I love these mainstream news stories telling us about stuff that’s NOT going to happen! What’s the point of those? Why don’t these ‘journalists’ pen a few articles on how the sky ISN’T going to fall down today and how the Martians HAVEN’T landed? They may as well. 

What I’m referring to specifically is this story - https://news.sky.com/story/power-blackout-prevention-scheme-could-be-used-for-first-time-tomorrow-evening-12757278 - from Sky News. 

First impression from your average numb-skulled MSM reader will be “oh no - power cuts!” Calm down, people - read that headline again. The readers who actually passed GCSE English will realise that it’s not really much of a story and will skim it with the contempt it deserves. An intelligent person won’t bother reading it at all because it’s clearly a non-story. (May I add at this point that I only read it for purposes of analysis. )

It’s also important to note that the headline in the link is completely different to the actual headline. One says the blackout prevention scheme could be used tonight whilst the other says it won’t be used. So which one is it? 

Let’s have a closer look at the information contained within this article. Firstly, we can surmise that the National Grid appears to have some kind of prevention scheme (the DFS - thought they sold sofas!) in place to reduce the usage of electricity. Households have to sign up for the scheme and agree not to use electricity at certain times of day. So even if the scheme were to be implemented, only volunteers would be affected. So why would anyone agree to do this? Oh yes, because they get paid. The article doesn’t tell us how much though. Or at what point in the day they’d have to refrain from pressing any buttons or flicking any switches. I’m sure a lot of people would genuinely love the idea of having no internet and lighting for a few hours a day but, for those with electric cookers, if the scheme was implemented in the evenings, there’s probably only so much salad by candlelight that can be endured. 

Looking closer, the scheme seems to involve only certain electrical appliances and is unlikely to be put into action at night. Although, having said that, most people in the UK aren’t at home during the day, so how would that work? Who cares though because, according to the headline, the scene isn’t going to be implemented. Not today anyway. Phew. 

The rest of the story goes on to inform us about all the other terrible situations that are unlikely to occur. Blackouts mainly, the reason being that we get energy from France during the winter and the French nuclear industry is in turmoil apparently. We also get gas from Russia but now we’re supporting the Ukraine in the war (is that still going on? The MSM seem to have gone a bit quiet on that recently), the Russians are allegedly punishing the whole of Europe by refusing to sell us gas. (I’m confused now: I thought this story was about electricity.) 

The fact that “ more than half of the reactors run by state energy firm EDF have been closed due to maintenance and technical problems” is reported to be an issue too. Surely this is nothing new. Haven’t reactors always had to be maintained and don’t all machines have the occasional technical issue? It seems, according to this story, that it all seems to be happening at once. 

Other options to save power and avoid permanent blackout include having three-hour blackouts imposed on us. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Who knows - it doesn’t say? But fear not: the National Grid's Electricity System Operator (ESO) said last month that such a scenario was "unlikely". Great! So nothing to see here either then. 

There’s also the threat of shutting down “non-essential” factories, with the possibility of putting thousands out of work. But don’t worry - that seems to be just a thought at this stage.

The article concludes that the National Grid’s “latest report on the UK's readiness showed, under a base case scenario, that margins between peak demand and power supply were expected to be sufficient, and similar to winters of recent years thanks to secure North Sea gas supplies, imports via Norway and by ship.” So nothing new then. Just the same as before. Panic over. Stand easy. 

Like most mainstream journalism these days, this boils down to just more fear-mongering. As a journalist who’s written for the mainstream media for 37 years, I offer you this advice… When you, as a reader, see any story in a newspaper or online, do the following: 

1. Take a deep breath.  
2. Read the headline slowly and properly. It’s easy to read headlines wrong when you read hurriedly.
3. Avoid knee jerk reaction. (A knee jerk reaction is what’s expected.)
4. Ask yourself why this story is being fed to you. Of all the stories out there, why has this one been given the attention. 
5. Question the overall agenda. Is this story part of it? If so, how? 
6. Be aware of words like ‘may’, ‘could’, ‘suggests’ and ‘considers’: these are words that imply that whatever the story is about, the chances of any of it actually coming to anything, are slim. 

So many stories that are forced upon us these days aren’t about the stories themselves, they’re about how the reader reacts to the stories. Many articles are pure propaganda; some are blatant lies; some are sheer fabrication; a few are mere theories. They’re designed to keep us in fear. Why? Because a fearful population is easier to control. Scared people generally feel helpless. Terrified people will accept help from anywhere. And that’s when the government steps in. 

Read between the lines, folks; join the dots; see these stories for what they are. Or simply don’t read them at all! 

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