The Listening Post

Brexit: The UK referendum, the rhetoric and the result

After an EU referendum campaign replete with racism and fear, we examine the British media’s impact on the result.

On The Listening Post this week: After an EU referendum campaign replete with racism and fear, we examine the UK media’s impact on the result. Plus, war and peace: Colombia’s unreconciled narratives 

The referendum, the rhetoric and the result

British voters went to the polls this week to decide whether to remain in, or leave, the European Union (EU). With a media market awash with polarised narratives, how much did the fearmongering and falsehoods really influence Britain’s decision to vote out?

Talking us through the media battle are: Anoosh Chakelian, deputy web editor, The New Statesman; Martin Fletcher, former journalist, The Times UK; Andrew Pierce, reporter, The Daily Mail; Henry Mance, political correspondent, The Financial Times; and Emma Hogan, European correspondent, The Economist.

On our radar

  • Facebook appoints a new head of communications in Israel – plucked straight out of the ranks of the Netanyahu government.
  • Two journalists are among three arrested in Turkey for guest-editing the pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Gundem. 
  • An Australian TV crew became the first to enter the country’s offshore detention camp on the island of Nauru, but their findings seem out of step with what whistleblowers have been revealing.

War and peace: Colombia’s unreconciled narratives

After 60 years of fighting between the Colombian government and the leftist guerrilla group FARC – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – an historic peace has finally been struck.

But as the FARC edge towards the mainstream, are the mainstream news media willing to move with them?

Talking us through the story are: Hassan Nassar, director, LA FM, RCN; Marta Ruiz, journalist, La Semana; Maria Jimena Duzan, presenter, Semana En Vivo; Boris Guevara, presenter, New Colombia News; and Yadira Suarez, presenter, New Colombia News.