Hughes’ work ranged from hard-hitting overseas reports, to sport and television writing as well as candid accounts of coping with cancer
Tributes have been paid to Sarah Hughes, the Observer and Guardian journalist who has died from cancer.
Hughes, a mother of two, was a hugely respected journalist whose work ranged from hard-hitting and acclaimed overseas reportage, to the television and entertainment writing that she went on to specialise in.
Continue reading...Dan Hanks claims he compiled 90-page report about actor early in her relationship with Prince Harry
A private investigator employed by the Sun has said he illegally accessed the Duchess of Sussex’s private information shortly after she met Prince Harry.
Dan Hanks, who lives in Los Angeles, told the website Byline Investigates that he compiled a 90-page report on the future member of the royal family in October 2016, shortly after the tabloid newspaper first became aware of her relationship with the prince.
Continue reading...High court makes ruling after Duchess of Sussex’s victory in copyright claim against paper
The Mail on Sunday must publish a front-page statement declaring the Duchess of Sussex’s victory in her copyright claim against the newspaper over its publication of a letter to her estranged father, a high court judge has ruled.
In another win for Meghan in her privacy battle against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the MoS and Mail Online, it has also been ordered to print a notice on page three of the newspaper, stating it “infringed her copyright” by publishing parts of her letter to Thomas Markle.
Continue reading...Torstar, which owns more than 70 papers, to launch gaming app to ‘support the growth and expansion of quality journalism’
As advertising revenues dry up and the outlook for print newspapers looks increasingly bleak, publishers around the world are constantly hunting for new and innovative ways to fund costly journalism.
Related: Why Toronto is taking action against a carpenter amid its homelessness crisis
Continue reading...Firm stood against Facebook and Google over plan to make tech giants pay news organisations
Microsoft is calling for the US and the EU to follow Australia in introducing rules that require technology companies to share revenue with news organisations and support journalism.
The company, which stood against Facebook and Google in supporting the proposal, argues that it is necessary to impose such a levy to create a level playing field between large tech firms and independent media organisations.
Continue reading...Judge gives summary judgment in favour of royal over extracts of letter to estranged father, Thomas Markle
The Duchess of Sussex has won her high court privacy case against the Mail on Sunday, hailing her victory as a “comprehensive win” over the newspaper’s “illegal and dehumanising practices”.
After a two-year legal battle, a judge granted summary judgment in Meghan’s favour over the newspaper’s publication of extracts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
Continue reading...Staff memo said Donald McNeil, reporter who used racist slur on student trip, and Andy Mills, Caliphate podcast producer, departed
Two New York Times journalists have left the paper over separate controversies involving racist and sexist behavior, including its high-profile Covid-19 reporter Donald McNeil, following disclosures about his use of a racist slur while on a company-sponsored student trip.
The departures of McNeil and audio journalist, Andy Mills, a co-creator of the Daily podcast and a producer and co-host of the now partially retracted Caliphate podcast, come amid a wider reckoning across over racism and abusive behavior within American newsrooms.
Continue reading...Letter criticizes handling of complaint that reporter Donald McNeil Jr used racist language while on a company-sponsored student trip
More than 150 New York Times staffers sent a letter on Wednesday to its executive leadership criticizing the paper’s response to complaints from parents that the journalist Donald McNeil Jr had used racist language while on a company-sponsored student trip, and for the handling of the scandal once those complaints were first reported.
“Our community is outraged and in pain,” staffers wrote, adding that despite the paper’s “seeming commitment to diversity and inclusion, [they’ve] given a prominent platform – a critical beat covering a pandemic disproportionately affecting people of color – to someone who chose to use language that is offensive and unacceptable by any newsroom’s standards”.
Continue reading...Duke settles libel case with paper and Mail Online over stories about his relationship with armed forces
The Duke of Sussex has accused the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online of underplaying the seriousness of an error in a story about his relationship to the British armed forces as the two sides formally settled a high court libel claim.
Harry had sued Associated Newspapers over two articles published in October, which claimed he had snubbed the Royal Marines and “not been in touch … since his last appearance as an honorary marine in March”, citing “informed sources”.
Continue reading...Paper says Donald McNeil Jr ‘showed extremely poor judgement’ in using racist language on a Times-endorsed educational trip
The New York Times has confirmed the paper investigated and “disciplined” its high-profile public health and Covid-19 reporter after he used racial slurs during a trip with high school students in 2019.
Donald McNeil Jr, a 45-year veteran of the paper and its lead reporter on the coronavirus pandemic, was accused by a number of students of using the N-word during a Times-endorsed educational trip to Peru. The reporter also suggested he did not believe in white privilege and used stereotypes about Black teenagers, according to complaints filed to the paper, which were reported by the Daily Beast.
Continue reading...Lauren Wolfe was let go two days after tweeting she had ‘chills’ at seeing Joe Biden’s plane land at Joint Base Andrews
A row has broken out over accusations that a New York Times journalist was fired after being targeted by rightwing critics for tweeting she had “chills” at seeing Joe Biden’s plane land at Joint Base Andrews.
