Something that I have noticed with alarming frequency is the amount of ‘news’ that just simply isn’t true. This phenomenon appeared years ago in wake of hugely significant events – The 2016 election of Donald Trump and the 2016 Brexit vote – and, following the immense fallouts for both, has remained in the public sphere ever since. During my time at Brookes as a Publishing student I have only been made more aware of its presence and proliferation and have come to a disturbing realisation – that it is everywhere. Fact and fiction have blurred, giving way to ‘alternative facts’ and what appears to be an overall subjectification of the truth. Although normally disguised as legitimate media, or disturbingly, concealed by ‘legitimate’ media companies, fake news has risen to the surface once again in the wake of this global pandemic. Just three days ago, The Washing Post, Brietbart and Townhall, amongst others, reported that CBS had taken medical staff away from their duties at a Medical Center in Michigan and had them pose as patients in their coverage, so as to make circumstances appear dire. This followed a previous incident where the same network CBS used footage from an overwhelmed Italian hospital in a report about New York City Hospitals.

Here in the UK, the misinformation has been equally duplicitous, yet somewhat less blatant. Prior to Lockdown the approach had been not to contain the virus, but to aim for herd immunity. Then came Prof. Neil Ferguson’s epidemiological modelling from Imperial, with his stark warning that 250,000 deaths would occur without lockdown, and the govt. changed tack. Since then, Fergusson has revised his death toll estimate to 25,000! Now the papers debate whether he was right or not. What is one to believe when the Telegraph discredits him, but The Guardian says he was correct? In May 10th’s Telegraph the headline “ Is the chilling truth that the decision to impose lockdown was based on crude mathematical guesswork?” contrasts with “UK scientists hit back at attempts to discredit scientific basis for lockdown.” In The Guardian of the same date! It was, after all, The Telegraph that broke the news that he had flouted lockdown rules, leading to his resignation from Sage, Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies).

There has also been a huge mainstreaming of fringe, far-right and far-left theories, conspiracy theories and ‘scandals’. In a time of immense anxiety people have become far more receptive of the more outlandish claims, perhaps seeking any explanation for a growing number of uncertainties. On the 6th April, these alternative explanations reached their most ludicrous and wholly baffling peak, in the form of the condemnation of 5G. Conspiracy theories suggesting the new technology was somehow responsible for the global pandemic became Facebook groups devoted to uncovering the ‘truth’, whilst self-appointed crusaders armed with a phone abused telecoms workers and proudly posted the evidence on various social media sites. This culminated in over 20 mobile phone masts being set on fire. Madness.

Yet this provides a perfect demonstration of the truly terrifying nature of fake news in a digital age – that it can be spread quickly, to millions at once and can, however ludicrous, gain serious traction and positive reception. In the case of the 5G debacle, the claims were eventually discredited, but the very fact that this nonsense was ever taken as factual worries me greatly. Amongst the chaos of Coronavirus, the equally sinister threat of falsehood and fearmongering has crept in, causing equally, arguably greater harm. By this I mean that stories like that above have cultivated more and more fear, anxiety, sadness and anger that the truth of Coronavirus ever could, encouraging the belief that a killer borne out of nature is in fact a bioweapon, that it is a tool of racial cleansing and that 5th generation internet has the potential to harm the human immune system. These claims, alongside many others have provided a soured of blame and people have since begun to blame away like never before. In a time where unity and care must surely be paramount, we are instead turning against one-another and looking for a scapegoat. We are told to stay 2 meters at all times, but in reality we have drifted far further apart.