Facts are always, and will be, sacred

TRYING to sort the wheat from the chaff and the truth from deception in public discourse is becoming more and more difficult. 

The shameful excesses of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s squirming over her email policy have brought deception to a new level, and ushered in the post- factual age of political debate. The unhinged and dishonest assertions — £350m extra a week for the NHS — of those who argued for Brexit reached another low.

It may always have been thus — propaganda is an ancient art after all — but straightforward lying seems ever-more common and unchallenged. And worst of all, accepted.

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald spoke about this slide earlier this week when she presented national journalism awards in Dublin. She pointed out the gullibility of those who believe an argument just because they want it to be true and how Orwellian forces might so very easily exploit that gullibility.

“I would say that abandoning facts is a kind of censorship because it deprives the citizens of truth, and I do believe it damages our democracy,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

She is uniquely positioned to help challenge this dishonesty by reviewing libel laws and penalties to support those — like most Irish newspapers — that fastidiously cling to that old newsroom cornerstone: “Opinions are free, but the facts are sacred.”