Have you read the Salt Path?
I confess it’s not really up my street, but I was dragged by an eager family member to see Raynor Winn at the Bath Literature Festival in May.
She was interesting and engaging, not at all guarded as some have made her out to be. To me, the person sat at the front of the Guildhall was not the same as the one portrayed in the Observer investigation.
What struck me was how she was adored by those in the audience. During the Q&A readers probed about Moth’s diagnosis, the walk and everything in between. A few spoke through tears at how Raynor’s story had changed their life. She was lovely and open throughout.
Were we being taken for a ride?
Perhaps a quick recap for those unfamiliar and our readers abroad.
Raynor’s book, the Salt Path, charts her and her husband Moth’s story of ill-health, bankruptcy, homelessness and eventual restoration via a long trek on Britain’s famous South West Coast Path.
After selling more that 2 million copies it was made into a recent film with Gillian Anderson and Jason Issacs that has taken over $16 million at the box office. Producers were hopeful of a wider international distribution, including in the USA, on the back of a strong performance in European markets.
But that might have come crashing down due to sensational allegations last weekend.
Raynor was accused of stealing money from a previous employer and reporters found evidence that the couple lost their home due to a loan borrowed to “repay the money she was accused of taking”.
The article also laid out evidence they owned a property in France while the trials and tribulations of homelessness were central to the book.
Oh, and their real names? Sally and Tim Walker.
What has impacted the couple most though are claims that cast doubt on Moth’s diagnosis of a rare neurological disorder.
The story will continue to play out of the coming months, especially following a strong defence Raynor published on her website and the (perhaps endangered) publication of her new book in the Autumn.
Why is this important for a futures and foresight agency?
Because it strikes at the heart of the importance of authenticity in the modern age.
We cannot predict what will happen in the case of the Salt Path. But the idea that a powerful story might have holes in it has shaken the UK’s publishing industry to its core. Many readers of Raynor’s work have been supportive of her, but a good chunk have been left devastated.
We live in the age of fake news, where technology is playing an increasingly aggressive role in confusing people’s perceptions of what is fact and fiction. Deepfakes produced by tools like Veo and Sora can deliver videos in seconds that inflame geopolitical tensions. Royalty free AI music generators can create songs that will receive millions of listens on Spotify. AI agents are getting more and more sophisticated, while vision-language-action models will be increasingly seen in our day-to-day lives too.
All this plays into the shocking lows we see for trust in government, business and other organisations around the globe. In many instances this leads people to feel aggrieved.
The crisis of authenticity can translate into real world implications or even conflict, such as was seen during the Covid pandemic, when fake medical advice caused people to swallow disinfectant, or during the 2024 United Kingdom riots when inaccurate social media posts saw people taking to the streets.
People are crying out for an authentic version of the truth, and that applies to what they read, to what they see and create on the internet, to the interactions they have with an author at a literature festival.
Your organisation needs to think about scenarios where everyone you interact with approaches you with scepticism and even initial hostility. The assumption of inauthenticity may become the norm.
Planning for this world should become a central scenario for your future operating context.
But you must also think about what you can do to deliver authenticity when it’s such a touchy subject. Small steps, such as embracing the C2PA standard, fact-checking your output and remaining on the cutting edge of the latest work from academia are some of the tangible things you could be thinking about.
Want to think more about this with us? Get in touch.