Sky News’s choice for ‘civility’ champion on ‘Positive Twitter Day’ is absolutely hilarious

Sky News host
Tracy Keeling


Sky News celebrated Positive Twitter Day on 30 August. As it explained in a tweet on the subject, it’s a day about “civility” on social media. So who did the broadcaster invite on to discuss “civility and trust in social media”? None other than Guido Fawkes, aka Paul Staines. You know, the guy who tweeted a picture of himself lying in bed next to a cardboard cut-out of Diane Abbott. The same Staines who doubled down on the personal attack on the UK’s first Black female MP by tweeting:

 

 

What an utterly bizarre way to celebrate Positive Twitter Day, as many people tried to make clear to Sky News.

Kinda like

Sky News announced its Positive Twitter Day interviewee on the platform:

Clearly, the news was not music to many people’s ears:

Some tried to point out to Sky News the incivility they’ve come across on Guido Fawkes‘s platform:

And many tried to come up with a sufficient comparison so that Sky News could understand the error of its ways:

Echo chamber

During the interview itself, Staines did concede that he has “in the past been pretty belligerent” on social media and is trying to be “better”. The Sky News host also suggested that people existing in ‘echo chambers’ – i.e. surrounding themselves with views they agree with – on social media platforms is also a problem.

Well, the establishment’s echo chamber was certainly a problem here. Because if Sky News had stepped outside of it for a second, it would have realised – given Staines’s track record – how badly its choice for ‘civility’ champion would go down with the British public.

Featured image via Sky News/YouTube

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