I love MSM Headlines. It’s true. I love them because nothing can lay bare the poverty of the content in our MSM than the art with which they hide this failure behind their well-composed headlines. These are always tailored to the ‘perceived needs’ of their readers, often already containing kernel of ‘narrative~framing’.
This morning there are two news items of concern – one of national importance, the other of international one. The national news item is of course the ‘petrol shortage’. Let’s not mention that this is a ‘crisis’ manufactured by the MSM based on some ‘advice’ from a Minister. Let’s indulge in a nice ‘compare-and-contrast’ exercise, starting with the DT:
“Plans for the Army to help ease mounting fuel crisis – Prime Minister will be asked to decide on Monday whether soldiers will be drafted in to drive petrol tankers” (paywalled link)
While we’re again told that there is a ‘crisis’ we also learn that the PM hasn’t decided yet if he’ll order squaddies (you didn’t think generals or even colonels would drive petrol tankers, did you?) to help out. ‘Indecisive PM’ is the narrative. Next, RemainCentral:
“Army will be sent in to tackle fuel crisisCompetition laws suspended to help suppliers as up to 90% of petrol stations run dry” (link, paywalled)
Thus, two hours later than the DT, RemainCentral “knows” for a fact that petrol stations have ‘run dry’. Don’t blame the editors – they only regurgitate what the PR people of the Petrol Retailers Association have told them, namely that ‘between 50% and 90% of their stations ‘had run dry’. Well, ‘between 50% and 90%’ isn’t that scary, so go with the upper limit … and add a sniffy ‘omigawd, Johnson would need to change the law’ into the mix. It’s as if this government hasn’t changed existing laws at the drop of a hat – remember all those covid ‘laws’?
And so to the DM where editors have learned the art of packing everything into their headlines, thus sparing their readers to actually read the whole article:
“Boris calls in the Army: Hundreds of soldiers could be scrambled to drive fuel trucks and Government scraps competition laws to tackle petrol crisis set to last a week as up to 90 per cent of forecourts run dry” (link)
From ‘PM will be asked’ past the ‘Army will be sent in’ we arrive at ‘Boris calls the Army’, in three easy headlines published within 2 hours of each other. There are also the subtitles. The Times and DT strive to keep them to one line. The DM’s editors however have learned that people only read the headlines and subtitles and won’t bother with the rest of the article. So their subtitles are always a perfect summary. Never mind that they contradict their screamer headline:
“Chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association said panic buying had caused ‘serious problems’ for stock levels ~ And oil giant BP said nearly a third of their petrol stations in Britain had run out of fuel ~ Boris Johnson is considering calling in the Army to deliver fuel to petrol stations running dry across the UK ~ Ministers will consider drafting in troops to deliver petrol and diesel later this week if panic-buying persists” (link)
You’ve got to hand the first price to the DM! They manage in one short space to go from ‘Boris calls the Army’ to ‘Ministers will consider’ … ! Still, let’s be grateful that they’ve managed to get the expression ‘panic buying’ into the mix! However, I couldn’t resist to delve a bit deeper into the various reports and found a little jewel.
Remember that the ‘news’ are based on what certain Ministers told us peasants in yesterday’s TV ‘shows’. No, I don’t watch them either. We were apparently presented with a beautiful puppet show where Mr Kwarteng made reassuring noises but a certain Mr Shapps came up with this:
“Shapps blamed the Road Haulage Association (RHA) for leaking details of BP’s concerns about fuel shortages. He said it had, in effect, “manufactured” the crisis. “There was a meeting which took place about ten days ago, a private meeting in which one of the haulage associations decided to leak the details to media, and that has created, as we have seen, quite a large degree of concern as people naturally react to those things,” he said, adding that the briefings were “irresponsible”.” (link, paywalled)
Oh dear! Repeat after me: ‘all leaks are bad except those from ‘anonymous government sources’. Also repeat after me: ‘the MSM are ‘only reporting, they do not create a climate of fear or panic’. In other words: Westminster village dwellers can talk amongst themselves and place ‘stories’ but we, the plebs are only expected to stand by and gawp.
We are not expected to act prudently and prepare, over the weekend, to try and get ready for the working week by filling our tanks up as bet we can! Of course, our dear MSM are as pure and innocent as can be – after all, they only did their duty and reported what a group with vested interests, remain-tinged, told them. Who could’ve known that people would rush out and buy petrol! Not the MSM editors, certainly not!
And so to the international news item. Yesterday Germany went to the polls. It was the GE which decided who would follow Ms Merkel. If you thought she’d now be off, finally – I have bad news for you. She’ll be on the world political scene as ‘acting Chancellor’ for quite a few weeks yet.
