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Truth, bullsh*t and weasel words
How post-truth politics is wrecking public discourse
Hear from Don Watson, award-winning author and former speechwriter for Paul Keating, as he decodes political language and reveals its influence on democracy and civil debate.聽
In a time of global climate crisis, political falsehoods and voters鈥� cynicism, how do we raise the standard聽of public聽conversation so that we can adequately address the urgent issues of聽today?
Post-truth politics is now dominating global media attention and political debates. From the White House to post-Brexit debates and Australian politics, disinformation rules and is often amplified by the echo chambers generated by social media bubbles.
Public discourse is progressively defined by disinformation, evasion, obfuscation or stonewalling. To what extent does this now ubiquitous distortion of public language shape our national destiny? And how do we re-establish public discourse based on facts, evidence and informed debate?聽
This Sydney Ideas conversation between Don Watson and Benedetta Brevini will consider聽how post truth, bullshit and management speak have both taken over and聽fundamentally聽undermined the quality of public discourse and policy-making.聽
This event was held on Wednesday 13 February at the 爆料王.
The speakers
Don Watson is one of Australia鈥檚 finest writers.聽His award-winning titles include聽Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: Paul聽Keating Prime Minister,听Death Sentence,听Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words听补苍诲听American Journeys. In 2010 Don was聽awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for Australian Literature. Since 2003 his website聽聽has聽documented the viral spread of management-speak and the decline of public language. His critically acclaimed 2014聽book聽The Bush聽won both the Indie Book of the Year and the NSW Premier's Literary Award.
聽is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media at the 爆料王 and Visiting Fellow of the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism at City University, London. She writes on聽the聽骋耻补谤诲颈补苍鈥檚聽Comment is Free and contributes to a number of print and web publications, including聽Index of Censorship, OpenDemocracy and the Conversation. She is the author of聽Public Service Broadcasting online聽(2013) and editor of the acclaimed volume聽Beyond Wikileaks聽(2013). Her latest volumes are聽Carbon Capitalism and Communication : Confronting Climate Crisis聽(2017) and聽Climate Change and the Media听(2018).
Lead image: Photo by聽
