election results

Gracie Moore, Online Arts & Lit editor, examines the election of Geert Wilders, the ‘Dutch Trump’, and what it exhibits about the role of the media in the rise of the far-right.

Trump’s presidential term has been built on the erosion of media with the explosion of the term ‘fake news’, and it was not accidental – it excuses things that have been said about him in his past, and makes him less scrutinable. It insures distrust in independent bodies that are notable public watchdogs. His re-election cries for voter fraud were thus predictable, and entrenched within his ‘cultish’ followers a severe mistrust for their democracy.

Eleanor Butler discusses Jacinda Arden’s re-election for a second term as prime minister of New Zealand and how the global political sphere can learn from her as a leader.