Farage and Polanski use same media bias tactic

The tactic spreads across politics

Politicians from Nigel Farage to Zack Polanski increasingly accuse the media of bias to evade difficult questions, BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg has warned.

Trump invented the playbook

The crooked media tactic was popularised by US president Donald Trump and has become part of the script for politicians seeking to discredit scrutiny.

“Donald Trump invented the phrase fake news. It's a part of his core script, as it's part of Nigel Farage's script to say, 'The media isn't fair to us, so here's my anti-establishment TV channel.'”

Polanski rejected the premise

In an interview about Green Party controversy over Zionism, leader Zack Polanski said it was not controversial, dismissing the question rather than answering it.

“We did an interview with him about the controversy in the Green Party over Zionism, and he sat in the chair and said: 'It's not controversial.'”

Corbyn accused ITV of obsession

During Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership, he accused ITV News of being utterly obsessed with questions about whether he would resign.

“It's your responsibility to make sure the opposition voice is heard as well as the government's voice. It's your failings.”

A shift from playful evasion

David Cameron and Boris Johnson used humour to deflect scrutiny. Today's politicians instead undermine the conversation itself rather than merely sidestep awkward questions.

Traditional media still commands audiences

Kuenssberg pushed back against suggestions that established broadcasters lost their ability to hold politicians to account, noting traditional outlets still reach far larger audiences.

“The biggest outlets and the biggest places people go for information are still, by a country mile, the traditional outlets.”

Prime ministers still grant interviews

Andy Burnham gave his first interview as Prime Minister to Kuenssberg on primetime television and has since done another half-hour about his first one hundred days on ITV.