I’ve often wondered why Nigel Farage, who as godfather of the Brexit fiasco engineered the biggest British foreign policy disaster since Suez is continually offered so much space in some newspapers and broadcast media. Serious question. Thoughts welcome.
Bribery, and lack of testicular fortitude in the press corps. Prove me wrong, please 🙏
Friends in all the right places?
They like him and want him to rule over a fascist UK
Brexit is a disaster, it’s at a poll-tax level of unpopularity, but Farage is riding high in the polls. This is because there’s enough racism and xenophobia in the country to outweigh every other issue. Likewise, Trump’s brutal approach to immigration is proving popular in the US.
Will people ever learn that politicians preaching hatred are usually very bad news & should not be trusted?
Politicians encouraging racism & xenophobia should never be trusted, as they usually do so to hide their greed & their own hidden intentions about taking power & ignoring democracy. When will people ever learn?
He's entertaining, serves the interests of key sections of the elite, and most importantly isn't remotely left-wing. A fucking baby could have told you that.
He creates traffic towards their content which they rely on for income. It's now the primary business model of modern media.
It's always all about the money... clickbait, ragebait, shockbait - whatever you want to call it - it's filling all their pockets.
Viewing figures and paper sales. Watching Farage be controversial is more "interesting".
Shit, lazy journos
because huge amounts of money pour into dark 'thinktanks' and pay for SM advertising to normalise his brand of fascism.
and he gains leverage because of the mass immigration...and that is all...
In times of crises opinions polarise. At the moment they are polarising between "tax the ultra wealthy" and fascism. Since the ultra-wealthy own the newspapers, the tv stations and most of the politicians, they are pushing the narrative towards fascism.
I'm gonna be the boring one who reminds everybody that we told you he was a fascist years ago and that anybody who gives him a platform is also a fascist. I know we're all starting to realise that we were right even back then, but it's not too late to call it out.
He works in the interests of the monied and powerful. He has a lot of money backing him & the RW media love to troll and own the left-it's a sport I also believe that there is a belief in MSM that we are an exceptional nation & fashism could never happen here; nothing to fear from this indulgence
This post would be better asked directly to your dinner party buddies Gav.
Two families control the vast majority of all our media.
It's the same w/ Trump (multiple bankruptcies, hundreds of lawsuits), Johnson (too many examples for one parenthesis), Truss (single-handedly took the UK to the economic brink). On a serious note, it seems outrageous, sensationalist statements are overrepresented these days, a version of clickbait.
Well if by ‘media’ you begin with print media; look at who actually owns them & therefore effectively has editorial control. Then tv & radio channels: well, ‘gbeebies’🤦🏻♂️- who backs them? LBC radio/Global? Sky & our beloved, sacrosanct ’Auntie’🙄 The mainstream media is fueling the rhetoric…Why?🧐 🤔💭 🌱🕊️
Because media wants & needs chaos to be relevant. Look what happened here🇺🇸 Our Press kept him in the loop to such an extent that that dipstick got re-elected. That and we’ve got a whole hell of a lot of really stupid people. Don’t be us, be better UK🇬🇧
Stuff like this - bsky.app/profile/ther...
Because the standard of journalism and current affairs broadcasting in the UK is an absolute joke. The cosy club. Same universities, same friends, same backers, zero clue.
Couldn't agree more.
The people appointed by the Tories to run the BBC News/Politics are fascists. The owners of the bulk of the print and broadcast media are fascists. They have adopted the cunning plan of not wearing jackboots.
This . . bsky.app/profile/davi...
BBC
Fear sells. And he’s using the Trump Fear playbook.
Collective insanity.
Marmite - which is the same reason that this post is made and has garnered attention. People just don’t care enough about the other parties policies politicians to engage the same way which makes polarisation a PR strategy.
He generates interest and content. The entire British media class is now complicit in the rise of fascism in the UK because it will allow them to gain revenue, clicks, likes, podcast streams etc. They've seen the explosion in media consumption in USA that Trumpism brought as people are either....
... fascinated or horrified by what goes on, and that's now going to happen over here. Mason, Rigby, Kuennsberg, the News Agents etc - they all want Farage in power desperately because he will be the ultimate revenue stream for them. That's why they hate relatively boring Keir.
Relatively boring Kier panders to brexit, to extremist immigration, and to austerity!
Look up the word "relatively"
Cant be bothered, and you cant make me!
You mean you don't know what it means anyway?
You're boring me.
Relatively boring Starmer is endorsing it!!!
look up the word "relatively"
Don'tbe a moron....
Because publishers are cash strapped and tapping into peoples fears whether justified or not, is a revenue stream. Until we change the media landscape they will continue to lead the narrative.
Tv & print news media will always promote anger/division/riots etc over “the country is running well, nothing to report” The more division they can create, the more people will use their services to see what’s happening, making them money They are self serving & only interested in their own agenda.
There has never been a point in human history where "the country is running well, nothing to report". The reasons for that are numerous, but often involve those in positions of influence feeling the need to encourage conflict to undermine or distract. The modern equivalent of bread and circuses.
I think the 18th April 1930 was the last day we had of “the country is running well, nothing to report”.
Same as Trump, people like a spectacle, we’re going to end up run by snake oil salesmen like they are in the US.
