Much of our newspaper media has left reality behind

Opinion

It has been the worst of times for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Johnny Depp and Netflix, while swathes of the media haven’t covered themselves in glory either.

Rarely has there been such a sharp divide between the Johnson supporting media and reality, flowing from the much repeated qualified apology and the faux contrition followed by defiance behind the closed doors of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers.

The Daily Mail has produced a classic of its kind as former prime minister Theresa May attacked Johnson’s Rwanda refugee policy and former chief whip Mark Harper told him he was “no longer worthy of the great office he holds.”

The paper decided to lead, instead, on the public being able to watch TV in future in driverless cars that don’t yet exist, according to changes about to be made to the Highway code.

There was room on the front page about a serious potential case of lying, but that was about Johnny Depp not the Prime Minister.

Inside there was of course room for “the bitter regret” of Boris Johnson plus comment suggesting that the PM’s apology should now lay Partygate to rest.

The Mail even manages a reference to its other obsession –  Brexit.

“The blunt truth is, some of the confected outrage by his political opponents (invariably Remainers) verges on deranged,” the paper insisted.

In fact, according to opinion polls from the likes of Ipsos, the majority of the public by a margin of two to one think Johnson should resign and 73% are now following the Partygate fines story carefully. The public have not moved on and are showing little signs of doing so.

Smears over Rwanda and Ukraine

In an alternate universe, The Sun decided that former Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher needing new hips was the main thing with a front page line on the Johnson apology.

Interestingly the paper’s coverage featuring the Harper attack was corralled into page two, where serious stories routinely face obscurity.

For The Sun: “the confected rage, the frothing abuse and the sanctimonious moralising are hard to stomach.”

The Daily Telegraph also produced a collector’s item. The first edition led with the respectable (if unsurprising) idea that Germany is becoming increasingly isolated as the West sends more heavy arms to Ukraine combined with what is now becoming a good old standby –  sit back and watch telly in your driverless car.

Then the word came from the 1922 committee that Johnson had accused the Archbishop of Canterbury and the BBC of “misconstruing” policy on sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and being softer on Putin than on Home Secretary Priti Patel.

To be able to attack both the BBC and Justin Welby in the same story was just too tempting and the splash was changed.

The Telegraph‘s knives had already been out for Welby for describing the Rwanda policy as “ungodly.”

The paper had even denounced the Archbishop as “an unelected virtue signaller.”

As many have pointed out, what on Earth is an Archbishop of Canterbury for, if not to signal virtue?

The additional charge, that either the archbishop or the BBC is soft on Putin, is merely a pathetic attempt at distraction. In the case of the BBC, the smear is also an insult to the many brave men and women who have risked their lives to cover the war in  Ukraine.

Lack of media clarity on Rwanda

As for the Rwanda policy, many sections of the media have either not been tough enough or produced misleading coverage, and that includes the BBC.

You can still hear cross-Channel asylum seekers described as illegal migrants. Under international law they are no such thing until their cases have been determined.

There has also been a lack of media clarity on what the Rwanda policy actually means. Those “processed” –  a term used by both Hitler and Stalin –  in Rwanda can quality not for the right to come to the UK but to stay in Rwanda.

Helpfully, The Sun explained facts people didn’t know about Rwanda, such as it is a nation of tea producers and drinkers where all plastic bags are banned. Unfortunately, there was no room to mention the country’s disgraceful human rights record, its long list of endemic diseases or the fact that an attempt by Israel to do what Patel is now planning was a disastrous failure.

Johnson will fight on. And he will probably face down and defeat the attempt to have an inquiry into credible allegations that he misled Parliament. Next up, the May local elections and the possibility of more, and more serious, party fines.

It’s as if the Prime Minister is attached to a heavy-duty rubber rope. He continues to stride forward increasingly slowly, and will do so until the moment the tension becomes impossible to sustain. That could happen soon.

Netflix’s momentum runs out

As for Depp’s $50m defamation case in a Virginia court against the allegations by his former wife Amber Heard in the Washington Post that she had been an abused wife – somebody is definitely lying.

It’s either Depp or Heard and the fact that The Sun emerged victorious when Depp sued for libel in London might give a hint on the possible American outcome.

Early days in Virginia but Depp like Johnson, might be running out of road.

In the real world of the media, Netflix also looks as if it is struggling to move ever forward against the strain of the rubber rope. It’s the market leader in the streaming world, although Disney+ is narrowing the gap, and for years it has been all about growth and moving forward –  until now.

For the first time in more than a decade Netflix has lost subscribers – more than 200,000 of them –  compared with a forecast 2.7 million rise.

The decision to cut off service to Russia accounted for 700,000 lost subscribers.  However the highly indebted streaming group fears it could lose a further 2 million subscribers between April and June as many consumers are forced to cut back as the cost of energy and food soars and competition bites.

Such a setback would leave the company with a mere 219 million subscribers but the fall spooked investors and the shares fell by 26% in after hours trading and the sell-off could continue today. With a growth company and a growth stock its all about momentum.

In a small piece of good news for Netflix, both Boris Johnson and Johnny Depp could have more time in future to watch more Netflix programmes –  perhaps even programmes about themselves.

Raymond Snoddy is a media consultant, national newspaper columnist and former presenter of NewsWatch on BBC News. He writes for The Media Leader on Wednesdays.

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