Looking at the debate about what’s generally considered Fake News, it’s hard to shake the impression that this only became a major issue with the advent of Social Media, while the period before was like a Golden Age of Journalism. Against this backdrop, the story Graham Majin shares in his book Truthophobia paints a different picture. Majin, who previously worked in the BBC newsroom for quite some time—and thus has insight into its daily practices—goes back historically to the pivotal moment marked by the Boomer generation and its cultural revolution of 1968. While gonzo journalism brought a new freshness and subjectivity to the table, distinct from the old, meticulous bystander journalism (which Majin attributes to Victorian Liberalism) that dominated during the war, it was truth that suffered most from this new sense of spontaneity. Or as Jefferson »Fuck« Poland, a member of the Hippie Press, put it: If there’s no good story, make one up. Majin demonstrates that this casualness was by no means a mistake, but instead became common journalistic practice, exemplified by BBC Director-General John Birt, who served from 1992 to 2000 and established a form of Journalism that can rightly be considered scripted reality. By the time the Boomers’ revolutionary fervor had faded, a new style of reporting had been established, which Majin describes as »pro-social lying,« a form of social engineering. And because this is where the problems we’re facing today in our deeply fractured media landscape are buried, the conversation with Graham Majin—and the re-examination of the Boomer’s Revolution—is really valuable.
Graham Majin has worked in TV Journalism for over twenty years. After 14 years at BBC News, where he covered current affairs and produced documentaries, he founded his own film company, which produced work ranging from animations to TV dramas. After pursuing his passion for research at his Truth Lab and publishing many academic papers and journals, he now teaches the Art of documentary filmmaking at Bournemouth University and the London College of Communication. He has recently published Truthophobia: How the Boomers Broke Journalism.
Graham Majin has published
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