Author: Purple Brolly

News of the events of conflicts and natural disasters, as well as noteworthy deeds of royalty, politicians, criminals and celebrities is naturally of interest to most people. Before the invention of printing, town criers would stand in the street and shout official proclamations. Since the first regular newspapers were founded in the 18th century, however, their owners and editors have inevitably used the dissemination of ‘news’ to shape public opinion via the tone of their articles.

Letting the public have unfettered TV, radio, newspaper and online access to stories of national and world events is a basic principle, yet the manner in which the corresponding ‘freedom of the press‘ is conducted is often viewed with disdain. When evidence of faking photos or quotes emerges from time to time, this only adds to any suspicion people already feel towards the profession of modern journalism, filled by graduates of universities instilling their own brand of ideology.

All-day TV broadcasting began in the 1980s, hugely adding to the continuous flow of news reporting. This has made ‘The News‘ hard to avoid, but the internet, fortunately, has opened up the opportunity to hear intelligent discussions without glory-seeking interviewers constantly interrupting with their own agendas.

(Top image: PIRO4D at pixabay.com)

Britain is traditionally known for having an upper-middle-working class system, but during the two World Wars everyone worked side-by-side in a common cause, resulting in the twentieth century seeing the rise of equality as a basic aspiration.

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) mused on the idea of social and economic equality as far back as 1516 in his book ‘Utopia’ (a word he invented). His description of an island with free food and medical care, communal property, no poverty, crime or immorality seems far-fetched, but a few of his more realistic ideals, such as religious tolerance and equal education for boys and girls, do now exist in the UK.  Although there are groups who campaign for increasingly extreme, nonsensical positions, the UK supports equal opportunities for women, minority faiths, minority ethnicities, minority sexualities, those with special educational needs, the disabled, etc..

Indeed, the desire for a fair society can be seen in a host of laws implementing policies in favour of equality and against various types of discrimination, with the Equality & Human Rights Commission giving assistance where requested. However, in an advanced, long-established capitalist economy like the UK’s, there are other factors at play. ‘Common sense equality’ could best describe our inclination.

(Image: pxfuel.com / CC0)