Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Why it matters

If you've ever wondered why I started blogging about the excesses of the right-wing press then this spectacularly good post by Five Chinese Crackers tells you everything you need to know.

Our friends at the English Defence League recently released a video to plug a forthcoming rally in Manchester. What did they use to justify their arguments about Islamic extremism? They used a pack of lies from the Mail and other tabloids. Like the Mail and the other right-wing papers, they conflated unpleasant extremists like Anjem Choudhary with all Muslims. Like the papers, they look for what they want to find, find it regardless of the evidence, and drive a fucking great train through the truth in order to create fear, hatred and exploit prejudice.

It matters to call out this rubbish because newspapers shouldn't be twisting the truth to create a false narrative which is easily picked up by extremists. The fear is of extremism, but the irony is that in order to create a climate of fear through distortion, sleight-of-hand and downright lies, it whips up extremism of a different kind.

Well done to the press. You created the EDL. Happy with yourselves? Proud of what you do for a living? Glad there's a bunch of thinly-disguised football nuts marching around trying to have a ruck with Muslims? Pleased with that? Job well done? Go home and pat yourselves on the back did you? Enjoy seeing your lies in that EDL video?

That's why it matters.

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