing Street nor, apparently, Kingdom had once “inserted at 8am, announcing his did they need to a private part of his anatomy” own resignation. provide evidence” into the mouth of a dead pig – a story reported in dozens “The British people have of newspapers and repeated voted to leave the European in millions of tweets and Union and their will must be Facebook updates, which many respected,” Cameron declared. people presumably still believe “It was not a decision that was to be true today. taken lightly, not least because so many things were said by so Oakeshott went even further many different organisations to absolve herself of any about the significance of this journalistic responsibility: decision. So there can be no “It’s up to other people to doubt about the result.” decide whether they give it any credibility or not,” she But what soon became clear concluded. This was not, of was that almost everything course, the first time that was still in doubt. At the end outlandish claims were of a campaign that dominated published on the basis of the news for months, it was flimsy evidence, but this was suddenly obvious that the an unusually brazen defence. winning side had no plan It seemed that journalists for how or when the UK were no longer required to would leave the EU – while believe their own stories to the deceptive claims that be true, nor, apparently, did carried the leave campaign to they need to provide evidence. victory suddenly crumbled. Instead it was up to the reader At 6.31am on Friday 24 June, – who does not even know just over an hour after the the identity of the source – to result of the EU referendum 4 WHAT IS TRUTH?: REFLECTIONS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM had become clear, Ukip leader winning economists who Nigel Farage conceded that signed an anti-Brexit letter to a post-Brexit UK would not Nazi scientists loyal to Hitler. in fact have £350m a week spare to spend on the NHS – a For months, the Eurosceptic key claim of Brexiteers that press trumpeted every was even emblazoned on the dubious claim and rubbished Vote Leave campaign bus. every expert warning, filling A few hours later, the Tory the front pages with too MEP Daniel Hannan stated many confected anti-migrant that immigration was not headlines to count – many of likely to be reduced – another them later quietly corrected key claim. in very small print. A week before the vote – on the same “When a fact begins It was hardly the first time day Nigel Farage unveiled his to resemble whatever that politicians had failed to inflammatory “Breaking Point” deliver what they promised, poster, and the Labour MP Jo you feel is true, it but it might have been the Cox, who had campaigned becomes very difficult first time they admitted on tirelessly for refugees, was for anyone to tell the the morning after victory that shot dead – the cover of the the promises had been false all Daily Mail featured a picture difference between along. This was the first major of migrants in the back of a facts that are true and vote in the era of post-truth lorry entering the UK, with the “facts” that are not” politics: the listless remain headline “We are from Europe campaign attempted to fight – let us in!” The next day, the fantasy with facts, but quickly Mail and the Sun, which also found that the currency of fact carried the story, were forced to had been badly debased. admit that the stowaways were actually from Iraq and Kuwait. The remain side’s worrying facts and worried experts were The brazen disregard for dismissed as “Project Fear” facts did not stop after the – and quickly neutralised by referendum: just this weekend, opposing “facts”: if 99 experts the short-lived Conservative said the economy would crash leadership candidate Andrea and one disagreed, the BBC Leadsom, fresh from a starring told us that each side had a role in the leave campaign, different view of the situation. demonstrated the waning (This is a disastrous mistake power of evidence. After telling that ends up obscuring truth, the Times that being a mother and echoes how some report would make her a better PM climate change.) Michael Gove than her rival Theresa May, declared that “people in this she cried “gutter journalism!” country have had enough and accused the newspaper of of experts” on Sky News. He misrepresenting her remarks also compared 10 Nobel prize- – even though she said exactly 5 WHAT IS TRUTH?: REFLECTIONS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM that, clearly and definitively Now, we are caught in a series and on tape.