ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview and analysis of a phenomenon that, in the early decades of the twenty-first century, has come to the fore in popular consciousness. This phenomenon is the concept of ‘post-truth’ and it is important because of the ways in which it characterizes much contemporary media and political discourse. Referring to the political strategies that are fed through such media, D’Ancona argues that post-truth politics at its purest is the triumph of ‘the visceral over the rational, the deceptively simple over the honestly complex’. A core axiom of this textbook has been that everyone should maintain both an inquiring attitude towards, and a healthy scepticism of, the discourse of politics and media. However, the public, it seems, has never been more sceptical about both politicians and mainstream media. There is strong evidence then that the outcomes of both events were determined by fear and distrust, brought about in an environment of post-truth.
