NEWS DIGEST: Pandemic, Populism & Power—An Oxbridge Students Guide to Current Affairs
Digest and analysis by Georgia: Georgia is an English Language & Literature, University of Oxford graduate, and holds a Newspaper Journalism Masters from City, University of London. Georgia has written over 20 news reports and features articles on a range of subjects, which can be seen on her online journalism blog: https://georgiaheneage.journoportfolio.com/
In an age of pandemic, right-wing populism, fake news and environmental chaos, it is imperative that we keep abreast of what is going on in this volatile world we live in. In this news digest, I distill key happenings in the UK and the world at large, and provide suggestions of points of analysis in reaction to those events for you to consider and digest.
World News
Beirut explosion
At least 137 people killed in massive port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon
The result of ignoring repeated warnings of a stash of ammonium nitrate stored on a Russian-owned ship that was once described as a “floating bomb”
Ongoing investigation into why highly explosive materials were housed just metres away from residential neighbourhoods
Aspect of governmental negligence and continuing frustration at Lebanon’s political class
Explosion played into an ongoing financial crisis in Lebanon, with serious economic damage
Analysis: do governments pay enough attention to repeated warnings about these kinds of highly explosive materials? How important a role did the Lebanese government play in this? Are these kinds of explosions usually linked to politics? Parallels to be made between this scenario and the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, where post-cold-war Soviet Union politics were integral to the event.
Facebook blocks fake news post from Trump for first time
Facebook has blocked a video post from president Trump, in which he falsely claims that children are “almost immune from Covid-19”
This is the first time Facebook has removed a post from Trump’s page which they deem to be spreading false information
This is the latest in a series of actions taken by social media platforms against the president for spreading false information, hate speech and threats of violence
Social media platforms have been heavily criticised for making allowances of the president’s breaking its content rules
Analysis: are social media platforms beginning to take more responsibility in halting the spread of fake news during coronavirus? Are they beginning to take a stand against politicians? Will this play an important role in the upcoming presidential campaign, which is increasingly reliant on social media? How will this compare to the 2016 campaign, which was reliant on accessing and manipulating a voter base via Facebook?
China’s growing power over the world stage
Since China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s security laws under the “one country, two systems” model earlier this year, international concerns have been raised over China’s growing economic and military power
Technological monopoly: China’s power over the technological market is growing, but the UK decided last month to strip Huawei from its 5G phone networks by 2027
Military encroachment: with the world distracted by the pandemic, China’s military has encroached on its neighbour’s territories on numerous fronts, including a bloody brawl between Chinese and Indian soldiers along the disputed Himalayan border, reflecting a frightening new policy of confrontation and military aggression
Freedom of speech: China imprisons and tortures citizens for speaking out against the state and the way they have handled the coronavirus or Hong Kong
Human rights: New footage has been revealed which shows the brutality of the Chinese government’s detention camps, where they have singled as many as 1.8 million Uighurs (a Muslim ethnic minority) into mass detention, forced labour and torture
According to these new reports, inmates are targeted by Chinese government propaganda (often played over loudspeakers) to suppress their group’s religion and culture
America v China: Earlier this week, Trump banned any US transactions with the Chinese companies that own TikTok and WeChat and has said that the US must take “aggressive action” in the interest of national security
Analysis: The UK’s decision to strip Huawei from its network plays into a wider UK-China dispute, but is the UK doing enough to halter the progression of Chinese power over the world stage? Does Brexit mean that we are in a weak position to do this? Does a Conservative government, with invested interest in Chinese billionaire companies, take a correct moral stance against China’s encroachment on human rights?
Are we witnessing a situation that Orwell envisaged in 1984, where the Chinese government controls every aspect of civil life, including your thoughts and belief systems? Is our democratic system in the West equipped to tackle China’s unique communist political system?
Coronavirus
The super-spreaders of misinformation during Covid-19 and the “infodemic”
Social media platforms have played a huge role in permitting the spread of misinformation during this coronavirus period
Most recently, theories which connect 5G and coronavirus from a few alternative doctors (which claim that 5G is dangerous to our health, there are harmful ingredients in vaccines and conspiracies surrounding the origins of the virus) have garnered millions of followers, likes and shares on Facebook
Authoritarian leaders across the world, such as in China, Turkey and Thailand, have harnessed the “infodemic” (fake news epidemic) as an opportunity to silence dissenting opinion and replace it with their own version of events, which is often fake
Many leaders are using such “misinformation” to stifle freedom of expression, the rights of citizens, and to intimidate journalists and medical staff who speak out against problems within healthcare systems and concerns over governmental corruption
Analysis: Has the coronavirus pandemic issued in a new fake news epidemic? Is the UK government doing enough to halt the spread of misinformation about the virus? Is the UK government as apolitical as we might like to think? How has the internet affected the way we consume news about the pandemic?
Impact of Covid-19 on arts & culture
The pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the UK’s world-leading performing arts sector: theatres and music venues, including the Edinburgh Fringe festival this August, are struggling to reopen amidst a huge economic fallout and requires urgent funding to stay alive
The UK government has now pledged 2.25m to keep music venues afloat, but according to the Guardian, the live music industry added £4.5bn to the UK economy last year and provides 210,000 jobs, but up to 50% of the workforce are now facing unemployment.
The Royal Albert Hall is apparently “months away from going bust” and has never faced a closure like since in its 150 year history
Analysis: what will be the long-term effects of Covid-19 on culture? Can the arts withstand the economic fallout from the pandemic? Are the new cultural forms which are emerging, such as new virtual technologies and experiences, the same or of similar quality to before? Has the pandemic increased the diversity of audiences, through increased accessibility?
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