I just watched a movie called Dark Waters for the second time. It’s a legal drama, telling the true story of a lawyer who takes on one of the world’s biggest chemical corporations, DuPont, for knowingly poisening people and planet. In the vein of the Erin Brockovich movie, there’s a bit of feel-good at the end when the bad guys pay out huge sums and the little guy gets some recompense. Probably too little too late, as the movies take us through stories of shattered lives and homes; some pain ain’t to be fixed.
Rob Bilott – the lawyer in question – seems quite an exception, particularly coming from a law firm that more usually defended the corporate giants against just this kind of complaint. The screenplay writer gives him one particularly striking soliloquy:
The system is rigged. They want us to believe that it’ll protect us, but that’s a lie. We protect us. We do. Nobody else. Not the companies, not the scientists, not the government. Us.
Russia Today (RT) was banned, pulled from British airways, in 2022. Ofcom revoked its UK broadcasting licence, saying it was not a “responsible broadcaster”. To be more precise, the ban came “amid 29 ongoing investigations by Ofcom into the due impartiality of RT’s news and current affairs coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” (my emphasis). The investigations were ongoing; no evidence or specific details were given to support Ofcom’s conclusions.
Particularly of note, Ofcome was concerned about “RT’s relationship with the Russian Federation .. funded by the Russian state, which has recently invaded a neighbouring sovereign country”. Ofcome also notes “new laws in Russia which effectively criminalise any independent journalism that departs from the Russian state’s own news narrative, in particular in relation to the invasion of Ukraine.”
Well, it comes as no surprise that, if a country has enough money to fund their own international broadcasting operation, they will want it to put out their side of the story. In fact, why else would governments go to all the bother?
The world community doesn’t pay taxes in the UK, doesn’t vote in the UK, so why do we spend millions aiming to inform or entertain? Well it’s simple – this is more about influence, soft power, than anythying else.
BBC World and World Service (TV and radio, respectively), along with any other state-funding international broadcaster, seeks to convince others of our narrative. We’re the goodies, they’re the baddies. To suggest that RT was in any way more guilty of this than any of the others is flapdoodle.
But controlling the narrative – to maintain a compliant and docile population – is the be all and end all. The danger of allowing impressionable ears and minds to hear different versions of events, different histories (or any history!), different perspectives and sufferings, seems for some in power to be just too much of a threat.
Forget the Enlightenment – we’re living as if it never happened. Has the ability and motivation to think critically about what we’re told ever been so low? Worse than just fading away, people who practice critical thinking, going as far as challenging mainstream perspective, are derided, deplatformed, debunked. Pulled off the airways.
None of this has anything to do with tolerance, free speach or democracy. The next time I hear a politician talk about ‘our values’ I shall gag just a little harder than usual.
In Ofcoms hazy justification for revoking RT’s broadcast licence, it’s also concerned about “new laws in Russia which effectively criminalise any independent journalism that departs from the Russian state’s own news narrative, in particular in relation to the invasion of Ukraine.” And, here in windswept Britain, bastian of press freedom and justice, even the generally sedate National Union of Journalists is raising the alarm about the use of anti-terrorism legislation to arrest and intimidate independent journalists in the UK:
The National Union of Journalists has condemned the rising use of counter-terrorism legislation against journalists as an intimidatory measure harmful to public interest journalism and press freedom.
We’re no different to them. They’d just like us to think we are.
On the bright side, we are truely lucky to still be able to access tons of fresh, alternative media, many with excellent links to voices, nations, regions and perspectives that the mainstream/legacy media just won’t touch.
(A shout-out here to Craig Murray, Jonathan Cook, UK Column, Redacted, Dialogue Works, and Judge Napolitano. The list changes, and I’m sure there are many more fine voices I’ve not yet stumbled upon. I never agree with all of these, or with all of what they say but – in the spirit of free thinking – I’m happy to hear different views, and be allowed to make up my own mind.)
It’s wonderful that the mainstream has falling numbers of viewers/readers/etc. whilst more people are getting other perspectives, hearing histories and balanced analyses. But our politicians and corporate leaders – who can tell the difference? From the logos on their headed paper? – still act as if their ‘truth’ is the one and only.
The new New New Labour MP for Swindon South replies to my emails in the same tone and with the same evasiveness as the old but still new in many ways Tory who’d held the seat up until the last election. I asked for specific action she could take to bring a halt to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza; lot of nice words came back – but not a single concrete action my MP would proffer.
In a world of crocodile tears and amoral, self-serving ruling class, sentiments like “We must redouble our efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza” or “We must do more to provide relief to the civilian population in Gaza” sound nice but ring hollow.
For the sake of transparency, here’s the full reply I received:
Dear Jol,
Thank you for contacting me about the conflict in Gaza and recent events in the Middle East, and for sharing the video showing the dire situation on the ground.
The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. The war must end with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides. The fighting must stop. The hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists must be returned immediately, and aid must be allowed to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.
We must redouble our efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and in Lebanon, complied with by all sides and to pursue diplomacy. It is the best way to get the hostages released and to end the devastation for all.
No matter how difficult the circumstances, the Government is clear that it is incumbent upon all parties to act in accordance with international law. International humanitarian law must be upheld, and the independence of international courts must be respected. I recognise the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over Gaza.
As you may know, the UK Government recently suspended approximately 30 of the 350 arms export licences in place to Israel following a rigorous review. The UK Government had concluded that for certain UK arms exports to Israel there existed a clear risk they could be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law. These suspended licences effectively cover all arms exports for use in the current conflict in Gaza.
However, I do not support a total ban on arms exports to Israel. This would include a ban on arms used for defensive purposes which would be inappropriate, especially when considering the recent Iranian attack on Israel.
We must do more to provide relief to the civilian population in Gaza. There is no excuse for the Israeli Government’s ongoing restrictions on humanitarian assistance. Jeopardising the mandate of the United Nations Relief Work Agency and its subsequent ability to carry out lifesaving work is not only unacceptable, but also wholly counterproductive for Israel. These aid restrictions fly in the face of Israel’s public commitments and risk violating international humanitarian law. The UK Government condemn these restrictions in the strongest terms and will continue to work closely with international partners to ensure every lever is pulled to put pressure on the Israeli Government to let aid reach the people of Gaza unrestricted.
Finally, let me assure you that I support the recognition of a Palestinian state as an undeniable and inalienable right of the Palestinian people and as a contribution to a renewed peace process to achieve a two-state solution. I oppose the expansion of illegal settlements and consider them a barrier to this two-state solution.
I hope this helps to set out my views on this very difficult issue.
Kind regards,
Heidi Alexander MP
Member of Parliament, Swindon South (Labour)
They’re all liars & theives / want us on our knees / we’re all refugees in their game … They preach democracy, I hear hypocracy / it’s plain to see they’re all the same … A vote for one was a vote for the other / there ain’t no difference between one another / it’s a slight of hand – a Punch and Judy show … They got you by the short and curlies / come home late and leave home early / it’s a trap it’s a trick – and no one wants to know.
And so on, dark waters, getting darker.
(Side note – interesting how the slow, dark original recorded version of this song has evolved into a toe-tapping country sing-along! See below!!)