He panders to homophobic xenophobes which the right-wing media use to sell papers/clickbait
Is the answer, because most of the media outlets in the UK are right wing 🤔
The BBC created him. He's their golem. Without Auntie Beeb he'd never have risen to this level of prominence.
Probably because people like Murdoch would welcome the situation where workers have few rights and the wealthy can get away with not paying their fair share of taxes.
As a Scotsman I fully support independence for England.
Uk media is owned by far right wing supporters They live in tax havens but control Uk politics and media Farage runs reform like a 1930s Germany Daily mail owners were fans in the 1930s Still are it seems
The power of the corrupt has never been displayed so overtly before, could it be capitalism is crashing and they are rushing to their final solution through the means of corporate/tech bros power. Thiel, palantir are embedding themselves rapidly into security sources etc, something is going down
Very bad news indeed! :(
Media love it. Thirty percent of the population blame everyone else. Cult.
Is it because media have moved from reporting events to framing “narrative” and the narrative of Farage breaking the mould of our (mostly) 2party system -as Trump did in America - is more attractive, than real politics?
'Since' Suez? Brexit has arguably been far more damaging than Suez with the damage looking set to continue for a long time yet. 9 years on there is still a ludicrous Brexit omertà being indulged in by large swathes of the UK media and establishment. Brexit was, is, and will always be nuts.
Exactly this.
They think he's good for clicks.
Old racists flock together.
I have contacted BBC to complain.
Right now, he gets the space because Reform is leading the polls. In the past it was because he built a party (UKIP) that broke into the mainstream and kept winning EU elections in the UK. Like or loathe him, Farage is the most important UK politician of the past 30 years. He's news.
He has a handful of MPs, like the Greens. He deserves no more air-time than them - and much less than the LibDems should be getting. The only reason he's doing well in the polls is that the BBC continues to give him airtime and refuses to challenge his agenda.
I keep hearing this, and it's partly why he succeeds - people don't understand the reasons for his success. He's tapped into a well of voters who feel abandoned, forgotten and dismissed, just as Trump has, and Meloni, and le Pen. Blaming the media is lazy and wrong.
Weren't they abandoned, forgotten and dismissed when his brexit 'victory' turned into such a complete shitshow? So complete that a majority now wish it had never happened? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Not sure if you've noticed, but I haven't once spoken support for Farage. You're preaching to the choir here, Graham. My point is, again, that whatever you or I feel, a LOT of people feel as I described. Saying they're wrong misses the point. They feel that way, and it's dangerous.
I had noticed. I do see your point but I fail to understand quite why they are that stupid. It seems there is something seriously wrong with the way that people are educated.
That may be part of it. I think disillusionment and a sense of betrayal are a larger part. It is hard, in fairness, to be constantly told the UK is richer than ever, the stock market higher etc; and yet not to feel the benefit of that. To be worse off than our parents. What went wrong?
What went wrong? For me that really began when Maggie sold off the family silver, to quote Harold Macmillan. Housing, utilities, squandering North Sea oil, etc etc.
Agree, that's a big part. Blair accepting the right-wing mantra of supply-side economics was a disaster too. The last 45 years of policy have enriched a very few and impoverished far too many. People know that, and resent it, so they reach for populist solutions. Reform, AfD, Brothers of Italy, etc.
Given that you are correct about the state of mind of the people, you still have to answer the question as to why Farage, whose key policy has already failed, and that's where the media who give him a free ride play their part.
Money?
The media are addicted to controversy.
Have no distinct answer but, Tory run BBC sees its only hope to revive death of their party in N.Farright hence the constant platforming. My best guess is some kind of backhand deal to merge reform and Tory after GE win. Cancel your TV license in protest, nothing else seems to work
Another Tory defected to Reform this morning. Must make up about 80% of the party by now. So yes - it isn't difficult to see where this is all going.
World needs impending meteorite to wake us up, currently descending into chaos in the 21st century and not kerning from 2pth century wars conflicts
Journalists obviously are attracted to right-wing-stupid politicians. They are addicted to chaos, pain, disorder, unlawful behaviour. They can't write a story about decent, caring and loving people.
I'm so surprised too. He spends most of his time with bestie Trump in America and ignoring his constituents in Clacton - so where does he find the time?
www.theguardian.com/politics/202... @gavinesler.bsky.social This is a prime example where the media should jump on this. Reform cannot not have well-considered plans if only one day later they are rolling back their ideas. Further proof we should not be giving them the air time they crave.
1) Like Trump, he makes good copy 2) Reform has mobilised all forms of media really well but in a sensationalist way 3) He appeals to the latent small-mindedness & racism in the UK 4) His rhetoric has become an excuse for people not living up to their potential; he's giving them someone to blame.
@gavinesler.bsky.social I thoroughly despise Farage/Reform and everything they stand for. They hoodwinked a nation in 2016 & they may do it again in 2029. The way to fight back is for the majority to have a tangible reason to feel better about things; policies enacted which will benefit people.
@gavinesler.bsky.social Finally, politicians, commentators, media need to expose Farage for the fraud he is.
The media are owned by Farage supporters. They are not on your side! This country is being governed from Fleet Street and Tufton Street, not Downing Street.
