Will the news boom prevent more media outlets going bust?

Analysis: newspapers have attracted record numbers of readers seeking trusted sources in uncertain times

From the pandemic and the war in Ukraine to the Westminster partygate saga, newspapers are benefiting from a financially lucrative news boom. However, is the news industry enjoying a one-off blip in the battle for survival against big tech, or is this proof that publishers have finally forged commercial models fit for the new media age?

In a sign of the shifting fortunes amid unprecedented news events, Rupert Murdoch’s Times and Sunday Times last week reported a doubling of operating profits to their highest level since 1990 and the Sun, a one-time cash cow turned high-profile casualty of the digital age, is within £1m of returning to operating profit for the first time in a decade.

Continue reading...

‘Massacre of innocents’: how the papers covered Russia’s atrocities in Bucha

Accusations of war crimes and calls for tougher sanctions feature on Monday’s front pages amid horror at civilian killings by Russian troops

  • Warning: this story contains images some readers may find distressing

Revulsion at the atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha dominates today’s front pages, as politicians lined up around the world to condemn the massacre of hundreds of civilians.

The Mirror says simply “Genocide” in its headline under the bleak strapline: “Putin’s latest atrocities”. It quotes Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s use of the term but the page is given over to a heartbreaking image from Bucha, just near Ukraine’s capital, where the bodies of civilians were abandoned in the street. Hundreds of civilians have been found in mass graves, it reports, and some had been tied up.

Continue reading...

Acclaimed foreign correspondent Hugh O’Shaughnessy dies aged 87

Former Observer journalist was perhaps best known for his courageous coverage of Pinochet’s brutal coup in Chile in 1973

Hugh O’Shaughnessy, the admired journalist known for his reporting on Latin America, has died aged 87.

The former Observer correspondent won a series of awards during an illustrious career largely spent covering the rapidly changing social and political landscape of South America.

Continue reading...

‘Her blood … his hands’: what the papers say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Photograph of teacher bloodied by Russian attack on Ukraine dominates front pages as Putin sends his troops to war

The front pages in Britain and around the world are devoted to the shocking events in Ukraine, with graphic images of the destruction unleashed by Vladimir Putin.

A photograph of a woman with a bloodied and bandaged head in the wake of a Russian attack dominates the front of the Guardian with the headline “Putin invades”.

Continue reading...

Prince Harry launches libel action against Mail on Sunday

Claim against Associated Newspapers is reportedly related to article on prince’s security arrangements

Prince Harry has launched a libel action days after the Mail on Sunday published claims about problems with his security arrangements.

Court filings show Harry made a claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) on Wednesday afternoon. The claims are reportedly related to an article published by the Mail on Sunday under the headline “Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret”.

Continue reading...

What in the world is happening to our beloved Wordle?

Fans say the puzzle is getting harder, with some swearing they’ve had enough. We look at the psychology behind the game’s appeal and the rising discontent among players

It started as a token of love, then went viral, and now it’s making people angry. If you noticed that “token”, “viral” and “angry” are all five-letter words, then the chances are you’re a devotee of Wordle, the online word puzzle that has become an internet craze.

For those who have just returned from walking across the Sahel, Wordle is a game in which you have to guess, or work out, a five-letter word. Each day there is a new word. You can have six attempts, and each correct letter selected is awarded a yellow square. If it’s also in the correct place, it’s a green square. All other letters get a grey square.

Continue reading...

Rebekah Vardy said she would ‘love’ to leak stories about Coleen Rooney to media

Vardy is suing Rooney for libel over allegation that Vardy leaked stories from Rooney’s private Instagram account

Rebekah Vardy said she would “love” to leak stories about Coleen Rooney to the media, according to messages disclosed at the high court.

The court filings suggest Vardy and her former agent Caroline Watt had an ongoing relationship with reporters at the Sun newspaper and discussed at length how to leak stories to the tabloid.

Continue reading...

‘Meltdown in Downing Street’: papers batter Johnson on three fronts

Cost of living crisis, departure of top aides and Rishi Sunak’s rebuke dominate the newspapers on another bad day for PM

Three big stories dominate Friday’s front pages – and none of them are good news for Boris Johnson. Editors were spoilt for choice with the “big squeeze” in living standards, the “bloodbath” of departing Downing Street aides and Rishi Sunak’s less-than-total backing for his leader.

Several papers combine the stories in what the Mail calls “Meltdown in Downing Street” above an image of a forlorn-looking prime minister and the subhead, “will the last one to leave please turn out the lights” evoking the Sun’s infamous 1992 election front page.

Continue reading...

Will Wordle still be free after the New York Times buyout?

Will the hit game imminently be locked behind a paywall or stay as it is? What about ads? The NYT’s head of games explains the plan

In a month of spectacular video game industry buyouts, symbolised by Microsoft’s incredible $68bn swoop for Activision Blizzard, there is one purchase that has sent paroxysms of fear across the planet. On Monday, the New York Times revealed that it had bought the viral megahit Wordle for a “low seven figure sum”. The web-based word puzzle, which launched in October, was originally intended as a gift from software engineer Josh Wardle to his partner. But it has become a viral sensation, amassing an audience of millions – and key to its appeal is the fact that it’s free, with no ads.

So what does a big newspaper like the New York Times want with a game like Wordle, and what happens next?

Continue reading...

‘Incredible’: from Wordle’s Welsh beginnings to the New York Times

The puzzle’s global success has turned Josh Wardle into a megastar in the gaming world and bemused his family

He is the toast of New York, of London – and of a small village called Llanddewi Rhydderch.

Just four months after Josh Wardle invented the wonderfully simple and soothing puzzle Wordle, he is a megastar in the world of games and is a great deal wealthier after the New York Times acquired his creation for a seven-figure sum.

