YP Comment: The hard facts over fake news. A battle to uphold a free Press

NEW technology has transformed the media '“ and the delivery of news. Thirty-five years ago, it took days for reports to reach Britain about the latest developments in the Falklands conflict.
By dismissing any criticism as 'fake news' Donald Trump risks undermining a free press.By dismissing any criticism as 'fake news' Donald Trump risks undermining a free press.
By dismissing any criticism as 'fake news' Donald Trump risks undermining a free press.

Today news is not only instantaneous, even from the world’s most inhospitable hotspots, but it is shaped by the public’s response on social media. As the war correspondent Martin Bell notes in his new book: “The technology has run ahead of us; it is not our servant but our master. The lie is halfway round the world before truth has got its boots on.”

Yet, while separating fact from fiction is not helped by those politicians like President Donald Trump who dismiss any personal criticism, however legitimate, as ‘fake news’, the integrity of newspapers like The Yorkshire Post – and its sister titles across the region – is sacrosanct if public officials are to be held to account.

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Without such distinguished titles investing in trained journalists to report on events, or expose malpractice, democracy is imperilled. Yet this is precisely what will happen if local publishers – committed to upholding the highest standards – are undermined by those internet giants who allow falsehoods and fake news to masquerade as the truth.

By not subjecting such sites to the same safeguards, scrutiny and standards rightly expected of the printed media, the Government gives succour to those who exploit the internet’s cloak of anonymity to fabricate the truth and, in many cases, pursue personal vendettas that can cause great distress to their victims. For this reason, The Yorkshire Post’s parent company Johnston Press today launches a group-wide campaign, called Fighting Fake News, which intends to expose these double standards and urge the next Government to take appropriate action. A battle to secure the future of the free Press, it cannot be won without your support.

Food for thought

GIVEN the increasing importance of food production, Brexit provides an unique opportunity for Britain to put in place an agriculture policy of its 
own rather than adhering to the EU’s one-size-fits-all subsidy regime.

Yet, since last June’s referendum, Theresa May’s government appears to have paid scant regard to the importance of this issue or how the infamous Rural Payments Agency, the quango which manages subsidies at present, becomes fit for purpose.

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This is worrying. Farmers are the backbone of the economy and had every right to expect more clarity from Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom. Instead the Brexit-supporting minister, who came to public prominence during the referendum, has been one of Mrs May’s more invisible ministers.

With a House of Lords committee publishing a report today on the potential opportunities, and pitfalls, for agriculture, Ministers need to start outlining their intentions. If they leave it until March 2019 when Britain is due to leave the EU, it will be too late – farmers require both continuity, and clarity, if they’re to have any chance of meeting the country’s food requirements. They also need access to export markets.

Yet they cannot be expected to plan for the future, and invest in the necessary machinery and so on, if the Government is unable, or not willing, to explain how the industry will function when the UK is free from the Common Agricultural Policy.

The traditional party of the countryside, the Conservatives should be making a far more positive case for agriculture rather than hoping for the best.

Cyclists v cars

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THE fact that seven cyclists were killed in West Yorkshire last year more than justifies the police’s decision to use undercover officers to identify, and then educate, those motorists whose ignorance and carelessness continues to endanger the lives of other road users.

Public safety demands nothing less, not least on roads like the A660 commuter route in Leeds where a clampdown is planned. Yet it also works both ways as more cyclists take to the roads after being inspired by the Tour de Yorkshire race. For, while motorists should be fined if they flout the Highway Code by ignoring red lights or other established rules of the road, the same principle should also apply to those riders who think they’re above the law.

They’re not. Riders ignoring dedicated cycle lanes, tailgating vehicles or cycling abreast on busy roads are just as inconsiderate, and dangerous, as those motorists who are the target of Operation Safe Pass.