Farage could come out with a policy of eating the first born child of every household and it wouldn’t dent his support. People are stupid. It’s that simple. The better option would’ve been for progressives to grow a spine and ban him and his kind years ago from ever holding public office
Because he's like a fresh turd in the middle of the street. You can only avoid him by seeing him, steaming hot and flies feasting upon him. Steaming hot, fly infested turds sell newspapers.
Fintan spotted similar Gavin and digs deeper 👇
Please amend « English » newspapers. Why should they be kept in darkness
It doesn’t help that, if you do speak of yourself as British on here, the Scots come for you to insist you identify as English.
I sometimes accidentally say "british people" in the context of brexit and get corrected often...e.g. "you meant english" but I haven't come across it in the context of identity. I joined the dots with the brexit vote not identity i.e. 62% of scots voted remain, 97% in Gibraltar and 56% in NI.
📌
Interesting take from Fintan and very likely correct !
I visit often and notice that rise in "englishness" but I think it has been hijacked by farage / others. for me, it seems perfectly reasonable for english people to want to withdraw from the UK and e.g. have an english parliament for england but there's a toxic element now poisoning things.
As figure of speech you’d not want England to move in next door.
Excuse me but are you in Switzerland?
I am. Why do you ask?
Oh sorry, I asked if you were in Switzerland. Just wondered. I love Switzerland
yeah it is a nice place.
Yes, I have never been lucky enough to stay there but we have been driven across the Alps and stooped at a few places many times. The Mountains take my breath away.
I know what you mean. It's like living in a postcard sometimes. I was based not far from Basel, about 1.5hrs drive away from the alps but recently relocated close to Lac Léman, down south.
I envy you, although I doubt I would leave my UK even if I could.
Sorry you will have to remind me what it was I asked you.
It’s my opinion that the British Establishment and its media want a fascist government. How else can you explain it?
I'm with you there, Aggy.
👍
You mean the rich not the establishment.
No, I definitely mean the establishment
For example: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonatha...
Yes, the rich.
Who are also the establishment…
Establishment can include organisations that actively work to protect us and defend us. You are possibly part of that yourself.
Establishment means something else entirely. Don't conflate them.
The rich are the establishment - that's never been corrected in the UK.
You need to specify what you mean by the establishment.... or do you just mean everyone?
The establishment is those who remain in positions of power and influence in spite of elections. Privilege here is multi-generational - the establishment's been in place for a millennium. The nouveau riche is useful to them - that is all.
Actually, you could be lumping almost professionals and lefty liberals into that category.... and I don't think that is what you mean. It probably would include you. You mean rich wankers, so say rich wankers.
Nah - it's much more insidious than that.
Absolutely Carol. The clue was in my original post British Establishment: the aristocracy. I don’t doubt that a fascist government would also serve the uber wealthy.
Pray tell, what do you do for a living? And would you consider yourself to be part of the establishment?
Why are you being so obtuse?
Answer the question. Why are you being evasive?
The rich white men that own him also own the media. It a story told in your country since the days of the Feudal System that his owners want to return to
There's an 'agenda' ... of course. Not all theories are conspiracies.
The rich and racists
We have to learn from the experience of Johnson as PM. Initially they appear charismatic but fragile egos need to strut, need self aggrandisement, need revenge, they are grandiose & have no emotional intelligence or empathy. Narcissists are toxic in public office.
He provides effective "othering" allowing those at the top to remain so whilst having the rest of us scrapping. Keeping the money flowing, keeping the papers selling, the media churning while keeping revolution just at bay.
Reform UK seem to hunt in packs on Facebook. This business of painting flags on roundabouts evoked a massive outburst of francophobia emanating from a 'community action group' in Witham (Essex) full of references to white flags etc.
Someone, or probably lots of people, have been bought by persons unknown. The objective is to destroy the country.
I suspect that the same money that is involved in the US is at play. Thiel, Koch Brothers etc
They largely agree with him, it’s not rocket science.
Russian money and influence, it still hangs around London deep. Brexit was their great victory. They are more than happy to give more money to Farage to help him do more damage. That's the whole of my thinking, simple as that.
I agree with you, 'simple as that'. We underestimate the reach & the power of Londongrad and Moscow.
Carole Cadwalladr was definitely onto something. I wonder if we ever did find out where Arron Banks’ millions came from…
No one asks the same question as to why/how a 3rd grade school teacher Epstein suddenly became a billionaire, who made him and used him, same people who made Trump no doubt
Follow the money… but not easy as Carole and others have found.
It usually dries up around the puppets they use, Epstein is an interesting example, and what happened inside the CIA during the Cuban missile crisis, some research here reveals some interesting facts that explain a lot of what has transpired around the world since
Russia, just like Farage's .
Clickbait and money generation from media owners who do not live in the UK and do not care about the consequences?
Who owns the media? You may find your answer there. In Canada, one of our biggest newspaper chains, Postmedia, is owned by American hedge fund management company Chatham Asset Management. So they are rightwing and pro-authoritarian.
Because Global Big Bad has decided he’s your next PM
Because the press have to have a focus on something right wing and away from how Brexit hasn’t worked so it’s all a distraction
Why do they never introduce him as 'Nigel Farage: the politician who campaigned for Brexit for 20 years and ran away and hid, the moment he succeeded.'
◻️ 😼 Because it sells newspapers and increases website clicks?
