I have no idea whether anybody running ITV is a billionaire, but this is a story about media misrepresentation so let’s roll out this cracking image again.
I blame the BBC as much as ITV.
After the likes of Laura Kuenssberg spent the whole of the general election campaign bigging up the Tories and belittling Labour – and got the result they wanted, it seems other TV news media are testing the waters to see how far they can mislead the public.
So when pro-Labour, pro-Corbyn rapper Stormzy was asked if he thought the UK was a racist country and he replied, “Definitely; 100 per cent,” ITV news reported it as “Rapper Stormzy says UK is ‘100 per cent’ racist”.
ITV was, of course, 100 per cent lying.
There is a huge difference between saying that there is definitely racism in a country and saying that everybody in that country is racist – but ITV chose to misinterpret the rapper’s words and go for the latter interpretation, for no particular reason.
This was not a mistake. The headline would have gone through several levels of management before it got onto the screen of anybody’s TV, computer or mobile device and all of those people would have known exactly what they were doing: misleading the public about the words of a left-wing cultural leader.
Note that there is not an iota of apology or explanation in the correction issued by ITV no less than 18 hours after the initial report was published:
ITV issues a correction, but not an apology. pic.twitter.com/KREQoFwXnZ
— James Doleman (@jamesdoleman) December 22, 2019
In fact it doesn’t make much sense at all.
If you want sense, you have to go to the social media, where the response from anyone with a brain has been 100 per cent damning:
100% of the people misrepresenting Stormzy's comments about British racism are racists.
— Another Angry Voice (@Angry_Voice) December 22, 2019
This is right on the nose:
https://twitter.com/LauraCatriona/status/1208434569839546368
The way ITV originally tweeted the link to its report has been removed by that company, but Shappi Khorsandi’s point is clear:
‘Is there racism in the UK?’
Stormzy: ‘yes, 100%’
Yet here’s how this answer (which could be said of any country) is reported.
Don’t fall for this ugly, divisive nonsense designed to create unnecessary drama. https://t.co/Q3HFYB3nCM— Shaparak Khorsandi (@ShappiKhorsandi) December 22, 2019
ITV’s misrepresentation has lent itself to satire, of course:
"Stormzy, Is there cheese in the UK?"
"Definitely, 100%."
ITV news: "BREAKING: The UK is 100% cheese."Logic. DOH!!!!!!
— DopeBlackDads (@dopeblackdads) December 22, 2019
Here, Ash Sarkar makes an important point about the effect of ITV’s claim…
So Stormzy's comments agreeing with an interviewer that there's racism in the UK are misrepresented as the UK being "100% racist" and now we're having the dumbest conversation on the planet led by dingbats instead of tackling racism in our society.
The media machine in action.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) December 22, 2019
… then goes on to aim a particularly sharp barb at another media outlet:
Britain – a country which deported black British citizens and just elected a Prime Minister who wrote about 'flag-waving piccaninnies' with 'watermelon smiles' – does not have a problem with racism, and it's outrageously offensive to say that it does.
Me for The Spectator.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) December 22, 2019
Who’s that racist who writes for the Spectator, again? Not Boris Johnson – the other one.
And what about Stormzy himself? His response is actually laudable for its restraint:
https://twitter.com/stormzy/status/1208690066337480704
But I fear this is the shape of things to come for those of us on the left.
The mainstream – Tory – media will take every opportunity to mislead the public about the opinions, actions and philosophy of those of us who want a better deal for everybody, rather than a bigger slice of pie for the few who are already grossly obese while everybody else is starving.
They’ll do it in the knowledge that most of the people they are misrepresenting do not have the means to challenge them.
And when they are exposed, they’ll simply change their headlines, happy in the knowledge that the damage is done.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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