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THE PRESS AND POLITICAL DISSENT

Author: Mark Hollingsworth

The Press and Political Dissent Synopsis

Red Ken, Mad Benn, Black Youths and ‘The Ugly Face of the Girls of Peace’ are the symbols used by Fleet Street in the place of real reporting.

With a few exceptions, the press is owned by powerful companies whose interests they serve. Instead of news we are commonly given targets for hatred and vilification. Lies, invented stories, half-truths and silences are the means by which the press hide issues, causes, concerns and events which it dislikes. The syntax of The Times may be better than that of the Mirror, but the political results are very similar.

This book looks at what the press has actually said about Ken Livingstome, Tony Benn, the race issue, the Greenham women and many other issues. It describes the way in which the press has branded as treachery every view which differs from its own and made monsters of the people involved. The stories are often grimly funny, but telling them helps us to recognize the real scandal, which is our daily dose of brainwashing.