In a letter to the Guardian, Uran Ferizi criticises ‘obsession’ with demonising Albanians
Albanians in Britain are paying the price in schools and workplaces of being scapegoated by rightwing media and politicians, the Albanian ambassador has said.
Uran Ferizi also criticised Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, for comments in parliament where she singled out Albanians when discussing problems with immigration.
Continue reading...CNN team detained while reporting on aftermath of attack by settlers in West Bank, Foreign Press Association says
An international media association has condemned what it described as a “violent assault” by Israeli soldiers who detained a CNN crew in the occupied West Bank this week.
A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when it was detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said on Saturday.
Continue reading...Mediahuis suspends Peter Vandermeersch, who says he ‘fell into trap of hallucinations’, after investigation by newspaper where he was once editor-in-chief
The publisher of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and the Irish Independent has suspended one of its senior journalists after he admitted using AI to “wrongly put words into people’s mouths”.
Peter Vandermeersch, the former head of the Irish operations at Mediahuis, said he “fell into the trap of hallucinations” – the term for AI-generated errors – when using the technology.
Continue reading...Australian Community Media says employee ‘wellbeing’ top priority amid ‘shock and deep concern’ over 59-year-old’s charges
Australian Community Media will hold a staff meeting on Monday afternoon to share the regional media group’s response to the arrest of its part-owner Antony Catalano who is facing charges of assault of a woman.
On Sunday the board and executive leadership team of ACM distanced itself from the 59-year-old newspaper mogul, saying they were “shocked and deeply concerned” about the charges.
Continue reading...Social media company tells MPs of continual fight against state-backed efforts, with Russia being most prolific
Elon Musk’s X said it had suspended 800m accounts over a 12-month period as it fights the “massive” scale of attempts to manipulate the platform.
The social media company told MPs it was continually fighting state-backed attempts to hijack the agenda on its network, with Russia the most prolific state actor, followed by Iran and China.
Continue reading...US defense secretary posted meme depicting beloved children’s character aiming rocket launcher at set of boats
A post on social media by US defense secretary Pete Hegseth, depicting a beloved children’s character aiming a rocket launcher at a cluster of boats, has elicited condemnation from the book’s Canadian publisher.
Hegseth’s post of the mocked cover of a Franklin the Turtle book titled Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists prompted disbelief and outrage. The image shows a smiling anthropomorphic turtle in military helmet and vest, with a US flag on his arm and a drug-laden boat exploding in the background. “For your Christmas wish list,” Hegseth wrote as the caption.
Continue reading...Journalist and editor also led British Board of Film Classification and served as senior lay member of the Church of England
Andreas Whittam Smith, the co-founder of the Independent newspaper and a former president of the British Board of Film Classification, has died aged 88.
Whittam Smith was also the first editor of the Independent and served as first church estates commissioner, the senior lay member of the Church of England, from 2002 to 2017.
Continue reading...In a Truth Social post, the president lashed out at journalist Katie Rogers after an article questioned whether he was slowing down
Donald Trump lashed out on Wednesday against a New York Times reporter, calling her “ugly inside and out” in his latest personal insult against female members of the media after last week calling another “piggy”.
In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized the newspaper for an article suggesting he was running low on energy in his 80th year, insisting he had “never worked so hard in my life”.
Continue reading...In a Truth Social post, the president lashed out at journalist Katie Rogers after an article questioned whether he was slowing down
Donald Trump lashed out on Wednesday against a New York Times reporter, calling her “ugly inside and out” in his latest personal insult against female members of the media after last week calling another “piggy”.
In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized the newspaper for an article suggesting he was running low on energy in his 80th year, insisting he had “never worked so hard in my life”.
Continue reading...Many fear competition and diversity will be diminished as Daily Mail owner wins race to buy newspaper
As the dust settles from the battle for the ownership of the Daily Telegraph, one man has been left standing: Lord Rothermere, whose family have been a mainstay of British newspapers for more than a century.
“This is a very British stitch-up,” said Lionel Barber, the former editor of the Financial Times. “Lord Rothermere has played a very astute poker hand, he’s shown patience and he’s the big winner.”
