Polanski’s anti-media messaging- is it time for the left to follow suit?
I don’t think you could compare Donald Trump and Zack Polanski in many ways, but they both have one thing in common: their contempt for legacy media. Throughout British history, the media have been accused of being inherently right-wing. After years of being hammered by the British Press, New Labour’s electorally successful approach was along the lines of: if you can’t beat them, join them. Tony Blair’s close relationship with media giant and owner of The Sun Rupert Murdoch was heavily publicised. Labour’s Landslide victory in 1997 was preceded by the Sun headline a few weeks before the election ‘The Sun Backs Labour’. Keir Starmer’s landslide victory followed Blair’s blueprint, writing for the Sun after previously claiming he would not work with them . In recent times, however, Zack Polanski has shown that there might be a new way for the left.
Almost 30 years on from Blair’s election, we live in a very different media climate. Trust in news has hit a new low, and Donald Trump showed the world that a strong relationship with mainstream media is not a neccesity to electoral victory anymore. Polanski takes on this anti-mainstream media strategy, as shown in these posts:
Post 1
This post from Polanski directly attacks the Daily Mail, accusing them of racism towards the deputy leader of the Green Party, Mothin Ali. Perhaps the more striking element of this post is the call for media reform, straying into territory unfamiliar to previous prominent left-wing leaders by fighting against the British media system, rather than trying to fit in alongside it.
Post 2
The second post illustrates a line of messaging that has been consistent from Polanski, that the British mainstream media are trying to preserve the existing power structures. The idea that British legacy media have great control over political outcomes is one that was undoubtedly recognised by Blair. Going against growing calls in the party to break up the media monopolies in Britain, Blair developed policies that were more favourable to Murdoch . But again, Polanski takes the anti-establishment route rather than the participatory relationship with the press.
Post 3
Finally, this third post was reposted by Polanski. Citing record-lows in media trust, popular left-wing political commentator Mehdi Hasan encourages people to subscribe to an alternative left-leaning media platform, Zeteo News. The support for this type of media leans further into the successful strategic communications of Trump that relied on alternative forms of media in an increasingly polarised climate.
UK politics has consistently had an incestuous relationship with the British media, from leaking scandals to editors turned prime ministers, leading to many on the left and the right thinking it’s all one big club that the public doesn’t have access to. That begs the question: with Polanski’s Greens soaring in membership and the polls, is this the time for the left to explicitly hold right-wing media outlets to account? Or is it venturing closer to the populist ‘fake news’ narratives that remove nuance from a complex media and political system?
Leave a Reply