大象传媒

From comedian & Writer Paul Kerensa:

I sit down to write a Pause For Thought a couple of days before I sit here with you, Chris. And one of the things I thought to write on, was the fast-changing nature of the news. The fact that in post-Brexit Britain, we鈥檇 barely read a news headline before it was trumped 鈥� and not by Trump, but by resignations, appointments, MPs, and PMs.

Daily printed newspapers didn鈥檛 stand a chance. Social media took over as the primary news source 鈥� which is worrying, given that our feeds don鈥檛 always give us the full story 鈥� not objective news, but algorithm-selected articles we鈥檙e most likely to sympathise with, given what we鈥檝e liked or shared before.

聽聽Only it鈥檚 not just post-Brexit Britain that鈥檚 moving the news on fast Another day, another headline, or three, telling of attacks in France, in Germany, in a Florida nightclub, in France again, in Germany again, in another Florida nightclub. Yesterday barely two hundred miles from this studio, a Normandy priest was murdered during mass.

At any crime scene, barriers go up. My worry is, that our barriers do not come down so easily after. The news stories are too easily simplified into us versus them, and both media and social media feed this problem. It鈥檚 understandable 鈥� it鈥檚 human nature, to protect ourselves and our families - those like us. But I鈥檝e seen friends on social media sharing thoughts and articles that tar all with the same brush, that are skewed against refugees or Muslims, ignoring the contributions and indeed innocence of millions. I was tempted to remind them that Islam鈥檚 given civilisation universities, countless medical advancements, coffee, chemistry鈥� but in many ways that鈥檚 irrelevant, just window dressing. The nub of it is that teaching: 鈥淟ove your neighbour as yourself鈥�, taught Jesus. 鈥淎nd who is my neighbour?鈥� The hated Samaritan, the loathed warring nation, the enemy from down the road or oceans away.

We鈥檙e moving away from Europe politically, yet geography isn鈥檛 moved so easily. But forget politics and forget geography 鈥� our neighbours can be a world away, even an ideology away. It鈥檚 difficult to love 鈥榯he other鈥�, when the news is increasingly urging us to build those barriers. But love we must, because ultimately, it鈥檚 not us versus them, it鈥檚 just us.