UK: Leftist politics challenging the media - Listening Post (Lead)




The Listening Post show

Summary: Jeremy Corbyn's resounding victory as the leader of the UK's opposition Labour party has divided the media, with large segments of the press launching hostile attacks on the veteran politician. Despite convincingly winning the leadership contest with 59.5 percent of votes, the 66-year-old and his allies have been depicted as terrorist sympathisers and threats to national security. Pledging to fight public-spending cuts and efforts to curb anti-trade-union powers, his win and the growing support for avowed socialists has raised the ire of the media. The popularity of Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders in the race for the US presidency has also been overlooked by the media, as has Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain. This week, The Listening Post looks at disruptive politics, and whether the the Fourth Estate, journalism, has become the fifth column of democracy. Discussing the story are: Joey Jones, a deputy political Editor at Sky News; Toby Young, a journalist and author; Richard Seymour, a contributing Editor at Salvage Magazine; Samira Ahmed, a journalist and media watcher and Adam Johnson, an associate Editor at Alternet.