Isn't it the Trump/Bannon tactic of 'flood the zone'? Do something racist, say something racist, every day. The news organisations have to report it, then follow up with an interview or press conference which is also covered. It's free publicity for his propaganda of hate, and it's working.
Certainly we could see something like that with UKIP where some candidate or councillor somewhere would say something racist, it would get widely reported, and Farage would say, well, that's not UKIP policy, I can't condone that. But it's been said and the course of public discourse is altered.
His role is essentially same as it ever was, which is to move the political agenda further right, and he's been hugely successful.
Non tax paying billionaires backing him to increase their wealth, power, and influence at the expense of the rest of us and democracy ?
EXACTLY!
Same in the US.
If Farage is to be our next PM he must first select a few hundred people, finance their election campaigns, etc.. He is wealthy, but can’t imagine him footing the bill. So who will, and why? Certainly not in the name of democracy.
Foot the bill? Why Putin will. And the Trump crowd in the US is salivating to get their hands on certain assets in the UK.
The NHS. Flaggers don’t realise they are promoting a person who will sell off their, and their family’s right to, free at the point of care, healthcare. They may well be sentencing to death someone who cannot pay for private insurance. Farage is off to America next week rather than Parliament.
Quite. These days it seems spelling it out for many people doesn't seem to matter. The bots are working overtime to further nationalist regimes that might be closer to Trump and Putin.
Cruelly devious really, Farage persuading people to support him when he is working toward something that will be to their detriment, if they can’t afford to pay private health insurance. We must hope his supporters and families will never be critically ill or have a serious accident.
US tech billionaires?
Who funded the massive propaganda effort that swung the Brexit vote?
Got you. 😉
Was it someone from R u as I A?
🫣 I wonder how Russia got so good at using racism to destabilise other countries?
As well as recruiting traitors to Putin’s dirty work.
The super rich in the USA. The ones who are scared to death of Socialism Sadly it is working for them. Labour is being slated by all most everyone, playing in2 the arms of Farage who wants to stop funding our NHS with Tax & privatise it to make the SuperRich, richer selling us Medical Insurance
Starmer is playing his cards well ignoring media refuk obsession. The abhorrence felt since Farage/Yusuf revealed their latest plans for refugees has opened many eyes. TV questioned his lying today. Let flaggers fly/paint flags, say nothing, ignore the bait to respond. Bullies in a playground?
Sadly June, not many people will read what Farage said about paying the Taliban, and next to no UK Newspaper will cover it. Like all his dross he will get away with it. And his popularity keeps growing. We , the UK are stuffed, it will be Reform next time.
The realities of the UK economy after 40 years of neoliberalism plus Brexit will destroy any party that tries to run the nation. Deporting people of colour en masse can only keep people happy for a very limited time.
''Deporting people of colour en masse can only keep people happy for a very limited time.'' Just long enough to foment a new wave of Racists... And coax obscene amounts of money to be 'Donated to the cause'' ....Which is the point of the exercise...
Maggie Thatcher (Tory), served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 she introduced laissez-faire economics onto us which is a pure, or raw, form of capitalism. The UK voters loved her so much they kept voting her in. Policies like hers hurt a country for generations.
So ironic. Skilled workers voted her in because she promised to increase wage differentials. Next thing they knew, she had wiped out most of their jobs.
It is and always will be the Conservative why and ReformUK are Conservatives on Steroids, they will decimate what's left of our manufacturing, and rip out most of the jobs in the Government sector. The Departments we need, just like Trump has.
Sorry Mel remind me who we are talking about.
So true. What makes me smile of those people of colour, mostly Asians who also support the mass deportation ReformUK, thinking they and their won't be on the list!
Not many of Farage’s voters, perhaps, but millions watch the news on TV, which has shown lots of clips. Don’t normally watch GMB, but they did show clips of Farage out and out lying today. Won’t change his fervent fans but makes others think.
Uumm I really do think we are going 2 get Farage next time Maybe that is what the UK needs a dose of far right wing racists who will take away our NHS amongst other things be4 (like Brexit) they realise what they had Sadly once the NHS is made 'for profit' it will never return to public ownership.
Why do you think he spent all those weeks away from his constituency, at Mar-a-Lardo? The same people who funded tramp, are paying Far-Age.
Were you on Twatter? June, I am sure we Followed each other there. The far right super rich in the USA have and will continue to fund Reform UK.
You’re from the UK?..which billionaires aren’t paying taxes? How much taxable inc do they make each yr? In the US, liberals parrot talking points about billionaires not paying fed inc taxes, when a recent study showed that they pay an avg effective rate of 24%, compared to 14% for the rest of us.
City Disaster Capitalists + Billionaires + Hydrocarbon Donors + Brexit Media Batallion gaslighting (often by relatives of the former) = Farage’s entire ecosystem. You need look no further than Brown’s Hotel for your answer.
Ooh, I hadn’t come across the word presstitutes before, might have to remember it as a deacriptor for the likes of kuensberg, peston et al
Yes, it’s not gender based, there are lots of press grifters out there like Peston, Montgomery, Staines (aka Guido Fawkes & who fully deserves the same traitor’s fate)…
The rats' nest of all those incestuous interconnections, with a prominent role for climate contrarians
Look at it within the global context. There is a very well funded push towards the right, actually the far right. Controlling the media is crucial to social engineering and people are extremely gullible. The only mystery is why Labour haven't rescued the BBC.
