“Fake News” News 

This post has been cross-posted at Harry's Place

The news about “Fake News” today is that Roger Scruton has been restored to his role as a government adviser after the New Statesman had to apologise for its misrepresentation of his remarks about George Soros and the Chinese government to make him sound like a racist and anti Semite. 

The writer involved, George Eaton, has apparently been demoted from his role as a deputy editor with the NS. From the start it was obvious this was a wind up job against a Right Wing gammon who deserved all he got, Eaton was even seen on Twitter opening a bottle of champagne while celebrating his tremendous coup against the forces of Rightish darkness.

This is as egregious an example of a journalist stitching up a political opponent with selective quoting as could be imagined and should remind us that all the talk of how “Fake News” is corrupting the media (usually with the attendant message that we should trust the old established MSM) such smearing tactics have always been with us and are rife in broadsheet journalism as well as the more tabloid sort.

It is the nature of most of the partisan news media in the West to constantly try to catch out and lure politicians and public figures into "controversial" statements to start a round of outrage and shaming. And when that doesn't work you can always just selectively quote and decontextualise what someone has said and try to get away with it.

Also it really makes you wonder what is the future of the MSM if it gets more and more desperate for click bait and exposure in the Social Media age and ends up losing all credibility like the NS has with this debacle.