This isn’t just due to the German electoral system – the ‘D’Hondt’ one. It is also due to the German way of forming coalitions when one party doesn’t get the majority of votes. How well that sort of thing works we’ve learned during the ConLab regime of Cameron and Clegg. At least those two were reasonably fast getting things sorted. The results – exit polls, later the official ones – are staggering. Let’s start with the headline in The Times:
“German election results 2021: Exit poll puts Scholz and Laschet neck and neck to succeed Merkel” (link, paywalled)
Exciting, isn’t it! If you’ve never heard of those two gentlemen – no worries! Ms Merkel made sure that only nonentities would follow her. One is SPD (like Labour here), the other represents the Merkel Party. No crude numbers give away the game in that headline, published just after midnight. The editors must’ve gone to bed afterwards. Next up is the DT with a slightly more informative subtitle, their editors clearly stayed up a bit longer, into the early hours of the morning:
“German election: Social Democrats win majority in race to choose Merkel’s successor as chancellor – Olaf Scholz and Armin Laschet both say they will seek to form a government as Germany faces lengthy coalition talks” (paywalled link)
Still, the DT does mention those forthcoming coalition talks, a.k.a. ‘Horse-Trading’. And so to the DMWwhere that event has been relegated to below such important items as “Ginge and whinge news”. Well, alright: these are both ‘international news’ … Again, their headline is so informative that one doesn’t need to read the report:
“Angela Merkel set to stay on as Germany’s leader for MONTHS as rival parties battle to lead country’s government after her CDU-CSU alliance suffers worst-ever election result” (link)
Just so! And just as in the case of the ‘petrol crisis’ above, the subtitles are even more instructive:
“Germans have been deciding who will be governing them for the next four years – Chancellor Angela Merkel is stepping down after 16 years in power – Germany appears to be on course for lengthy haggling to form new government – Exit polls say race between Social Democrats and Mrs Merkel’s CDU is very close – Partial count shows Social Democrats with a slender lead over the Union bloc – Both parties laid claim to lead the country’s next government on Sunday evening – About 40 per cent have cast ballot by post, which are not included in exit poll” (link)
The actual scandal however isn’t mentioned: the ‘winner’, the SDP (Red), achieved 25.7% of the votes, Merkel’s party, the CDU/CSU (Black) received 24.1%. Let that sink in: only about a quarter of Germans voted for one of the big, traditional parties.
The possible coalition partners are the Greens (Green, what a surprise!) with 14.8% and the Liberals (Yellow) with 11.5%. The AfD (Blue) gained 10.3% – but no mainstream politician will talk with them. There are two expressions which you’ll come across until it’s all done and dusted: the ‘names’ of the possible coalitions. There’s the ‘Ampel Coalition’ of Red-Green-Yellow, and there’s the ‘Jamaika Coalition’ of Black-Green-Yellow.
Meanwhile Ms Merkel will keep swanning around and will probably be able to hand over the presidium of the EU which was Germany’s, to Macron whose turn it is from the 1st of January 2022. And you thought it was all over …!
See – that’s why I love headlines: instead of giving us facts they are what is called ‘mood music’, setting the tone for the following reports. They frame the narrative, they provide the lens under which we peasants have to look at the facts they do serve up, eventually, much lower down the page.
That’s how propaganda is being created, that’s how unsuspecting, innocent and perhaps naive people are being herded into fear and panic.
KBO
The great fuel crisis..? There is no shortage of fuel.The “crisis” is man-made,or more correct;y MSM-made.
For 18 months the MSM have slavishly followed Government …er…suggestions. “…A leaked document…” “…an unnamed goverment source..” All used shamelessly to fan the covid hysteria which in turn enabled the government to impose draconian restrictions on the Nation without so much as a murmur of discontent from the opposition.
The Meeja is enjoying its influence; Doom ‘n’ Gloom sells papers. A mention of fuel shortages and everyone goes out and fills their tanks… pumps run dry… more headline stuff.
The problem is a shortage of HGV drivers. Why? It’s because of Covid,innit. I’m not joking.
Every year thousands of HGV drivers quit, or retire. Normally they are replaced. For 18 months, thanks to The Fat Controller’s lockdown measures. this has not been possible. You cannot train and test a driver working from home, or by Zoom. It is very much a hands on business.
There is long waiting list.
The blame rests squarely on BORIS. He wanted POWER… well he got it. Power to destroy the economy. He chose a Cabinet so stuffed with those whose main interest has been to keep their lucrative positions that none of them has dared to look ahead and say,”If you do this, PM, it will result in…”
No Boris.The Army does not have enough HGV drivers qualified to drive fuel tankers. The RAF and the Airlines will have some, but they are spoken for.
