Yesterday, media outlets jumped on an 'exclusive' by Channel 4 News, which was said to have "unearthed" an interview that Jeremy Corbyn did on RT International.
Never mind that the interview is available publicly on YouTube, and was broadcast to a global audience in 2014, the article, which got picked up by The guardian, The Independent, ITV, and even Buzzfeed, shows a distinct failure in editorial judgment.
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News moves fast these days. I often get 10 minutes into a repeat of a Newsnight episode I missed, and switch back to rugby highlights on YouTube, because I'm just not learning anything new.
It's not hard to see that to manufacture a news story based on a hook that happened last year, is ridiculous, even for the most humble student of journalism.
Last week, the same thing happened. An interview with Jeremy on RT's Going Underground appeared in the headlines, despite that particular episode having been aired almost two months before. Yet this news story was copy and pasted through most mainstream media outlets.
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Mainstream media and others are clutching at straws to attack Corbyn
In an interview with Afshin Rattansi on Going Underground, Jeremy called for a re-think of Britain's foreign Policy.
The Times jumped on this saying that he was calling for closer ties with Russia, before it was 'copy and pasted' around the national newspapers. And when I say jumped on, I have two theories.
1.Sam Coates of the Times stuck that interview in the bank for a suitable time to publish it. Ie. The day that a development on the investigation of the MH17 crash site in Ukraine was published. Ensuring maximum exposure.
2.Utter incompetence on the part of journalists who simply aren't on top of what's going on amongst their rivals. The whole idea of 'media' is that everything is publically available.
It's no secret that media outlets have unanimously decided Corbyn is not the right person for the job. And that's fair enough, though rumours have spread that the bearded left-winger has a surprise new ally in Rupert Murdoch. Who'd have thought it?
You could say it's slightly unfair, that a straight talking, honest politician is being punished with out-of-context headlines, for the crime of not playing politics with our democracy.
Even LBC's Iain Dale took the bait, without reading the full stories. He said on air it had been aired the same day. But then he also said he had an OSCE report in front of him confirming Russia had shot down MH17, something the OSCE later denied they'd even published.
Surely a phone call from Ofcom is imminent in Global's HQ?
I fear that in saying this, I'm also guilty of writing on a subject that isn't news to anyone…
A Pattern is emerging. Corbyn is being attacked simply for appearing on RT
It's an insult to Ofcom, who are responsible for regulation the media in Britain, to say that RT is a mouthpiece for the Russian government. Falsely manipulating facts and quotes to take up a position that is designed purely to influence an audience.
"Propaganda is a form of communication aimed towards influencing the attitude of a population toward some cause or position."
OK, so Wikipedia may not be the best source of information on many things, but this definition is fairly accurate.
How often have you heard the phrase Russian Propaganda coined in the mainstream media? On two occasions now, broadcasters have had to issue apologies on air, for inaccurate facts they told their audience to back up their claim that RT is this kind of mouthpiece.
It seems to me, and everything you read in this Op-Ed is my opinion not RT's, that what the Russian broadcaster is accused of, is in itself 'propaganda.' It angers me on a number of levels.
I'm incredibly proud to be British, and Irish if you're that way inclined. I've never been to Russia, and only have a desire to because I'm told Moscow is one hell of a night out.
How dare anyone accuse me of working as a propaganda mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin. And to suggest that because Jeremy Corbyn is endorsing closer ties to Russia, is as ridiculous as saying he's endorsing closer ties with North Korea, with Iran, or any other country who's relations with Britain are shaky at best.
If you can't find any credible, policy related ammunition on Corbyn, then maybe it's time to endorse him?
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