After a packed meeting in September in which Nicky Morgan spoke on Brexit, I hope to see as many of you as possible this month when Friday room will be on the subject of ‘Fake News’. The talk will be given by Liz Gray, followed by what I’m sure will be an interesting discussion.
Time: 7.30 pm
Place: Unity House, Fennel St, Loughborough
About Sarada Gray
I started my first novel, aged 8, in a draughty vicarage, finishing it 14 years later. My first poem emerged on a Sussex beach in 1965, but I didn’t return to poetry until 2007: I’m still trying to find out why.
I have published short stories, poems and reviews and am a recognised performance poet. I’ve been married 21 years and have two children, Holly, 20 and Daniel, 17; but my husband now wants to be known as female. My struggles with this and its effects on my writing, are the springboard for short stories and a radio play.
The Friday Room 
Will try to come!
That would be great Bill
Apologies if posting this is inappropriate – I don’t quite know how this thing ‘works’ yet. But here were my – rather over-wordy – notes I brought to the meeting.
Fake News Balance
“Fake News” is – unfortunately – put out on both sides of the political spectrum. It is more difficult to argue convincingly against Fake News in principle if one only finds it from ‘the other side’.
But accusations need evidence. So I am suggesting that, to give authority to this discussion, why not insist on giving examples from both sides when whoever explores the overarching issue of fake news? An example might be that some on the Right reported that Tommy Robinson was imprisoned because he broke British laws on free speech. That was not the case – he was imprisoned because he broke reporting restrictions on an active trial whilst – making it worse – already under a restraining order.
Alternatively, the Left-leaning interviewers could abandon repeatedly accusing him of tarring all Muslims as extremists when he constantly states that that is not his case.
Fake News Paradigm Shift
I think the reason both sides accuse the other with playing fast and loose with the truth is that we are at the zenith of a paradigm shift where the old patriarchy is being deposed by a new order of interest groups, blacks, women, LBGT etc,. Each have their competing truths: for example “Women have been held back in the workplace” – true; versus “women are generally physically weaker which surely matters in certain workplaces”, also true – both arguments are true but are enshrined in different – and in the present climate – incompatible mindsets.
When Catholicism lost out to Protestantism a similar shift was occurring. Catholics could point to divine apostolic succession from St Peter to the popes, whereas Protestants could equally validly look to sanctity being enshrined within the person, any person, who should thus surely legitimately interpret the word of God unaided by Rome. When this degenerated into the 30 years’ war … the only important thing was to win – and – all is fair in love and war. That is the state we are in now.
So when the battle is in full flood – as I would suggest it is, patriarchy versus a new order – then the only thing that matters is that no one – usually on the revolutionary side – falters. Now is not the time to wonder why fight – now is the time to press home every advantage. No quarter must be given, so fake news springs up, as atrocities do in the heat of battle. And to consider circumspection too carefully at this moment would mean taking your eye off the ball when one last effort must surely secure the revolution.
The ultimately he-said-she-said case of Dr Ford versus Judge Kavanagh in the US is a case in point. Republicans notice the weaknesses in Dr Ford’s argument (whilst acknowledging something happened – but what?). They see, with reason, an argument, full of passion but devoid of witnesses, time of occurrence, place and – well, no actual rape – But to the Democrats, nothing must derail the race to the kill that their hounds can scent. It is not about Kavanagh – or even Dr Ford – it’s about winning the war. The gloves are off and at this stage in the game, all is fair in love and war. To the winner, the spoils. They will be plenty of time for the victors to rewrite the history.