The story of the British man who took on Hitler\u2019s information machine offers valuable insights into the fight against the rise of authoritarianism<\/p>\n
Thirty percent of Americans claim, despite\u00a0all evidence to the \u00adcontrary, that the last presidential elections were \u201crigged\u201d. Millions are sure that the \u201cdeep state\u201d is plotting to import immigrants to vote against \u201creal \u00adAmericans\u201d in the future. Meanwhile in Russia, the\u00a0majority of\u00a0people claim that the Kremlin is the innocent party\u00a0in\u00a0its brutal invasion of Ukraine. When Ukrainians\u00a0call their relatives in Russia to tell them about the atrocities, all too often they hear their own kin parrot\u00a0the Kremlin\u2019s propaganda lines: the atrocities\u00a0are faked,\u00a0or false flags, or necessary in order to impose Russia\u2019s\u00a0greatness.<\/p>\n
Across the world we see the growth of propaganda that promotes an alternative reality where black is white\u00a0and white is black, and where truth is cast away in favour of a sense of superiority and ever more murderous paranoia. How can we defeat it?\u00a0It\u2019s easy to despair when\u00a0fact checking is rejected by the millions who don\u2019t want to hear the truth in the first place; when\u00a0worthy journalism that preaches the virtues of \u201cdemocracy\u201d crumples in the face of suspicion, seeded purposefully for decades, that the media are actually \u201cenemies of the people\u201d.<\/p>\n