Category Archives: Newspapers & magazines

‘Love and passion can’t help you live’: Reach journalists set to join picket lines

Posted on by

Industrial action expected on Wednesday is largest strike to hit UK newspaper industry in decades

When hundreds of staff at the Mirror, Express and dozens of local newspapers join picket lines on Wednesday, they will be taking part in the largest strike to hit the UK newspaper industry in decades. Having spent recent months reporting on how the cost of living crisis is affecting their readers, many journalists at the media company Reach say they are struggling to meet their own bills – and management is refusing to listen.

One regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements had secured them a job at a Reach outlet on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they are already overwhelmed by the financial instability.

Continue reading...

Prince Charles guest edits black British newspaper The Voice

Posted on by

Prince says he was ‘touched’ to be asked to take helm for paper’s 40th-anniversary edition

The Prince of Wales has edited an edition of British African-Caribbean newspaper The Voice, which will feature interviews with Lady Doreen Lawrence and Idris Elba, to mark its 40th anniversary.

The Voice, which was founded in 1982, is the only national black British newspaper operating in the UK. Charles described the paper as an “institution” adding that he was “so touched” to be asked to edit the special anniversary edition.

The issue, which will be available from 1 September, will explore themes including community cohesion, education, climate, the Commonwealth, faith and the arts and will feature an interview with Lawrence.

Continue reading...

Foreign Office official raised ‘stark’ criticisms of Rwanda plan, court hears

Posted on by

Guardian, BBC and Times seek release of documents about policy of sending asylum seekers abroad

A Foreign Office official raised concerns about plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, citing state surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture and killings by the country’s government, the high court has heard.

The court has been asked to consider an application by the foreign secretary to keep parts of certain government documents secret for fear the contents could damage international relations and threaten national security.

Continue reading...

Why politicians can’t resist striking a pose in Vogue

Posted on by

British prime minister-in-waiting Liz Truss is said to want to appear in the fashion glossy, but she should be careful what she wishes for

Liz Truss, heavily tipped to be the next leader of the Conservative party, would like to get into Vogue. We know this because she asked the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, how to go about it at the Cop26 climate conference last November. Sturgeon said Truss “looked a little bit as if she’d swallowed a wasp” when she told her she had made its pages twice.

“This is going to sound really up myself but I don’t mean to … I’d just been interviewed by Vogue, as you do … that was the main thing she wanted to talk to me about – she wanted to know how she could get into Vogue”, Sturgeon told an Edinburgh fringe event last week.

Continue reading...

Call the Midwife voted best show in last 25 years by RadioTimes.com readers

Posted on by

Winner took 25% of the vote, with Doctor Who in second place and Line of Duty and Sherlock tying in third

Call the Midwife has been voted the best show of the last 25 years in a poll.

The BBC period drama, which is loosely based on real events, follows a group of midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s as they cope with the pressures of their everyday lives as well as the changing times they are living through.

Continue reading...

Final whistle for the ‘pink ’un’: British football’s last-surviving matchday newspaper closes

Posted on by

After 119 years, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail has printed its last issue. A dedicated reader bids this singular British institution a fond farewell

It’s been the slowest of deaths, but yesterday the “Saturday final” edition of a singular British institution will be just that. While in the last 20 years beloved pink ’uns and green ’uns (and the occasional blue ’un and buff ’un) have disappeared from towns and cities across the country, Portsmouth’s Saturday evening Sports Mail, 119 years old, held out as the last remaining dedicated matchday newspaper. It was first closed down in 2012 but quickly resurrected at the impassioned demand of fans of Pompey, the island city’s club. This time, the obituary is to be believed.

With it goes a century of a particular collective memory: that Saturday evening ritual of heading up to the local newsagent at 5.30 or 5.45 to await the mundane miracle of a stack of fat papers slung from the back of a van reporting from all across the city what had ended only an hour before, ink still smudgeable on banner headlines.

Continue reading...

‘Meltdown Monday’ and ‘Blowtorch Britain’: what the papers say about UK heatwave

Posted on by

‘Ferocious’ temperatures loom while the Conservative leadership debate is wrung out on the UK front pages of Monday 18 July 2022

“Red alert: ‘ferocious’ heatwave set to send temperatures beyond 40C” – the Guardian leads with the weather and a picture of firefighters on duty in France. The Conservative party’s TV bloodletting is wrapped up as well: “Tory leadership debate exposes deep divisions”. The intro says it was a “bad-tempered” show.

“Blowtorch Britain” says the Mirror, as “42C record heat is on”. The “revellers” shown jumping into the sea at Brighton look happy enough to brave the conditions.

Continue reading...

Delhi police arrest Muslim journalist Mohammed Zubair over tweet from 2018

Posted on by

Journalists demand release of co-founder of Alt News after he was accused of insulting Hindus

The co-founder of a factchecking website has been arrested by police in Delhi weeks after he highlighted derogatory comments made by a spokesperson for Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) about the prophet Muhammad.

Mohammed Zubair, who set up the Alt News website, flagged the remarks made during a television debate at the end of May on Twitter, bringing them attention they may not otherwise have had.

Continue reading...

Russian editor auctions Nobel medal to raise money for Ukraine refugees

Posted on by

Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov will sell 23-carat gold medal in US on Monday, donating proceeds to charity

The editor of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta is auctioning his Nobel peace prize medal, with the proceeds to go to helping children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

Dmitry Muratov led one of the last major independent media outlets critical of Vladimir Putin’s government after others either closed or had their websites blocked after the invasion of Ukraine. In March, Novaya Gazeta announced it was suspending operations for the duration of the war after it became a crime to report anything on the conflict that veered from the government line.

Continue reading...

