by Jamie Bryson
The largest unionist party has told demonstrable lies (there is no other word which can be used) to their electorate, and abandoned fundamental and core commitments in not one, but two manifestos upon which their mandate is based.
Aside from anything else, that alone creates a public interest in the media discharging- independently and fairly- their accountability function to forensically scrutinise those issues and hold public representatives accountable for the misleading (at best) claims they have made.
However, that is not what has happened for the most part, particularly in regards the BBC. It is self-evident that political pressure has been brought to bear on the basis that it is the settled will of the ‘establishment’ that the DUP-NIO deal must prevail, and therefore any forensic scrutiny of it which risks unsettling the unionist/loyalist base must be avoided. It follows that any voices, whether that be inside or outside the DUP, who seek to expose what the DUP party Chairman has described as “the sleight of hand of the century”, must be marginalised.
There is, of course, a risk such an approach boomerangs. In grassroots unionist and loyalist communities there is already a mistrust of much mainstream media, particularly the BBC. This has been recognised by the public service broadcaster itself.
And so, when grassroots unionists and loyalists, starting from a position of suspicion, look and listen to BBC coverage and see it operating effectively as a PR outlet for a deal which many people instinctively know isn’t quite right, then distrust in the media- and the deal they are giving a soft landing- is only going to become more pronounced.
There is very little anyone dislikes more than being treated like a fool. And the unionist and loyalist people are being treated like fools, patronised and talked down too. This has been a feature for some time amongst the ‘liberal elite’ of much of the media, but the difference now is a section of the DUP is not only joining in, but in fact is leading the charge.
It is an interesting exercise if one contrasts the scrutiny placed on the DUP for their reasons for remaining out of Stormont (for which they had a large mandate), with the scrutiny placed on their reasons (the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ deal) for returning (for which they have no mandate).
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had a full hour or thereabouts on both BBC TalkBack and Nolan. There was no forensic scrutiny on his deal, and he was permitted to (and I choose these words consciously and deliberately) tell demonstrable lies, without any real challenge.
Indeed, even when those lies were exposed and became apparent in the days and weeks which followed (with even senior members of the DUP calling them out), there was a reluctance by a large part of the media to place too much scrutiny on them, lest it create problems for the ‘deal’ which, it has been decreed, must prevail for the ‘greater good’.
The problem with that is that is a political viewpoint. It is the establishment’s viewpoint, and therefore has that power behind it, but it still remains only a political view which is contested.
And so, when large parts of the media swallow it whole, and allow their editorial decision-making to be influenced by it, they are allowing themselves (whether they realise it or not) to become political actors.
We have seen how the media, particularly the BBC, have instead allowed their focus to be diverted into essentially facilitating propaganda to try and divert attention away from any inconvenient realities around, and I use the term again, “the sleight of hand of the century”.
On the Nolan Show today (7 March) we had the DUP’s Paul Givan basically being permitted to- without any challenge at all- wax lyrical about his new-found love for Irish, with also glowing references to the joint First Minister’s carry on at a GAA club.
All of this plays well for nationalism, and the liberal elite establishment. But there will be many in grassroots unionism and loyalism feeling increasingly unsettled at how the DUP, in literally weeks, have went from standing firm against the Irish Sea border in the trenches with their base, to instead accepting and implementing the Irish Sea border (albeit whilst lying about it) and now making their top priority in Stormont not their own community, many of whom feel hurt and betrayed, but rather on being taken around by the hand by Sinn Fein and told to perform for the cameras.
These performances are then lauded in the largely nationalist dominated world of social media, with these compliant unionist Ministers lauded with praise for embracing their Irishness and new-found love for GAA. A quick look through Twitter would demonstrate the underlying message: ‘look at these house-trained unionists, if only they were all like this’.
It is not yet clear what DUP Ministers will have to do next to stay in favour. Perhaps they will take up post at the Irish Sea border, physically conducting checks to demonstrate to nationalism their acceptance of Northern Ireland being constitutionally separated from the rest of the United Kingdom.
There are of course some journalists who aren’t playing along, people like Sam McBride, Tracey Magee and the Newsletter. And, to be fair, the Belfast Telegraph has also sought to be even-handed, reflecting all sides of the argument rather than just swallowing the DUP-NIO coordinated propaganda campaign.
The problem for that campaign is this: it is built on a foundation of sand. It can’t endure, because nothing built on falsehoods ever can.
It follows that whilst the compliant sections of the media may be able to buy them some time and give them an initial soft landing, at some point- very soon- the truth will be unable to be ignored.
But at that point, those who have allowed themselves, for whatever reason, to become tools of the establishment and turned a blind eye to that which they know is wrong, won’t have the credibility to then take up the mantle of speaking truth to power because- when it really mattered- they turned a blind eye.