Because Lisa Nandy is a brexiter herself
And the Government remains silent, offering no narrative except more extremism.
Too intelligent to fall for rage baiting by reform and media? Went back to write reform with a Capital, then thought, “ To hell with it, they don’t merit a Capital”. Can’t tell you how empowering it felt.
1) Bcoz media is owned by his supporters including BBC (Tim Davie, Robbie Gibb etc) & 2) Bcoz none of the major political parties have taken him on regards Brexit, they've been 2 chicken
I do fear that perhaps Farage has 2 become PM now 4 Tories 2 finally turn & admit Brexit was an idiotic idea with Lab then cautiously agreeing. Either that or we have 2 wait 4 Nigel 2 die off.
He’ll destroy us. So no
He's destroying us without even being in power. Obv don't want him 2 win & will vote tactically 4 Lab 2 stop him. Lab just need 2 change leader & grow a spine
He is indeed. Perhaps Labour needs to lean on the BBC - get rid of Davie and co. After all, it can do little about the far right press owners who are offshore. As fascism rises in the next couple of years there’s going to be steep learning curve when it comes to countering it
Perhaps? They need to! Like what Tusk did in Poland!
If Farage becomes PM you can forget about fair elections. He's a fascist and will be happy (and well-funded by US right wingers) to follow the example of his pal Trump in dismantling democracy, while the mob and his loyal media cheer him on. You can't vote a fascist out of power once he's gained it.
our media is generally either owned by or run by (or both) really fecking horrible bastards who share the same values as frogface.
Related: bsky.app/profile/arth...
Fascism and the sweeping away of people’s’ rights will benefit the very rich and powerful media owners and their ilk. Plus they can fill their pages and online sites cheaply and with very little effort by just acting as comms for the Reform organisation.
I can’t repeat them.
It's a complete mystery. I think he regrets not having been old enough to be one of the Cambridge Five. Personally I think he's no better than William Joyce and deserving of the same fate.
He sells papers. End of.
I wouldn't mind the space offered so much if it was being used to mock, deride, and provide accountability. Instead, we are being primed to take him seriously again. It's the same playbook the US media used to normalise and "both sides" Trump back into power in the US.
To be fair, they're just following the example set by their dear leader in hate. Do some idio... I mean voters actually think they can govern a country let alone a local area? A piss up in a brewery that would be the right level, on the streets, anywhere asylum seekers live, on a mini roundabout
Im not sure there is any single reason. A bit of ‘follow me’ plus bandwagon jumping combined with extremism and demonising minorities seems to sell papers. Nasty business.
Because the media is controlled by those that also back Farage.
Because he is a useful idiot to them, his vile rhetoric distracts us from asking about their taxes or lack of.
They are owned by the same people
I’ve been thinking the same . Why are they treating him Like the opposition ?
Certainly there is little to no pretence at balance, which the BBC appears so desperate to preserve in other instances.
The British media is run by Nazi billionaires profiting from our misery
I can only conclude that he makes "good telly". Sadly, most people nowadays watch TV more to be entertained than to be educated. I know this is a bit simplistic, but so are his followers! 😩
It's deeply disturbing to see so many tabloids and broadsheets (though not surprising) and news channels fawning over him. Today's flip-flop demonstrates just how he and his party lack policy. What they know works is to appeal to the less-informed, stirring up prejudice and hatred. It's ghastly!
The papers love the fash….
Because he gives good copy. Always good for a quote no matter how ridiculous/untrue plus the Tories are finished so the rightwing media have nobody to fit their 'anyone but Labour' agenda.
The people who own the media outlets are bigots who support bigotry and other bigots on principle.
Because your media outlets in the U.K. are owned by oligarchs same as u.s. media outlets. Oligarchs aren't interested in facts such as taxing billionaires, ending generational wealth, increasing social safety nets. Rather oligarchs want to hide those facts. Their money gives them power.
I genuinely wonder the same, what's in it for them? Refreshing my Google feed 7 times came up with the pipe full of shite Farage 6 out of 7 times, including 4 from the BBC. We all know it's going on, but why?
I think a lot of it is media laziness. He always says yes to interviews and so they keep going back.
media and newspapers are complicit. as simple as that.
To the UK - Please follow what has happened in the USA!! Nigel Farage = USA'S 🍅 = Putin = Dictatorship!!
Corporate Media! Same in the USA.
The establishment sees him as a vehicle to better control everyone.
Serfdom for the majority is the objective of the Oligarchs who own most of the media. People can only be persuaded to vote for their own destruction by blaming their current woes on foreigners. So the Farage Foghorn is given as much coverage as he wants.
Two reasons: 1. The modern media mindset is geared towards clicks - clicks are more important than national security, decency or people's lives. 2. Certain senior individuals in the UK media would welcome a far-right government.
Exactly!
Clicks baby, clicks.
Remember the tories appointed the big cheeses at the BBC.
But Labour have been in a year and have done nothing to change that, whilst also doing their very best to legitimise the hateful rhetoric from the right…
And the Tories have as much if not more to fear from Farage & co than Labour…
Well, we all do…
So true!
