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Cry Wolf - comments blocked

An increasing number of newspaper articles no longer have an opportunity to comment, or if they do, then it is closed after a short while.Thus the journalists are withdrawing into an ivory tower where they no longer receive feedback from the public at large.

In the internet age, is that people will stop taking notice when what they read does not correspond to what they see on the ground, or to the information that the pick up from the rumour mill.

This affects in particular articles on what is the issue of most concern to most people today - immigration. There is a widespread and well-founded fear of a large influx of Muslim immigrants. Unjustified fear of immigration in the past has given rise to the "Cry Wolf" syndrome. This time there is a wolf.

The trouble is that, as was to be expected, the populist right has picked up the cause and is running with it, whilst the mainstream politicians are either blind, or too cowardly to admit that there is a wolf. This is poisoning the waters of political debate, and at the same time driving out public discussion on other important issues.

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