Continue reading...

New York Times buys viral game Wordle for seven-figure sum

Creator Josh Wardle ‘thrilled’ that newspaper is taking over internet sensation

The New York Times has acquired the viral word game Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, the publisher announced on Monday.

Created by a Reddit engineer and launched in October, Wordle gives players just six guesses to determine a five-letter word that changes every day. The soothing daily puzzle has become a hit since its launch, quickly attracting hundreds of thousands, then millions, of players. Social media posts about its game of the day have become ubiquitous, along with screenshots of the game’s distinctive grid.

Continue reading...

Foreign journalists in China subject to rising intimidation, survey finds

Report says heightened dangers have prompted at least six to leave and many others to develop emergency exit plans

The Chinese government is finding new ways to intimidate foreign journalists, their Chinese colleagues and their sources, and harassment has reached such a high level that at least six have left the country, according to a key report.

The methods include online trolling, physical assaults, hacking and visa denials, as well as what appears to be official encouragement of lawsuits or threats of legal action against journalists, “typically filed by sources long after they have explicitly agreed to be interviewed”.

Continue reading...

‘Disgrace’: what the papers said as Boris Johnson faces calls to resign

Amid the derision, supportive papers try to rally around the PM but report that ‘ambitious’ Rishi Sunak is waiting in the wings

The newspaper front pages have piled the pressure on Boris Johnson as the prime minister fights for his political life over the scandal of the “bring your own booze” lockdown-era party at Downing Street.

The Mirror’s banner headline on Thursday is “Disgrace”, set below a picture of Johnson giving his humiliating apology to the Commons for “not realising” the event in the back garden of 10 Downing Street on 20 May 2020 was a party.

Continue reading...

‘We fought the good fight’: journalists in Hong Kong reel from assault on media

Newsroom closures and exodus from territory are result of ‘draconian’ national security law introduced in 2020

As the last news programme came to a close and anchors bade farewell to their online audience on 3 January, Chris Yeung, the founder and chief writer of Citizen News, gathered together his staff and tried to strike an optimistic tone.

“Remember our very best memories,” he said, dressed in a blue shirt with sleeves rolled up and a crimson jumper draped on his shoulders. “No one knows what will happen next. Don’t worry. Just remember the happy things.”

Continue reading...

I had death threats and my tires slashed for my reporting. Many journalists in the Pacific face huge dangers | Joyce McClure

Freedom of the press might be included in some constitutions of Pacific countries, but it often only works in theory

I spent five years as the lone journalist on the remote Pacific island of Yap. During that time I was harassed, spat at, threatened with assassination and warned that I was being followed. The tyres on my car were slashed late one night.

There was also pressure on the political level. The chiefs of the traditional Council of Pilung (COP) asked the state legislature to throw me out of the country as a “persona non grata” claiming that my journalism “may be disruptive to the state environment and/or to the safety and security of the state”.

Continue reading...

Detained, missing, close to death: the toll of reporting on Covid in China

Activists say crackdown is driven by Xi Jinping, who has ‘declared a war on independent journalism’

Chen Kun was living in Indonesia with his wife and daughter when he learned from his brother Mei’s boss that he had been “taken away for investigation” by Chinese police.

He immediately suspected it was to do with his brother’s website, a citizen news project called Terminus 2049. Since 2018 Mei, his colleague Cai Wei, and Cai’s partner – surnamed Tang – had been archiving articles about issues including #MeToo and migrant rights, and reposting them whenever they were deleted from China’s strictly monitored and censored online platforms. It was April 2020, and for the last few months Terminus 2049 had been targeting stories about the Covid-19 outbreak and response.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid

Reports say editors, board members and pop singer were held in early morning sweep as 200 officers raid office

The most prominent pro-democracy media outlet still operating in Hong Kong, Stand News, said it will shut down after police raided its offices, froze its assets and arrested senior journalists and former board members including pop star Denise Ho.

Authorities deployed an anti-sedition law in their crackdown that was drawn up under British colonial rule and had not been used for decades. A senior police officer accused the online site of “inciting hatred” against the Hong Kong government in news articles and interviews.

Continue reading...

‘A fire-eater who’s run out of fuel’: European press lays into Boris Johnson

Continental media are in no mood to donner un break to the British PM, sensing the ‘beginning of the end’

For El País in Spain, his “magic has vanished”. For Libération in France he is “the only actor in the Boris Johnson show – which is, increasingly, a flop”. In Germany, Der Spiegel asked how long Britain could last being governed “almost exclusively by defiant optimism”.

As the scandals mount, the approval ratings plunge, the electoral defeats accumulate, the rebellions multiply, his trusted Brexit lieutenant jumps ship and the Omicron variant runs rampant, continental media seem – to coin a phrase – in no mood to donner un break to Britain’s beleaguered prime minister.

Continue reading...

‘Crooked bastards’: Trump attacks US media in foul-mouthed speech

Insults to press and chairman of joint chiefs of staff recall barbs while Trump was in power

In remarks to diners at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday night, Donald Trump called the American media “crooked bastards” and Gen Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, a “fucking idiot”.

The meandering, foul-mouthed speech to Turning Point USA, a group for young conservatives, was streamed by Jack Posobiec, a rightwing blogger and provocateur.

Continue reading...

Philippines court allows Nobel laureate Maria Ressa to go to Norway

Journalist permitted to receive peace prize in person after judge eases travel restrictions

The Philippine journalist Maria Ressa will be allowed to travel overseas so she can accept her Nobel peace prize in person after a court gave her permission to leave the country to visit Norway this month.

Ressa, who is subject to travel restrictions because of the legal cases she faces in the Philippines, shared the prize with the Russian investigative journalist Dmitry Muratov, amid growing concerns over curbs on free speech worldwide.

Continue reading...