No Boris. Donning a hard hat and a high-viz jacket to be photographed, posing by a road tanker, will NOT solve the problem YOU have createrd.
I agree with you Richard. Lockdown has been a disaster of the The Fat Boy’s doing. All Government levers will be pulled, no matter at what cost in money, time or energy, to ensure that this viewpoint is shared by a majority of the public.
Just the words ‘perceived needs’ raises my hackles.
Who the hell do these people think they are to decide what are my needs?
The Press are up there along with the politicians and their string pullers among the main perpetrators of our current tragic situation, as Viv shows. Hope their big fish at least pay the price soon. We’d be half the way to solving things if the MSM were out of the way.
As per usual the resident buffoon in Downing Street is slow to act and dithers about as to whether to deploy Army HGV drivers to assist in the delivery of petrol. The total number of Army HGV drivers is likely to be in the low hundreds rather than the thousands, courtesy of the many cuts that the armed forces including the Army have had to endure over the past 20 years or so including the government supposedly run by the blond buffoon. If ever there was an example of a prime minister who is way way out of his depth and just hasn’t got the right attributes it takes to do the job, Boris Johnson fits that bill. His utter ineptness is apparent on so many issues now, it beggars belief how he is able to hang onto that position without being given the push. The Conservative Party as a whole are just as inept as him and will not act in the interests of this country by ordering him to step down and allow someone with a bit of backbone to take over. And if we thought that the present government wasn’t bad enough, one only has to look at that complete dolt namely Kier Starmer. That man should never ever be allowed to get anywhere near the keys to Number 10. He is not worthy of the title ‘Sir’ judging by the total garbage that’s come out of his mouth during the Labour conference. Heaven help this country, the lunatics have taken over in abundance.
Great comment Colin.
And if things weren’t bad enough already with government ineptitude on a massive scale, we have to endure one of the most ignorant of all politicians in the House of Commons namely Emily Thornberry spewing absolute tripe about men with cervix’ etc. With spokesman like her who has been thoroughly discredited in the recent past, the Labour Party deserve to be in opposition for perpetuity. I don’t think the standard of UK politics has sunk so low it has right now. We are in need of a new party and we need it quick…….
Why would “squaddies” be qualified to drive HGV.?
I would have thought the army would only have have a limited number of drivers.
You don’t have to think; you can find it quite easily if you want to.
The Road Haulage Association said (11 Aug 2021): “There are only 1,931 army drivers that hold the correct licences and certifications to drive heavy goods vehicles. Some of these are in the Territorial Army so will already have full-time jobs.” Interesting date, though.
Because there is also this article:
https://trans.info/en/report-uk-government-puts-army-lorry-drivers-on-standby-as-driver-shortage-continues-249704
Note the date here, too: August 8th. So the government has known for at least two months and, if the report is to be believed, has had the forces on stand-by at five days’ notice. It is of course nowhere near enough, nevertheless, they were ready, so why the delay now (rhetorical)?
‘Conspiracy theorists’ have long warned that one of the many and varied tools the NWO had lined up to keep their sheep in order when they pressed ‘Go’, and they don’t hide it, is food and commodity shortages. Hard to focus on esoteric, ‘far-way’ goings on when battling privations in daily life. But as we know that is bonkers, of course. Nothing to see there. A variation on Viv’s squirrels.
There are videos on social media of American farmers who are claiming they are being paid one and a half times the value of their crops to destroy them. If they do not comply they will get no subsidy from the state next year.
Harryagain…….too much use is made of the word ‘squaddies’ by the media who who have little or no understanding of armed forces ranks and what they do. A squaddie is a soldier under training, or at least it was in my day. If I was soldier in today’s Army with say 12 years service under my belt, having served on the frontline in Afghanistan or wherever, I would feel insulted being called a squaddie by the pen pushing uneducated illiterates that pass for newspaper journalists these days. They are an appalling bunch of people who have nothing to serve their country, and could do with a bit of discipline themselves.
Absolutely Colin, spot-on.
I too, would be outraged to be called a ‘squaddie’.
Totally agree Colin. The only mainstream news I look at is what Viv and Debbie provide with context. I saw two comments today which resonated with me:
To quote a phrase often attributed to Alexander Solzhenitsyn in the context of life lived under Stalin’s oppression:
‘We know they are lying; they know they are lying; they know that we know they are lying. We know that they know that we know they are lying. And still, they continue to lie.’
And: There’s no reaching the perpetually stupid.