Post Truth: The new war on truth and how to fight back
Matthew D’Ancona

I had a problem with the words ‘post truth’. I felt it was a resignation of where we are with truth and an admission we have lost. So, I thought I’d read more about it. 

The term ‘post truth’ was created in 2016, as this brief and important book tells us. In 2016, Donald Trump, chief bullshitter, got elected to his post as one of the most powerful men in the world. In the UK, a war was waged between two polarised beliefs: that we should be in or out of the EU. We all know how that went…

Trump and lies

There are quite a few stories in here of Trump. For example, how he swears he saw on some tv somewhere, a crowd of Muslims in New Jersey cheering when the World Trade Center was attacked on 9/11. Of course, this never happened, but that doesn’t matter to him.

And this is an overarching theme throughout the book. How storytellers are using emotions over truth. By making the emotional plea over the facts and the data, audiences are being won over. This was the case in Brexit, where the remain side thought that facts would stand up for themselves.

Post Truth pathways

The pathways into our ‘Post Truth’ era are laid out, as we look at how advertising, politics and the media have been nurturing a culture of mis truths for a long time. They beat the path to where we are now with truth. 

Fake news is on the rise; misinformation is on the rise. And this book was first published in 2017. Nine years have passed since this, and to add further fuel on this ‘post truth’ era, we are now deep into the hallucinations and misinformation of A.I. Trump’s second term and have witnessed the sickening impact of social media, including the disgraceful foray into AI manipulation used in Elon Musk’s Grok. 

So, it’s clear we need solutions. 

A war worth fighting for

This book promises to arm us with what we need to fight the war on ‘Post Truth’. I was intrigued. Regulation and watchdogs can do their bit. The BBC was cited as setting up its own Truth Police, through their campaign to reveal the truth and test every story. I have a problem with this, as the BBC is no longer the trusted brand it was in 2017, thanks to various cover ups and blunders. 

We still have the power of the people, though. A movement is needed, he writes. But how to mobilise a nation of zombies with their heads buried in their phones? (Just get on a Tube).

Which brings me to the fact that I recently went to a David Hockney exhibition. In the shop, there was, of course, the merchandise. Some which was plastered with his statement “Put your phone down. Look with both eyes”.

David, you were spot on. This would be the first step towards lifting ourselves out of this ‘Post Truth’ era.