Category Archives: Newspapers

The Guardian bans all gambling advertising

Posted on by

Ban will apply worldwide to all of media group’s online and print outlets, including the Guardian, Observer, and Guardian Weekly

The Guardian has announced a global ban on gambling advertising, arguing it is unethical to take money from services that can lead to “addiction and financial ruin”.

Anna Bateson, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, said advertising – particularly online – could trap gamblers in an “addictive cycle” that caused financial distress, mental health issues and wider social problems.

Continue reading...

Outrage in Guatemala as crusading journalist given six-year prison term

Posted on by

José Rubén Zamora, 66, convicted and sentenced on money-laundering charges press freedom groups say were trumped up

A veteran journalist and founder of one of Guatemala’s oldest newspapers has been sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering, in a case widely condemned as politically motivated.

José Rubén Zamora, 66, was convicted on Wednesday by a three-judge panel in Guatemala City, who ruled that there was “no doubt” the outspoken critic of government corruption masterminded the laundering of almost $40,000 in 2022. The court absolved Zamora of blackmail and peddling influence charges.

Continue reading...

US House unanimously calls on Russia to release journalist Evan Gershkovich

Posted on by

Gershkovich was arrested in March on espionage charges, which both he and his employer, the Wall Street Journal, deny

The US House of Representatives voted unanimously on Tuesday for a resolution calling for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia for three months.

The vote was 422-0 in favor of the nonbinding measure.

Continue reading...

Why access to Tory party members is big incentive for owning Daily Telegraph

Posted on by

Newspaper retains considerable influence among those who will shape the direction of Conservatives

Whoever buys the Daily Telegraph is not just purchasing a historic and profitable newspaper – they are acquiring direct access to Tory party members who will control the future direction of the Conservatives.

Paul Goodman, the editor of ConservativeHome, said the newspaper retained “considerable” influence among the approximately 160,000 card-carrying members of the party’s rank and file who vote in leadership elections and MP selections.

Continue reading...

‘Former estate agents’: the strange life of the Barclay twins

Posted on by

Losing Telegraph newspapers will not turn remaining twin Frederick Barclay into a pauper, but it’s a bitter end to brothers’ empire-building

From humble beginnings growing up in a west London house so close to the railway line the window frames rattled when a train passed, the Barclay twins, Frederick and David, became an extraordinary, energetic and eccentric power couple.

They built an empire of glitzy hotels and made many millions in shipping and retail before plunging into the world of newspapers but – largely – eschewed the trappings of life in the London fast lane to live in strange isolation in a sprawling mansion on a small rocky island just off the French coast.

Continue reading...

Major newspapers could face a $40m hit if governments follow Victoria in abandoning print advertising

Posted on by

Data highlights total government spending on print as experts say Daniel Andrews’ move will be watched

Major metropolitan newspapers could lose up to $40m in advertising revenue if state and federal governments follow Victoria’s lead and pull their print advertising.

In 2022 state and federal governments spent about $40m placing government ads in major capital city newspapers, and another $5m on digital advertising on news websites like heraldsun.com.au and theage.com.au, according to media agency data collected by Standard Media Index.

Continue reading...

Supporters of jailed Iranian journalists call for trials to be held in public

Posted on by

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi reported on death of Mahsa Amini and face charges of conspiring with foreign powers

Supporters of the two award-winning Iranian female journalists who were among the first to report on the death of Mahsa Amini, the young Kurdish woman who died last year in police custody, have demanded that their trials due to start next week are held in public.

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who both have a prestigious record of on-the-ground reporting on social affairs in Iran, have been kept in jail since first being arrested eight months ago and are accused of conspiring with hostile foreign powers, a charge that potentially carries the death penalty.

Continue reading...

Russian court extends detention of Evan Gershkovich to August

Posted on by

Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested on espionage charges is being held in Moscow prison with no date set for trial

A Moscow court has extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges at the end of March.

During a brief hearing on Tuesday, the court ordered that Gershkovich should remain in jail until 30 August, Russian news agencies reported. His pre-trial detention had initially been scheduled to expire next week. He is being held in the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, and could face a sentence of up to 20 years if found guilty.

Continue reading...

News Corp denies it played a part in Stan Grant’s decision to leave Q+A amid racist attacks

Posted on by

Murdoch’s Australian media chief calls on ABC to ‘correct the record’ after accusations that excessive coverage encouraged racist social media trolls

Rupert Murdoch’s top executive in Australia has defended News Corp’s reporting of the ABC’s coronation broadcast and denied it played a part in Stan Grant’s decision to stand down from hosting Q+A after becoming the target of racist attacks.

News Corp Australasia chief executive Michael Miller responded to an interview on Monday in which the ABC news director Justin Stevens accused News Corp of targeting the ABC because the public broadcaster threatened its business model.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Private investigator tells phone-hacking trial of threat to ‘destroy’ him

Posted on by

Paul Hawkes says claims that he hacked Hugh Grant’s emails on behalf of Daily Mirror are ‘fantastical'

Press reform campaigners threatened to “destroy” a private investigator because he refused to help their campaign against newspaper groups, it has been alleged at the high court.

Paul Hawkes, a veteran private investigator, said claims that he hacked Hugh Grant’s emails on behalf of the Daily Mirror were “fantastical” and “made-up”. After being presented with a supposed invoice for the work, Hawkes mocked the idea he would have carried out such a serious act for such a small sum, telling the court: “You’re saying I got it hacked by a third party for £150? Come on!”