Carrie Johnson and the curious case of the vanishing Times story

Posted on by

Report had claimed Boris Johnson tried to hire his now wife as chief of staff when foreign secretary, but then it was deleted

At first glance, the story appeared to be the political scoop of the weekend.

On Saturday, the Times reported claims that Boris Johnson had tried to hire his now wife as his chief of staff when he was foreign secretary.

Continue reading...

Haze Fan: China says Bloomberg staffer released on bail earlier this year

Posted on by

US media firm says it has not made contact with Fan who was detained in Beijing in 2020 on suspicion of national security crimes

Haze Fan, a Bloomberg News staff member in China who was detained in late 2020, was released on bail early this year, according to a statement by the Chinese embassy in Washington that was dated May and reported by the news organisation on Tuesday.

New York-based Bloomberg said in a news report that it was made aware of the embassy statement over the weekend, and that it had not been able to contact Fan.

Continue reading...

Russia bans 29 UK journalists, including Guardian correspondents

Posted on by

Military figures and MPs on list along with staff from most major British newspapers and broadcasters

Russia has banned 29 members of the British media, including five Guardian journalists, from entering the country, its foreign ministry has said.

Moscow said the sweeping action was a response to western sanctions and the “spreading of false information about Russia”, as well as “anti-Russian actions of the British government”.

Continue reading...

Palestinian reporter’s death highlights weakness of Israeli army investigations

Posted on by

Fatal shooting of Shireen Abu Aqleh in May raises fresh concerns over military inquiries into deaths of Palestinians

In August 2020, 23-year-old Dalia Samoudi was killed when a bullet came through the window of her home in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, during an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid on a nearby house.

Al Jazeera reported on the incident, in which witnesses said she had been killed by an IDF soldier firing in the direction of Palestinians throwing stones. Two years later, the television network would report on the death of its longtime correspondent, Shireen Abu Aqleh, in nearly the same spot.

Continue reading...

Columnist apologises after being accused of trying to out Rebel Wilson

Posted on by

Andrew Hornery, gossip columnist for Sydney Morning Herald, says he regrets how he handled the story

An Australian newspaper columnist has apologised after being accused of trying to out the actor Rebel Wilson.

Andrew Hornery, who writes a gossip column for the Sydney Morning Herald, said he regretted how he handled the story – which has been characterised as an attempt to expose the sexuality of the Pitch Perfect star.

Continue reading...

Biden gives far fewer interviews than his predecessors – could his caution backfire?

Posted on by

With op-eds and speeches but no one-on-ones, observers say the president risks losing the public’s trust and reporters’ good will

He delivered a primetime address to the nation. He wrote two columns in leading newspapers. And he took some off-the-cuff questions from reporters. But once again Joe Biden did not this week sit down for an interview with a broadcaster or newspaper. Nor did he hold a press conference.

The US president, who promised to rebuild trust and transparency after Donald Trump’s adversarial tenure, is facing criticism as Sunday marks 116 days since his last press interview.

Continue reading...

Outcry as China stops Pacific journalists questioning Wang Yi

Posted on by

Beijing’s foreign minister signing bilateral deals with leaders but reporters are blocked, sometimes physically, from asking questions

Journalists covering the Chinese foreign minister’s tour of the Pacific say they have been blocked from filming or accessing events, and that not a single question from a Pacific journalist has been allowed to be asked of Wang Yi.

The allegations raise serious press freedom concerns and alarm about the ability of Pacific journalists to do their jobs, particularly as the relationship between the region and China becomes closer.

Continue reading...

Revealed: Afghan journalists facing death threats and beatings, despite UK pledge to save them

Posted on by

Group who worked with UK media to sue government over failure to relocate them to Britain

A group of Afghan journalists who worked closely with the UK media for years have revealed how they face beatings, death threats and months in hiding, and accuse the government of reneging on a pledge to bring them to Britain.

Having fought in vain for clearance to come to the UK since the return of Taliban rule last summer, the eight journalists are now taking legal action against the government. They have applied for a judicial review after waiting months for their applications to relocate to the UK to be processed. They report only receiving standard response emails from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) programme.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk: Twitter deal cannot progress without proof on bot numbers

Posted on by

Tesla CEO and world’s richest person expressed concerns about presence of fake accounts on platform

Elon Musk has cast further doubt over his $44bn (£35bn) takeover of Twitter after stating the deal “cannot move forward” until the social media company proves that less than 5% of its users are fake or spam accounts.

The Tesla chief executive used his Twitter account to say the agreed deal would not progress until the firm showed proof that only a small proportion of its users were fake.

Continue reading...

US secretly issued subpoena to access Guardian reporter’s phone records

Posted on by

Newspaper decries ‘egregious’ move by DoJ to obtain details of Stephanie Kirchgaessner as part of investigation into media leaks

The US justice department secretly issued a subpoena to gain access to details of the phone account of a Guardian reporter as part of an aggressive leak investigation into media stories about an official inquiry into the Trump administration’s child separation policy at the southern border.

Leak investigators issued the subpoena to obtain the phone number of Stephanie Kirchgaessner, the Guardian’s investigations correspondent in Washington. The move was carried out without notifying the newspaper or its reporter, as part of an attempt to ferret out the source of media articles about a review into family separation conducted by the Department of Justice’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz.

Continue reading...

Washington Post wins public service Pulitzer for Capitol attack coverage

Posted on by

Paper beat out two other finalists, the New York Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Washington Post has won the 2022 Pulitzer prize for public service journalism, for The Attack, its account of the deadly assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump on 6 January 2021.

The paper beat two other finalists: the New York Times, for challenging official accounts of US military engagements in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for an exposé of electrical fires in city rental operations.

Continue reading...