In 2016, the pro-Brexit newspaper mantra was to accentuate the positive - all the good things that would come from leaving the EU - and eliminate the negative - all those Project Fear predictions to be rubbished.
But when your hero is a renowned liar and womaniser who once discussed having a journalist beaten up, a man under investigation over that 2016 vote, over his relationship with a woman given public money on his recommendation, over his Russian bankrollers, it becomes a little hard to find the positives. Much easier to focus on the negatives on the other side, to create a Magic Grandpa villain out of Jeremy Corbyn, the anti-Semitic Marxist, aka the terrorists' friend.
So when "Boris" makes an announcement, the initiative is the main point, for his newspaper allies: The headline incorporates positive words like "boom", and any counter view is restricted to a couple of paragraphs at the end. When "Corbyn" makes an announcement, criticism of the initiative is the main point, the headline incorporates negative words like "doom", and details of the policy are restricted to a couple of pars at the end.
So far, so obvious. Positioning is also key. Newspaper circulations are in free-fall, but everyone still sees the front pages - in shops, on television reviews, on social media. So we see a lot of Johnson and his agenda on the front pages. That way, broadcasters are
drawn into the propaganda campaign. They may note - as Andrew Marr and Nick Robinson have this week - that Johnson is "getting the headlines he wants" - but they are still spreading the message.
www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/boris-johnson-general-election-media-contortion-1-6386784