Continue reading...

Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr facing heavy legal costs in Arron Banks case

Posted on by

Criticism over latest development in long-running libel dispute between the leading Brexit backer and the journalist

The award-winning Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr has been ordered to pay significant legal costs to the prominent Brexit backer Arron Banks.

Banks, who donated a record £8m to the pro-Brexit Leave.EU campaign group, originally lost his case against Cadwalladr in his libel action over her remarks in a speech and a tweet.

Continue reading...

Reporter blackmailed the Mirror as it tried to cover up phone hacking, court told

Posted on by

Investor Brian Basham alleges that Lee Harpin threatened to blow the whistle on voicemail interception

A leading Mirror journalist allegedly blackmailed the company as it attempted to cover up phone hacking, the high court was told on Tuesday.

Lee Harpin, who held a number of senior roles at the People and Sunday Mirror, was alleged to be a known phone hacker whose understanding of illegal behaviour at the newspaper group caused anxiety at board level.

Continue reading...

Prince Harry has no evidence he was hacked by the Mirror, court told

Posted on by

Mirror Group’s lawyers suggest newspaper’s stories about prince were instead leaked by royal press officers

Prince Harry has no evidence he was the victim of phone hacking by Mirror journalists, the high court has heard, with stories about his private life instead secretly leaked by royal press officers.

The Duke of Sussex alleges that dozens of news stories published in the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and People were obtained through phone hacking or other illegal behaviour. The articles – published between 1995 and 2011 – detail his relationship with his family, his relationship with ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, his military service and allegations of drug use.

Continue reading...

Mirror Group: phone-hacking trial initiated by Prince Harry and others continues – live

Posted on by

Piers Morgan accused of knowing about illegal phone hacking when he was editor of Daily Mirror on day one of trial

Lawyers are going through documents they say will give background on evidence the court is due to hear later. We’ll bring you details of that evidence as the court hears it.

Good morning, welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of phone hacking claims against Mirror Group Newspapers at the high court in London.

Continue reading...

Prada fashion boss rescues historic newsstand in Tuscany

Posted on by

Piero Scartoni, 91, who has been running stand in Arezzo since 1953, can now retire after former customer Patrizio Bertelli steps in

The owner of a historic newsstand in a Tuscan city said he was “delighted” the business has been saved by one of his old customers – Patrizio Bertelli, the chair of the Italian fashion house Prada.

Piero Scartoni, 91, who has been getting up at 5am to run the newsstand in Piazza San Jacopo in the centre of Arezzo since 1953, can finally retire after it was bought by Bertelli, who was born in the city and is the husband of the fashion designer Miuccia Prada.

Continue reading...

Finnish newspaper hides Ukraine news reports for Russians in online game

Posted on by

Newspaper uses secret room in first-person shooter game Counter-Strike to bypass Russian censorship

A Finnish newspaper is circumventing Russian media restrictions by hiding news reports about the war in Ukraine in an online game popular among Russian gamers.

“While Helsingin Sanomat and other foreign independent media are blocked in Russia, online games have not been banned so far,” said Antero Mukka, the editor-in-chief of Helsingin Sanomat.

Continue reading...

Bangladesh media in fear after PM’s ‘people’s enemy’ attack

Posted on by

Even stories on cost of living leave journalists facing assault, threats and arrest under Digital Security Act

Four weeks ago, a reporter in Bangladesh was hauled from his office, badly beaten – and then thrown from the roof of his building, leaving him with fractures in his back, three broken ribs and a machete wound on his head.

The journalist, Ayub Meahzi, believes he was targeted for reporting on alleged local government ties to a criminal group.

Continue reading...

Journalists who have worked in Moscow call for release of Evan Gershkovich

Posted on by

More than 300 journalists write to Russia that arrest sends ‘dangerous signal’ about attitude to journalism

More than 300 foreign correspondents who have worked in Moscow have written to the Russian government to call for the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter being held on espionage charges, saying his arrest sends a “disturbing and dangerous signal” about the country’s attitude to independent media.

Gershkovich, who was detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg last month on spying charges that carry a possible 20-year prison sentence, is the first US journalist detained on such charges since the end of the cold war. Both the Wall Street Journal and the US government has denied that he was involved in espionage.

Continue reading...

‘I’m all for climate change’: Axel Springer CEO faces heat over leaked messages

Posted on by

Mathias Döpfner’s reported comments on climate, Muslims and east Germany – and his apparent political manoeuvring – create shock waves

The German CEO of Europe’s largest media publisher tried to use his flagship tabloid, Bild, to influence the outcome of Germany’s last election and fed the newspaper his personal views attacking climate change activism, Covid measures and the former chancellor Angela Merkel, leaked messages suggest.

The internal chats, emails and text messages published by the German weekly Die Zeit on Wednesday clash with the public presentation of Axel Springer SE’s chief executive, Mathias Döpfner, who recently said he wanted to bring “non-partisan” journalism to a too-polarised US media landscape through his acquisition of the English-language title Politico.

Continue reading...

Antony Blinken urges Russia to release US journalist in call with Sergei Lavrov

Posted on by

Russian foreign minister rejects request and says US must not ‘make a fuss’ over arrest of Evan Gershkovich

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, called for Russia to free the detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich in a rare phone call with his Moscow counterpart since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The American’s plea was rejected by Sergei Lavrov, who responded by saying that US officials and media outlets must “not make a fuss” or try to politicise the plight of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter.

Continue reading...