Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Stopped clocks and the corporate media
Rather than dismissing it the left should be intelligent consumers of the mainstream media, argues IAN SINCLAIR
Front pages of national newspapers reporting on the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 21, 2017
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
THERE seems to be an increasing and dismaying tendency among some people who self-identify as left wing to dismiss mainstream media reporting out of hand.
Anything the Guardian or other corporate newspapers report is ridiculed and ignored. For example, I recently tweeted about a Guardian article which gave an overview of the ongoing protests around the world. I quickly received this sarcastic response: “From the newspaper that supports Assange [the Guardian has repeatedly smeared Julian Assange] … The Sun seems honest in comparison.”
What part of the article did my correspondent take issue with? “I’d rather ignore that rag’s liberal pretensions from here on. They’re just a collection of churnalists and presstitutes,” they replied.
I agree, of course, that the Guardian and the rest of the mainstream media are horribly compromised and Establishment-friendly in much of their journalism and political positions.
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