Continue reading...Media group’s future is again in limbo – and it faces questions over the asking price as well as regulatory hurdles
The withdrawal of the bid for the Telegraph led by RedBird Capital has once again plunged the future of the titles into uncertainty, and raises questions over the dogged refusal of its sellers to drop the eye-watering £500m asking price that had driven away other potential suitors.
On Friday, a consortium that also included UAE fund International Media Investments (IMI) as well as the owner of the Daily Mail and the billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik, abruptly dropped its bid with no explanation given.
Continue reading...Malak A Tantesh, 20, ‘showed immense talent and bravery’, said judges at Media Freedom awards in London
The UK’s Society of Editors has named Malak A Tantesh, the Guardian’s former Gaza correspondent, as young journalist of the year in the national press category at this year’s Media Freedom awards.
The judges said Tantesh “showed immense talent and bravery in some of the hardest conditions ever faced by a journalist, she continued to report while having to forage for food and facing the constant risk of bombing and the threat of targeted killing”.
Continue reading...Charismatic figure of the left is remembered as one of the most informed commentators on Latin American affairs
The former Guardian journalist and historian Richard Gott has died aged 87.
Gott’s career at the Guardian began in 1964 and included spells as foreign correspondent, leader writer, features editor and literary editor.
Continue reading...BBC ‘deeply concerned’ for journalist’s wellbeing after Vietnamese police withhold their ID card and passport
Vietnamese authorities have barred a BBC journalist from leaving the country and subjected them to days of interrogation, in a press freedom case that comes to light during a high-profile visit by Vietnam’s leader to the UK.
The journalist, a Vietnamese citizen who lives and works in Thailand, had returned to their home country in August to renew their passport, according a source with knowledge of the situation.
Continue reading...Editors at the Indiana Daily Student say administration’s move to control news content amounts to censorship
Indiana University has ordered its student-run newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), to cease printing new editions and fired the school’s director of student media, who also served as the paper’s adviser, according to multiple reports. Students at the school are criticizing these moves as censorship.
The university’s directive to halt print editions came just hours after Jim Rodenbush, the school’s director of student media, was terminated, according to a letter from IDS editors.
Continue reading...Witnesses call arrest of video editor Debbie Brockman, a US citizen, by masked federal agents ‘absolutely horrifying’
A video editor and producer for Chicago’s WGN television station was arrested by masked federal agents on Friday morning, and later released, during an Ice raid on the city’s North Side, as shown in videos shared widely on social media.
Videos show Debbie Brockman being violently forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van. A local resident filming the incident asks her name while she is face down on the street being handcuffed.
Continue reading...Zhang Zhan sentenced to four years for second time on charge often used by China to target government critics
The UN, human rights groups and media freedom watchdogs have condemned reports that Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist, was sentenced to jail for the second time last week.
Zhang, 42, is thought to have stood trial in Shanghai on Friday on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge often used in China to target critics of the government. Western diplomats were reportedly turned away from observing the trial.
Continue reading...Press freedom group says ‘brutal and unjustified attack’ is deadliest since 2009 Maguindanao massacre in Philippines
Thirty one journalists and media staff were killed by Israeli strikes on newspaper offices in Yemen last week in what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Friday was the deadliest attack on journalists in the last 16 years.
Israel struck a newspaper complex in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, which housed three Houthi-connected media outlets on 10 September. At the time, members of the Yemeni army’s press arm were finishing the weekly print edition, according to the publication’s editor-in-chief, which increased the number of journalists present during the strike.
Continue reading...The International IDEA’s survey of democratic markers finds US is offering ‘encouragement’ to populist leaders
Press freedom around the world has suffered its sharpest fall in 50 years as global democracy weakens dramatically, a landmark report has found.
According to the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), democracy has declined in 94 countries over the last five years and only a third have made progress.
Continue reading...High court rejects actor’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy
The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by the actor Noel Clarke over an investigation by the newspaper in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women.
In a high court judgment handed down on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn rejected Clarke’s claim. He had said the allegations set out in the Guardian’s investigation were false and that he had been the victim of an unlawful conspiracy.
There were strong grounds to believe that over 15 years, he used his power to prey on and harass female colleagues.
He sometimes bullied female colleagues.
He engaged in unwanted sexual contact, kissing, touching or groping.
He engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour and comments.
He was involved in professional misconduct.
He took and shared explicit pictures and videos without consent, including secretly filming a young actor’s naked audition.
Continue reading...