Fabrication of Fact: Western Media Narratives (Part 2)

Last newsletter, we looked into the serious topic of the misleading and unfactual information surrounding the Tiananmen Square events in 1989. So let’s lighten things up a bit and talk about conspiracy theories. We know them, we love them, everyone’s got a relative obsessed with them, but, where do they come from? Generally speaking, conspiracy theories often trace their origins to actual conspiracies in their infant years, for example the MKUltra program of the CIA which spurred conspiracy theories of the deep state for decades. Or the use of Agent Orange by the capitalist forces in Vietnam. Another way conspiracy theories give rise is through supposed factual information. If a newspaper spreads an untrue headline, and people latch onto it despite evidence to the falsehood of the claim, people will begin to believe further conspiracies.

The RMS Titanic was a ship which, at the time of its construction by proud workers in colonized Ireland, was the largest vessel ever launched until the RMS Aquitania in 1913. It was built using, at the time, the highest level of safety engineering known to naval architecture, and some of the highest quality steel available in the British colony. Her owner, J Bruce Ismay, while a capitalist, was a proud man with the achievements of naval engineering his company had achieved, and always advocated for the safety and comfort of his customers. However, if you’ve read any stories about the Titanic, those last few sentences probably came as a shock to you. You have probably heard that they purposely reduced the number of lifeboats for aesthetics, that they didn’t extend the bulkheads up to the top decks because it would have made passengers lives more uncomfortable, and that J Bruce Ismay had ordered the ship to sail at full speed through an ice field for some misguided goal of beating a speed record. Among other conspiracy theories that are often peddled by even mainstream media these days, such as the idea that the rivets used to build the Titanic were of poor quality steel, or that a coal fire had been burning in the forward coal bunkers which weakened the steel. You may have more recently even heard of some cabal of White Star Line elites committing insurance fraud in a scheme with Titanic’s sister ship, Olympic.

Tracing the origins of these conspiracy theories, we arrive at a single point in time, William Randolf Hurst. A media mogul with a disdain for Ismay and the White Star Line. Upon the sinking of the Titanic, he scrambled to get every story he could to discredit the man and the line. While by no means are we defending a capitalist such as Ismay, who benefited from cheap and exploitative labor both in the construction of and operation of his ships, we can still point to the falseness in the claims made by Hurst. His reporting led directly to the false narrative that Ismay had ordered the ship to maintain full speed, due to affidavits from a passenger aboard the fateful voyage. However, this was simply untrue. Ismay has actually been opposed to early arrivals into port due to the headache it often caused passengers, and had never interfered with the duties of any captains of White Star Line ships. Nor was the Titanic even going her max speed (which was 24kts). The newspaper ran headlines that for aesthetic reasons, they had reduced the number of lifeboats knowing it was a safety risk. However, lifeboats at the time were not seen as a refuge to stay within when one’s ship was sinking. They were seen as smaller boats with which to ferry people from one foundering vessel to another safe vessel, as seen in previous naval accidents. It simply did not make sense, upon Titanic’s construction, to include as many seats in lifeboats as passengers on board, because the idea was the boats would travel to and from Titanic in multiple trips. The bulkheads were seen as more than adequate because if there was ever a direct puncture or collision with Titanic, the bulkheads would have assuredly kept her afloat. The designers never anticipated a side swipe collision such as that with the ice berg, and thus the bulkheads became insufficient. Hindsight is always 20/20, and we certainly have learned a lot about naval safety as a result of this tragedy, but that does not immediately mean negligence on the part of people who came before.

So the media at the time got some things wrong because of their bias, what’s the harm? We have demonstrable evidence that Ismay didn’t order full speed ahead, that the designers did not forsake safety for aesthetics or profit, that Titanic was built as at the time the safest ship afloat based on what was known. Why are we discussing it now? Well, because it is likely that is all new information for you. The true facts of the accident have perpetually been undermined and untold for more salacious telling of history. This directly leads to modern day conspiracy theories, such as the coal bunker fire or the egregious insurance fraud. If the capitalists of old cared so little about human life, as the media says, then why would they not go a step further? Why would they not cover up a coal fire because it would have hurt their profits? Why would they not spend months converting the two sister ships to resemble one another and then purposely sink the Olympic to dupe their insurer? The simple mistelling of history immediately following the event, where Hurst published stories he knew weren’t true in order to libel a person he disliked, can be demonstrated to be the very origins of the conspiracy theories today.

One can go even further, if the capitalists with Titanic could do all this, why can’t modern day capitalists create a cabal of scientists to convince everyone that the Earth is a sphere? People are susceptible to conspiracy theories, they run rampant in our society as a result. Highlighting one instance of misinformation around a tragedy 113 years ago demonstrates how easy they form, how quickly they spread, and how many daughter conspiracies they spawn. Make no mistake, Titanic is not the sole source of conspiracy theories today, and there are innumerable examples of media irresponsibility fueling the flames of them. It is crucial we analyze each instance of them, however, and combat them directly. The media publishes for profit, not for truth, and if a conspiracy is more profitable than reality, it will be published.

In solidarity,

FurInform