On our walk this morning my husband, who watches the early news, was telling me about today’s scandal. As is common, somebody was in the firing line of the British press for their ‘unforgivable’ actions. In the past, I took what was in the news as gospel. Like being told something by a teacher or a doctor, I didn’t think to question it. I had never been taught to.
But why don’t you like them?
I can’t tell you the number of celebrities I didn’t like because of the narrative set by journalists. If you’d asked me what it was that I didn’t like, I couldn’t tell you. “It’s just something about them,” I’d say “I can’t put my finger on it.” Or I’d recount something that I’d read in the newspaper or online. I never stopped to consider whether or not it was true. It took me years to see the formula that the press follows. They build somebody up, and then … they destroy them. It’s no wonder that I didn’t like these people, column inch after column inch was dedicated to that very aim.
And you can see it coming. A breadcrumb dropped in the form of a negative comment. This followed by an unconfirmed rumour, then an avalanche of stories, too many to defend. These people don’t stand a chance and, it seems, nobody is safe.
Of course, I’m describing the tabloids here rather than the broadsheets. Broadsheets tend to concern themselves with more important subject matters than ‘celebrity’. But growing up working class, that is what I read. I’m ashamed to say that I have wasted many an hour on the Daily Mail’s sidebar of shame. The things is, if that was all I read and that was all I knew, how was I expected to think critically.
He (or she) without sin …
Over the years, I did change my reading matter, and I spoke to people who knew more than or thought differently to me. Then, the influence of the media became glaringly obvious. Watching Brexit unfold, or the daily bashing of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex; the vilification of Phillip Schofield or whoever they wanted to punish that week. And it wasn’t just the tabloids, it was the daily magazine shows and the broadsheets too. Once I saw it, it was visible everywhere.
We can talk about who controls the media and what their purpose is, but that’s not why I’m here. And it’s not that I think the news shouldn’t report wrongdoing either. What I take umbrage with is the ferocity in which they attack people, and the way that they pick and choose who is fair game and who isn’t. It’s the way that they take people to the brink of suicide (and sometimes beyond it) under the guise of public interest.
What also makes me uncomfortable is that we so readily judge people, usually without knowing the full story. These stories often appear as black and white, with no nuance. But real life isn’t binary. There are always shades of grey, yet we are sold a narrative and made to take sides based on what they want us to believe. And who are we to judge anyway? Have we not made mistakes in our own lives? I know that I have, and I for one am grateful that I have been able to do so without the eyes of the world judging me for them.
The news from the right places
I try really hard not to read or listen to the news. More often than not, I think, it is doom and gloom that serves to keeps us scared and seeks to divide us. I can’t say that I am very successful, but, when I do read it, I am careful about where I get it from. For instance, Jessica Yellin’s News Not Noise Substack, filters out all of the rubbish that I don’t need to know, and her Instagram feed is a fount of knowledge if I want to understand what is happening in the world.
And there are other wonderful journalists, like her, who share important stories that we need to bear witness to.
Some, like Taffy Brodesser-Akner in her piece in the New York Times magazine about Taylor Swift, leave me in awe of their writing talent. If only I could craft something so artful.
Challenge the narrative
My poor husband was just making conversation this morning, he didn’t care one way or another about this particular news story. In response, he got a more heated version of this post.
Look, I’m not saying that I am perfect. I often fall into the trap of believing what I read. Of not liking somebody because of it. Of taking sides based on a biased narrative. Now though, I look out for it. I challenge it. I question why this is what they want me to believe.
More importantly, I remember that while I’m distracting myself with everything that is happening ‘out there’, I’m allowing my own life to pass me by.