Those funding him would benefit financially from Farage’s policies. Remove all workers’ rights & all environmental protections & they could make a shedload of money. No holiday/sick/maternity/redundancy pay. No social benefits or NHS. No health & safety regs.
Clickbait, drives 👀 on their content and revenues go up
They made him. They own him. It's the media which wants to destroy our democracy.
Because he will fuck the idiots that vote for him over in order to give corporations more chance to rinse the British public. More work, less rights. Simple! Any far right party is serving the rich. Distractions from rampant profits low tax , poor pay and tax dodging. He works for them.
A growing percentage of the media is now complicit in platforming the Farage rhetoric on a daily basis. The only news program worth watching is C4 News
Because he's a nasty piece of work.
It's a damn good question. The MSM, especially the Beeb, seem determined to give him a platform over and above what he deserves.
The BBC needs to stand up. Interviewers need to be far more questioning of Farage. Remind him of his constant errors and inconsistency. There’s nothing to be done about the dismal press and its hideous proprietors
I'm afraid your faith in the BBC is misplaced. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
I know - actually both are true
It’s because although entirely wrong, incompetent and racist, his ‘straight talking’ (actually anything but), pub-friendly tone attracts media like flies on poo. The media are there to titillate not to inform
He's good clickbait.
Shocking that one of the key figures behind Brexit, a huge driver of increased immigration, presents himself as the solution to immigration. Absolutely shameful that the MSM present his “policies” uncritically and without any mention of Brexit. If feels that a far right coup is being enacted.
Watching from rapidly becoming a fascist country, I would have thought the architect of Brexit would have scurried away in disgrace, but our media is just as corrupt so good luck 🍀
eyeballs and attention.
Because nothing sells like outrage.
The broligarch controlled media & UKs first past the post election system make the UK vulnerable.
For broligarchs, for Russia....
Because UKs media is controlled by right wing populist broligarchs like Rupert Murdoch, Alex Springer and their ilk, serving themselves & calling the shots. So are also protected from a media reform, which could solve it. But Starmer is part of the problem…
The broligarch controlled media & UKs first past the post election system makes the UK vulnerable.
News dept knows that’s what the right wing BBC management wants!
I don't blame broadcast media so much as I blame Downing Street comms function. I suspect 10DS are avoiding engaging with Reform so as not to give Reform legitimacy as an opposition (which Reform would love). But, by not engaging, 10DS are letting Reform set the narrative about the state of the UK.
Because to many media people promoted Brexit, they would have to admit they were wrong, so they are doubling down, and hope people will forget their involvement or hope it will be better next time. Hence why so many now distrust any media statements.
By all accounts approx 60% of the population think Brexit is a disaster and want to rejoin the EU therefore where's the evidence that's indicates Farage will be the UK's next PM?
Entertainment value.
Also, I don’t know why there isn’t more said for the small boats being tied to our hard Brexit. We did not have a problem with small boats before Brexit. Essentially Farage and others in the Leave camp are at fault for the small boats issue and are seeking to politically profit from it 🤷♂️
#FarageBrexit
Like THE NIGEL and the BBC are under control of the right wing media barons
It is simply because the offshore billionaires who own the UK media want Nigel Farage to be Prime Minister of the UK.
It's down to Robert Reich's 'orchestra pit' theory of journalism. Two men come on the stage. One delivers a thoughtful speech, the other trips and falls into the orchestra pit. Now, who gets the news coverage?
A counter: Journalism can be described by the man & dog theory - "Dog bites man" is not news, but "Man bites dog" IS news. By that token, "Racist man blows racist dogwhistle" should not be news, yet here we are. Almost as if it's promotion rather than journalism, but that can't be true.
It would be awesome if Farage really did fall into a pit
I presume Ed Davey is trying to capitalise on this approach, which exposes its limitations: we've all seen him fall off a paddleboard but nobody can name any of his policies!
Farage has one or two - destroy the NHS and end human rights!
And make himself a billionaire in the process!
Mirror article yesterday. Farage intends to pay the Taliban form our Tax money to take UK deportees for us.
Funnily enough they only report the last one.
He wants to spend more on defence too - which is weird because he agrees with Putin on everything
Mirror article yesterday. Farage intends to pay the Taliban from our Tax money to take UK deportees for us.
After he's written his own human rights bill? It'll be lengthy!
But is that his fault or the media's? The LDs have plenty of policies but you'd have to go looking at their website, because media won't tell you
A failed Lib Dem candidate once told me if he actually wanted to be elected he would tell the public how nasty he was going to be to foreigners.
Name a starmer policy...........
I can, but they're not pretty - rid us of the NHS and our human rights!
Shitting on asylum seekers
Being transphobic
Starving disabled people
Out with anyone who doesn't speak the King's English! Bit tricky with his followers!
Deliver two million more NHS appointments a year Great British Energy Closing private education tax loopholes Great British Railways etc etc
Ed Davey played the fool at the last G.E. and it did not work, who is to say he won't do it next time and if he does that will help ReformUK get into power.
🎯
News media are now mainly financed by online advertising. Most online ad revenue goes to big tech, leaving the news media impoverished To make any money at all, online traffic, driven by controversy, is needed. Farage is a clickhead. That’s why.
Tory owned BBC for starters.
