When you look back over the past three years do you feel that you saw measured discussion in the mainstream media? Do you think that you heard all the opinions on lockdowns? Did you hear people equally debate the efficacy of masking? Did you hear from epidemiologists who might have questioned mass vaccination? Were you aware of any doctors seeing positive results from therapeutic treatments for Covid19? Or was the information you saw more of a ‘done deal’ where there was only one narrative?
Throughout Covid19 there were in fact many experts who had opinions that were not in agreement with the narrative seen in the mainstream media. But many, if not most, of these were not given a platform – at least not a very visible one. We often heard that politicians were following ‘The Science’ but there is never one science – science only progresses through debate and the rigorous testing of results and theories. If that wasn’t the case we would still be encouraging smoking.
One reason you might not have heard these opinions could have been that on 23rd March 2020 Ofcom, the UK’s press regulator, issued these instructions to media outlets:
“We recognise that licensees will want to broadcast content relating to the Coronavirus and that dissemination of accurate and up-to-date information to audiences will be essential during the current situation. However, we remind all broadcasters of the significant potential harm that can be caused by material relating to the Coronavirus. This could include: • Health claims related to the virus which may be harmful. • Medical advice which may be harmful. • Accuracy or material misleadingness in programmes in relation to the virus or public policy regarding it. We will be prioritising our enforcement of broadcast standards in relation to the above issues. In these cases, it may be necessary for Ofcom to act quickly to determine the outcome in a proportionate and transparent manner, and broadcasters should be prepared to engage with Ofcom on short timescales. Ofcom will consider any breach arising from harmful Coronavirus-related programming to be potentially serious and will consider taking appropriate regulatory action, which could include the imposition of a statutory sanction.”
One can imagine the scenario in the fraught days of the early pandemic and following these instructions whereby an outlet thinking about publishing or broadcasting any alternate views might stick to the Government line to avoid ‘potentially serious … statutory sanction’.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the biggest advertiser in the UK in 2020 was the Government? Prior to Covid19 they were about the 30th biggest spender. And you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
It may also have something to do with ownership. As seen in this earlier MFTF post it seems that many of the same people who have financial clout in the world of media have significant financial interests in the vaccine manufacturers – surely a conflict of interest?
If there is indeed control of media, it appears not just to be the case in the UK. In the US one can see allegiances which may not be in the interests of the general public. As this article illustrates, what we see and hear may be framed by other interests: https://swprs.org/the-american-empire-and-its-media/
As we move through 2023 and more and more evidence shows that key parts of the response to Covid19, from lockdowns to social distancing to masking, were more harmful than helpful, one wonders what the outcome might have been had alternate views not been censored.
Further reading:
Laura Dodsworth’s book A State of Fear’ is well worth a read for an in depth analysis of how governments exercised control over the narrative
Amnesty International: /https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/covid-19-censorship-and-misinformation-having-devastating-impact-global-health
Russell Blaylock: Covid 19 What Is The Truth – a wide ranging critique of how governments handled the pandemic by a retired neurosurgeon including conflicts of interest in media coverage: /https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9062939/
Messages From The Front 
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