Asserting Journalistic Autonomy in the ‘Post-truth’ Era of ‘Alternative Facts’: Lessons from Reporting on the Orations of a Populist Leader

Abstract

A current challenge for journalists is how to report on post-truth political discourse in an era when the statements of populist leaders are increasingly characterized by emotionalism, out-of-context use of verifiable facts, euphemisms and double speak. A case study of the much-reported maiden speech by populist leader Pauline Hanson to the Australian Senate in 2016 is used to identify trends and patterns in stories that resulted from her oration. The case study findings were used to distil nine recommendations for journalists about how to research and report on statements by high-profile political and opinion leaders who peddle suspected alternative facts and post-truth logic. The findings indicate a need for journalists to reassert their autonomy over storytelling agendas through decoding post-truth discourse to identify underlying news issues, then applying rigour in certain fundamentals of fact checking, information sourcing, framing and backgrounding of stories. The case study findings have international relevance because the politics and media-management strategies of Hanson and her One Nation party replicate those of populist opinion leaders in the United States, United Kingdom and many other countries.

Post-Truth, Media Sosial, Dan Misinformasi: Pergolakan Wacana Politik Pemilihan Presiden Indonesia Tahun 2019

“…Kemudahan akses komunikasi politik dan pengaruh kehidupan masyarakat melalui wacana post-truth tampaknya memberikan pengaruh positif terhadap kepentingan politik. Meningkatnya frekuensi para pemimpin politik dan persebaran fakta alternatif dalam media online beberapa tahun terakhir, mendorong munculnya gerakan politik yang mengandalkan daya tarik emosional atau opini tanpa data daripada diskusi berbasis fakta kebijakan (Romano, 2017;Strong, 2017). Media sosial online membentuk kembali komunikasi yang kontroversial dan memobilisasi individu untuk berpartisipasi dalam kegiatan gerakan sosial (Gerbaudo, 2012).…”

The portrayal of the Rohingya genocide and refugee crisis in the age of post-truth politics

“…The discourse is richly ambiguous and uses expressions of unclear meanings. Emotional resonance is also evident in post-truth political messages in which common human fears and aspirations are used (Romano, 2017). Post-truth arguments furthermore commonly include statistics, historical information and other forms of provable "evidence", but apply them through distorting the contexts or meanings.…”

“…Populist motifs are frequently propagated in the post-truth era and make their way into the popular consciousness. Eventually, Romano (2017) further argues, the motifs, popularized by post-truth politicians, become media agenda as real social phenomenon.…”

La distopía de la verdad: el miedo social en el atentado de Charlie Hebdo

“…Muchas de las noticias y discursos dirigidos a la opinión pública apelan diariamente a cuestiones emocionales relacionadas con el miedo, el riesgo o la in/seguridad. La emoción se convierte así en un elemento central que está por encima incluso de los propios hechos objetivos (Romano, 2017).…”