Because the MSM is wholly corrupt and, in the main is owned/run by privileged right wing vermin who live/operate abroad invariably keeping their money offshore. The despicable Rothermere (daily mail) lives in Monaco, identifies as French and pays no tax in this country for examples.
IMO: News media are, mostly, for profit or judged on audience size Therefore, they offer space to people who will get a good audience Also, "press barons" are rich, and therefore right wing, and, on average, not that smart, or no smarter then the avg person
The billionaires, their pet media and politicos know the game is up for capitalism under Tories and Fake Labour. Last roll of the dice to keep the cash rolling until climate collapse is Farage and Fascism. Immigration hysteria is the wedge issue they hope will put their boy in No 10 in '29.
He provides cheap headlines and an illusion that the press hosting him isn't "out of touch" with the ordinary person. I suspect some sections of the media also think he'd be good for their interests.
May be one day sanity will prevail & we will #RejoinEU. Meanwhile a list of guilty parties follows. #HoldThemToAccount, the right-wing #quitling cabal of truth twisters - the #Stun, #DailyFail, #Torygraph, #Reform, #Tories etc. #PeoplesVote to #RejoinEU #FBPE
Because the right wing press and the BBC all want him to be PM. Though why isn't clear.
Money. It talks. Advertising feeds the media so unreality stars like him are gold. The destruction of the country? The death & misery being inflicted? Ethics? None of that puts money in the media pockets, so it's worthless. Click bait & a feeding frenzy are everything. Hate sells. Reality is ignored
Because he's box office. And for the last 15 years, journalism has been judged solely by a single metric - eyeballs. news.tulane.edu/pr/rage-clic...
We have to learn from the experience of Johnson as PM. Initially they appear charismatic but fragile egos need to strut, need self aggrandisement, need revenge, they are grandiose & have no emotional intelligence or empathy. Narcissists are toxic in public office.
🎯 The BBC should NOT be rage farming. #RageFarming #BBC
News has become focused on argument and controversy. With Farage you get both. Oh for the days when we switched on BBC News and learnt something about what is really happening in the world. Real information that tells us something. Not simply a racist baiting non-racists being presented as news.
Because much of the media were complicit in the superficiality of coverage & real consequences & are unable to admit their own failings and insights
Lies are easier to squeeze into a 10 second clip...
Infiltration of the establishment
45 years of #Neoliberalism and we are sliding into fascism promoted by the MSM.
Sorry if I'm staying the obvious but Farage and right wing media are being bought out by large companies. Media promote Farage, Farage once in power enables corporations to rape our country
Farage will not be 'in power'.
Comforting thought. But if that's the case why does he seem to be making plans for when he would be?
The stark realisation that the Tory Party is unpopular and unfashionable. Same reason they are jumping ship. Badenocih doesn't care
Because heat generates more engagement with light. Many/most of these outlets are more interested in entertainment & advertising revenue than truth or the common good.
The print media is definitely desperate for readers & maintaining their dire circulation . Now the Queen is dead , he’s their guaranteed front page . He sells newspapers .
££££&
I believe it's not much more than he's an absolute ghoul and so makes people tune in to watch the spectacle. The media is in competition for views and engagement, and controversy is unfortunately what people want to see. Whether it's people who hate him or people who love that people hate him.
He gets ‘clicks’. It’s all about traction (and therefore money) even though most sane people think he’s a total wally.
Media owners and backers want the same racial oligarchy that Farage wants. The owners want a regime where there is no scrutiny or limitations on their actions or financial affairs i.e. they can colossally enrich themselves. And the freedom to publish lies, about opponents, with impunity.
They will benefit financially. That's it.
The MSM are backing him all the way, including broadcasting companies' management. He represents the interests of the wealthiest people while fooling and manipulating undereducated, marginalised people into thinking that the problem is migrants. Trumpian stuff. Chaos incoming.
You're in the biz, you tell us
Farage is the voice of conservative capitalism! They failed utterly with the Conservative Party, & so the money jumps to the next bastion of wealth, quick gains, deregulation, privitisation, with the usual flag & foreigners tactics to hide their rich establishment credentials! Its not difficult!
Said newspapers have proprietors who remain steadfastly anti EU.
Part of the reason is because we no longer have a serious media. (See #R4Today playing an entire Taylor Swift track this morning). The BBC is paralysed by the notion of balancing insight with idiocy. And we have a population without the critical skills to recognise when they’ve been duped by a twat.
Good and Evil get equal billing at "our BBC ". Or is it "your BBC" ? They seem to change their minds.
He a controversialist & populist, someone who loves causing division & telling people what they want to hear, irrespective of the truth. Unfortunately the media loves this type of person because they sell copy or increase clicks. Hence the likes of Johnson & Trump
Because most of the media is owned by fascists. There sorted it for you.
He has friends and backers in high places, is the only conclusion that makes sense.
Politics as entertainment has failed us.
I've grown to despise the mainstream media because of their (highly effective) support for right wing politicians/politics. The BBC is Farage's campaign team and it costs him nothing.
He's seen as a useful tool by the ultrawealthy and aristo class. They're of the belief their natural right to lord it over everyone depends on Reverse Time Travel - Force everyone into an 18th Century Dark Age while they keep the 22nd for themselves.
Why have UK journalists not been outraged by the killings of fellow journalists in Gaza? Why are they not reporting the destruction of hospitals and places of education as war crimes.
