Countering right-wing media

Of late there has been a surge of r ight-wing media, twisting and distorting facts or even just blatantly lying, clearly hoping that the old adage attributed to Mark Twain "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes" still holds some weight.

As Conservatives push their message, the opposition parties must be smarter, there is no point in responding directly to try to put right their ceaseless mantra of misinformation, little point in reacting or name-calling. Instead, we must be faster, more cautious, and cleverer.

Instead, we need to be fervent in checking our facts and prolific in our reading and understanding of the political events both current and past, we need to use social media on our terms to challenge the Tory rhetoric our history.
Tories are now exploiting Facebook tools, who has not seen a fleeting post of Tory misinformation flash past them. Lib Dems are local campaigners, it is our strength, and we need to be showing communities our actions and words in supporting them, it can feel like self-promotion, not something that comes naturally to most pragmatic Lib Dems but in the current climate of misinformation, ask yourself would you prefer a Tory offering misinformation or a Lib Dem helping the local communities.

Find your local projects, that capture your interest and highlight them for the good of the local community, take pictures, talk to others about the value of local projects and above all enjoy volunteering and being involved in local communities.

Short videos work too, if you see a loose paving stone, overflowing bin, speeding cars or any other issues make sure you capture yourself or others on a short video, using these on Facebook helps to cut through the algorithms of Facebook which automatically give them more exposure.

In a year where there seems to have been a never-ending blitz against the very ethos of being a Liberal, it is up to us to spread the word.

Never doubt the Tories will be campaigning hard over the next few months, they'll be trying to make up ground of their continuing slow and shambolic Covid19 response, the shambolic handling of schools and exams, their stance against free school meals, and we'll see a never ending blitz of misinformation coming out where they'll claim to be responsible for every imaginable initiative, it makes no odds to them whether they are or aren't responsible, it's just the name exposure that matters to them.

We have increasingly seen this approach to social media in the 2019 election and in the 2020 US elections, until UK politics becomes less adversarial and more collaborative, which will require electoral reform, we are going to be seeing a lot more of this type of approach.

So, what do we need to do…? We need to be slicker, smarter and to remain authentic.

Why authentic, because above all ask the question, why are we involved in local and national politics, what is it we are hoping to achieve? It is usually because you want to make a difference in your local communities. That is what our residents appreciate, that we are genuinely there to help them, not seeing them as a Tory meal ticket to the next election or County seat.

Mon 4th January 2021 - 11:36 am

Countering the right-wing media (libdemvoice.org)