...but holding the powerful and controversial to account is the point of journalism
Depending on who you believe, Steve Bannon is the man who got Donald Trump into the White House or the man who betrayed him. He may of course be both. As the one time executive chairman of Breitbart, the online playground of the alt-right, there is no doubt that Bannon holds views that are divisive, to say the least. He was one of the key influences behind the Muslim travel ban imposed by the Trump administration, and maybe the architect of the decision to
withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, too.
In Trump, Bannon believed he had found the man who could turn his belief system – and especially his distaste for globalisation and for the “establishment” – into a political (or anti-political) force. To an extent, he was right, although the realities of office (and perhaps Trump’s ego) seemingly drove a wedge between the dishevelled man who wanted to bring down the system, and the orange man who really just wanted power and glory.
Having been sacked by Trump last August – and then disowned by Breitbart for allegedly bad-mouthing the President’s family to his unauthorised biographer, Michael Wolff – Bannon is suddenly making waves again. Earlier this month he popped up in Lille at a rally of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front party and told supporters: “History is on our side.”
Promoting the nationalist agenda that underpinned Trump’s successful White House run, he went on: “Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honour.” The “them and us” narrative is, for Bannon, as strong as ever. Global capitalism and established political elites remain the focus of his ire.
Tomorrow, he will make a rather different appearance, this time as a guest of the Financial Times at an event in New York, where he will be interviewed by the paper’s editor, Lionel Barber. Whereas French nationalists were presumably glad to welcome Bannon, there will be some at this week’s FT “Future of News” conference who will wonder why a highly respectable news outlet is giving a further platform to the father of the alt-right. When the interview was first announced there was something of a social media kerfuffle. And sure enough, there is an argument that being interviewed by a serious journalist such as Barber gives Bannon a sheen of acceptability.
To argue that journalists should refuse the chance to probe him simply because he holds some dodgy opinions is to deny the media’s calling
But hang on though. If decent journalism is about anything, it is surely about holding the powerful and the controversial to account, questioning unpalatable ideas and examining what lies beneath, which is what Barber will be aiming to do.
In 2018, finding a soapbox for extreme views isn’t difficult. With some slick production and a bit of smooth talking, radical or dangerous opinions will find a willing audience, too. Look at the way social media works when trolls gang together. Look at the remarkable success of Breitbart and other alternative “news” sites. Look at Trump.
This is the context which makes the whole concept of “no-platforming” counterproductive. If controversial ideas or pronouncements are not made in a forum where they can be questioned, they will be bolstered in an environment where they are taken as gospel.
Bannon may have severed ties with Breitbart, but there are plenty of ways he could communicate with those who are already inclined to believe what he believes. It is vastly more important that he is put under pressure by people who will approach his views with scepticism.
Furthermore, whatever else he might be, Bannon is one of the few people who has the ability to shed light on the innermost workings of the Trump administration. To argue that journalists should refuse the chance to probe him about the day-to-day reality of this most bizarre of presidencies, simply because he himself holds some dodgy opinions, is to deny the media’s calling. And in the week when the spotlight is
shining brightly on Cambridge Analytica, the data-analytics firm of which Bannon was once vicepresident, there are yet more questions he should be pressed to answer.
Nearly a decade ago, there was an outcry when BBC’s Question Time invited Nick Griffin, then-leader of the far-right British National Party, to be a guest on the show. But by placing his views and his party’s policies under the microscope, the programme showed up just what a political charlatan Griffin was.
The FT and other serious media outlets are right to take Bannon on. This is not about allowing his views to be heard, but enabling them to be challenged.