Lauren Wolfe, who had been working as an editor at the Times, posted the message on 19 January, as Biden arrived ahead of his inauguration as president the next day.
Continue reading...Ex-employees of royal couple could shed light on drafting of letter to Thomas Markle, high court hears
Four former employees of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could have evidence shedding light on the circumstances of Meghan’s letter to her estranged father, the high court has heard.
Any role of the so-called “Palace Four” required further investigation, and was one of the reasons the duchess’s privacy action against the Mail on Sunday should proceed to a full trial, the newspaper’s publishers argued.
Continue reading...The first woman to have her own column in the Observer, Whitehorn was a celebrated writer and author
Katharine Whitehorn, the pioneering newspaper columnist and author, has died aged 92.
The Cambridge graduate worked briefly as a model before embarking on a celebrated writing career, working for publications including the Observer, Picture Post and Saga magazine, where she was agony aunt for 19 years.
Continue reading...In a challenging year, reader support helped us get to the truth about the pandemic - and the people in charge of tackling it
This year was the most challenging and extraordinary for news that I can remember, and I’m sure many of you feel the same way. It affected everything about how we live, love and work and in many ways it’s changed us all forever.
At the start of the crisis, at the Guardian, we were already under considerable pressure with the decline of print newspapers and the effects of sweeping changes in the digital world. Now, with coronavirus running rampant, our offices almost empty and our newspaper retailers shuttered, we were facing another formidable blow.
Continue reading...Number of digital subscribers grows 60% in a year, with record 190m page views in one day on 4 November
The Guardian now has more than 1 million subscribers and regular contributors, after support from online readers grew by 43% in a year.
Figures released by Guardian News & Media on Thursday show that digital subscriptions alone grew by 60%, with total digital recurring support – a measure counting all those with a regular financial commitment – rising from 632,000 in November 2019 to 900,000 last month. There are also 119,000 print subscribers.
Continue reading...28 June 1928 – 23 September 2020
The thalidomide campaigner on a ‘true English gent’, the newspaper giant who brought the scandal to the world’s attention and will always be his hero
The first time I met Harry Evans – he never let us call him Sir Harold, that was a no-no – was in 2009. My late wife, Louise [Medus-Mansell, a thalidomide survivor and lifelong campaigner who died in 2018] and I went to New York for our first wedding anniversary. Louise was desperate to give Harry a copy of a book she’d written. We’d found his address in New York but hadn’t been able to make contact. Just before we were about to leave, the phone goes off and it was his PA saying: “Harry’s really sorry that he hasn’t gotten back to you, but he just stepped off a cruise. Come around at four.”
So we went to his apartment on the Upper East Side and as soon as we walked in, there were big hugs from Harry. Proper china teacups came out – he was a typical English gent – and we sat down and reminisced for an hour and a half. Louise had known Harry since she was very young: she was a focal point of the thalidomide campaign in the late 60s and early 70s and Harry went on telly with Louise’s dad, David Mason, to raise awareness. When we met in New York, Louise was having a bit of a feud with her dad, because of something she’d written in her book, and Harry said: “Never you mind, I’ve always got your back. I will never let you children down.”
Continue reading...Jill Biden says writer of opinion article is ‘diminishing’ the achievements of women as presidential transition team demands apology
The Wall Street Journal has come under a torrent of denunciation for publishing a “sexist” opinion article that calls Jill Biden, the first lady-in-waiting, “kiddo”, and questions her right to use “Dr” in front of her name.
The article, written by a former adjunct professor at Northwestern University Joseph Epstein, purports to offer Biden “a bit of advice”. Opening on the provocative note of calling her “Madame (sic) First Lady – Mrs Biden – Jill – kiddo”, the author goes on to recommend that she drop the honorific of “Dr” before her name.
Continue reading...The 2012 killing of Regina Martínez, who was investigating links between organised crime and politics, began a wave of violence in the most dangerous country to be a reporter
Regina Martínez Pérez was considered an enemy of the state. The 48-year-old journalist had made powerful foes investigating allegations of collusion between political leaders, security forces and narcotraffickers in the Mexican region of Veracruz.
She was a source of irritation for four consecutive state governors, highlighting violence, abuses of power and cover-ups in the pages of Mexico’s foremost investigative news magazine, Proceso.
Continue reading...Actor ordered to pay £630,000 after libel action against Sun over ‘wife beater’ allegations
The Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has been refused permission to appeal after losing his high stakes libel action against the Sun over its description of him as a “wife beater”.
A high court judge also ordered the actor to make an initial payment to the Sun’s publishers, New Group Newspapers (NGN), of almost £630,000 in legal fees.
Continue reading...Facing protests in the Muslim world over his response to terror attacks in France, President Emmanuel Macron phoned a New York Times media columnist to rail against “bias” in the English-language media and accuse some newspapers of “legitimising this violence”.
Related: Trump adviser says it 'looks like' Biden has won and predicts 'very professional transition' – live
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