The same reason that MSM in America fails. Loudmouths and controversial individuals generate headlines, clicks and revenue. Quiet, thoughtful, decent people don't. The media (with some notable exceptions) is about making money for themselves, not telling the truth or even honestly reporting.
Because so much of the media is determined to hold onto the belief that Brexit was a good thing. Look how much time Labour have to spend dealing with claims that they are "betraying Brexit".
Because he's always good for a quote, and what's left of the British media is a hollowed-out shell hungry for clicks and views
It’s a circle - he generates rage bait and admiration, he divides like no other, he makes them money and that’s more important to them than the truth. Media created him, media sustains him for their own gain.
It is because they are all owned by the same people. In some cases "Owned" is meant literally, in others figuratively. The puzzle is of why they are so keen to do so much damage to the nation.
Possibly because the more damaged our nation is, it is easier for the disaster capitalist media barons to make a killing from the sale & repurchase of our assets
The oligarchy is enamored with fascism at the moment.
The British political and media class complicit in the Brexit disaster need a diversion.
Click bait journalism encouraged by rich MSM owners with an eye on profits for themselves & their cronies.
Because journalists can write any old shit and get clicks etc if they mention his name - he’s filled the vacuum left by all the Princess Di nonsense
Dirty far right money rules the waves
Lots of good answers. For my part, I feel so incredibly sad. Disappointed. Fearful even. My adopted country with which I felt a deep affinity nearly from the start 30 years ago is taking a dangerous path. My home country (Poland) seems on a brink of similar path. Old roots fraying, new roots unsure
Same here. Ireland is my home country, but the UK made me who I am today.
He's also the Uncle of an upskirter, true fact. Genuinely concerned about women and girls too, I'm sure. 👌
The media is owned by moguls who dislike rules and taxes. And workers at BBC and other institutions not owned by media moguls want to keep their options open for their move to better paying jobs in the mogul media and / or right wing think tanks.
With the BBC, Robbie Gibb
Media owners & their editors, see the Trumpian US & they want that in the UK. They hate the Labour Govt., because they have no Tories to do their bidding. The only power they wield now, is to attack the Govt, non-stop, in an attempt to destroy it & replace it with a UK, 'Trumpian' style kleptocracy.
The best I can come up with is that the news media is totally dominated by people who really, really do like the idea of a cretinous, fascist, racist dictatorship destroying the UK’s democracy, society, economy, environment & reputation (just so that a handful of billionaire misfits can get richer).
Seems to me there is a concerted push from all angles to make this disgusting, racist charlatan, PM. The continual platforming with almost no push back is giving him a legitimacy and credibility that he does not deserve.
Reform, like UKIP, are a far right, fringe, single issue, party. HTAF are they being promoted as a government in waiting. Farage conned the country into voting for Brexit, that's turned out to be utterly shit - as many, many, people predicted it would be. Why would we ever listen to Farage again?
Also being used by media to encourage people to express dissatisfaction with Starmer and Labour government by refusing to acknowledge anything positive, there are many, things achieved by Labour. Simply - greedy wealthy don’t want workers to have rights.
Ah the oldest trick in the book, divide and conquer. Evolution definitely ended a long time ago. We've been devolving and some of us far quicker than others.
That push includes some of the Centre and Left of Centre political Journalists who for months now have been slatting everything Labour does or says' and they, are also fulling ReformUK rise and they must know it.
Similar to how people got behind Trump to get him a 2nd term with a view to spoils from a trashed state.
But surely seeing what is going on should make the morons think again. And … it does not.
The morons don't think. That's the problem.
Indeed. 🙄😟
Very true. They get their "facts" from TikTok videos. I believe you can identify these people on the street by the callouses on the backs of their hands, or the overdeveloped lower arm muscles on their dominant hand as they scroll from one destructive social media post to the next.
Moron's especially racist morons don't think.
Same problem in Canada with the conservative leader, even after he lost his seat the CBC talked about him like he was still an elected official. I believe it's because the global western news market is owned by bad faith actors.
Because the politics of being able to blame somebody (*anybody*) else for "my problems/my own shortcomings/why I'm not a billionaire", is an easier mental journey for many people than actually talking responsibility for themselves/their actions/the community & Farage is the king of blaming others.
The far-right, who directly & indirectly control a vast % of UK media, rely heavily on "flooding the zone with 💩" so that it's difficult * to promote a nuanced, carefully developed counter-argument * or, eventually, to know what to believe. Farage occupies the role of both flooder and the 💩 itself
Interesting take. Thank you!
Gavin, a confluence of factors: 1. Media sees RW news generates more revenue than green news, and media ownership is RW 2. Farage is our gens Oswald Moseley capitalising on the Trump swing. 3. The 14 yr Tory disinvestment in Brexit counties on east/west coasts driving genuine“left-behind” anger
News has become more like entertainment... so the people in it have to be 'characters'. So politicians have to be someone you'd like to have a pint with. Soundbites instead of substance.
Follow the money?
Money interests at the top. The old boys network old chum.
The people who make the decisions want to platform him. The biggest alarm bell has to be the BBC and Question Time. They deliberately normalised his brand of ignorance based racism. And that has led us right here… The UK state broadcaster is culpable. And thats down to the class system.
