Events arm of Economist group to stop signing tobacco sponsorship deals

Exclusive: Move signals change of policy that was causing health groups to withdraw from conferences and disquiet within media brand

The division of the Economist’s parent group that has come under fire over its commercial ties with the world’s three biggest tobacco companies is to stop doing any “new work” with tobacco companies.

The decision follows a Guardian investigation which revealed that Economist Impact, a division separate from the newspaper that runs events and includes paid-for and sponsored content on its website, was forced to cancel a high-profile cancer conference due to a backlash from speakers and organisations over its ties with big tobacco.

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UK government was ‘scared’, says man behind failed UAE-backed Telegraph bid

RedBird IMI deal effectively killed by new legislation blocking foreign states from owning UK newspapers

The former CNN executive who fronted a failed bid for the Telegraph newspaper by a UAE-backed consortium has suggested the government was not willing to listen to assurances about editorial neutrality.

Jeff Zucker said there were figures in the UK who were “scared” of the £600m deal, which would have seen the Abu Dhabi-backed consortium, RedBird IMI, take control of the Telegraph and Spectator.

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Vogue China’s Margaret Zhang, youngest person appointed as an editor at magazine group, to step down

Australian Chinese former fashion blogger, whose appointment in 2021 was met with controversy, announces she is leaving the magazine

Three years after becoming the youngest person to hold an editor title at Vogue, Margaret Zhang is leaving her position as editorial director of Vogue China.

The Australian Chinese creative director announced her exit on Instagram on Monday, writing: “As we kick off a transformative Year of the Dragon, I’m excited to announce that I have decided to wrap up with Vogue and jump into the next chapter of my career.”

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Taylor Swift lambasts music industry and says Kim Kardashian feud ‘took me down psychologically’

In a lengthy interview as she is named Time’s person of the year, Swift speaks about toll of high-profile spat, and criticises music industry over treatment of young stars

Taylor Swift has spoken of the psychological damage of her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and lambasted the music industry over its treatments of young pop stars, in a new interview with Time, which has named her their person of the year.

After a year in which she has been at the centre of cultural conversations for her massively lucrative Eras tour, Swift spoke damningly of what she sees as a short-termist approach by record labels to replace, rather than nurture its stars. “By the time an artist is mature enough to psychologically deal with the job, they throw you out at 29, typically,” she says. “In the 90s and 00s, it seems like the music industry just said: ‘OK, let’s take a bunch of teenagers, throw them into a fire, and watch what happens. By the time they’ve accumulated enough wisdom to do their job effectively, we’ll find new teenagers.’” She said her solution was to change style with each new album project: “I realised every record label was actively working to try to replace me. I thought instead, I’d replace myself first with a new me. It’s harder to hit a moving target.”

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MPs add to pressure on ministers to vet Barclay family’s Telegraph offer

Call for national security law to be used to investigate proposed deal involving consortium backed by UAE

A group of MPs including the former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith have asked ministers to use national security law to investigate the Barclay family’s proposed deal to give control of the Telegraph to a consortium backed by the United Arab Emirates.

The group of 18 MPs, which also includes Alicia Kearns, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, have written to the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, arguing that the proposed deal poses a “very real potential national security threat”.

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UK minister intends to refer Barclay family’s offer for Telegraph to Ofcom

Government ‘minded to’ issue intervention notice to call in regulator on public interest grounds

The culture secretary intends to ask the media watchdog to examine the Barclay family’s proposed deal to hand control of the Telegraph and the Spectator magazine to an Abu Dhabi-backed consortium.

Lucy Frazer said on Wednesday she was “minded to” call in Ofcom to look at the investment fund’s plans to take over the titles in exchange for repaying £1.15bn of the family’s debts to Lloyds Banking Group.

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Sale of Telegraph newspapers and Spectator kicks off

Last-ditch attempt by Barclay family to shut down auction with blockbuster £1bn offer thwarted

The sale of the Telegraph newspapers and the Spectator has kicked off, thwarting a last-ditch attempt by the Barclay family to shut down the auction with a blockbuster £1bn offer.

On Friday morning, the boards of the parent companies of Telegraph Media Group (TMG), the parent company of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, and the Spectator said that the advisers Goldman Sachs had launched a sales process for each of the businesses.

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Rupert Murdoch’s last move? The Spectator is in his sights

Rightwing magazine is said to be a favourite of the billionaire and is considered a ‘trophy prize’

Rupert Murdoch may have officially stood aside as chair of his media businesses but he’s still eyeing up what could be his last major UK deal: the purchase of the Spectator magazine.

The rightwing magazine, which is due to be auctioned off next month, is said to be a favourite of the billionaire, who used his resignation statement to claim much of the media is “in cahoots” with elites who have “open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class”.

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Vice blocked news stories that could offend Saudi Arabia, insiders say

Exclusive: Media company recently signed lucrative deal with Saudi government-controlled MBC Group

Vice has repeatedly blocked news stories that could offend the Saudi government, leaving its reporters unsure if they are still able to report freely on the kingdom’s human rights abuses, sources have said.

The media company recently signed a lucrative partnership deal with the MBC Group, a media company controlled by the Saudi government, to establish a joint venture in the Middle Eastern country. Of the 29 jobs currently advertised on Vice’s careers page, 20 are based in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh.

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Telegraph Media Group says it will soon reach 1m paying subscribers

Acquisition of Chelsea Magazine Company titles bumps up figures as newspaper group seeks new owner

The Telegraph’s parent company has insisted it will soon have a million paying subscribers – aided by the decision to buy Classic Boat magazine.

Telegraph Media Group is in the early stages of seeking a new owner after banks wrestled control of the newspaper from the Barclay family early this year.

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Miriam Margolyes: ‘I never had any shame about being gay’

Actor, 82, also comments she ‘wouldn’t want to be straight for anything’ as she appears on the cover of Vogue for the first time

Miriam Margolyes has said she “never had any shame about being gay” as she makes her British Vogue cover debut at the age of 82.

The award-winning actor, known for her foul mouth and lovable eccentricity, said gay people are “not conventional” and she “wouldn’t want to be straight for anything”.

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British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful promoted to new role

After six years at the helm of British Vogue Enninful is poised to take on new global role at Condé Nast next year

It’s one of the most coveted jobs in fashion. But, just six years after being named editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful is stepping down from the position. Or, rather, stepping up to take a new global role at the publisher Condé Nast that invites speculation he occupies pole position to one day take over from the legendary editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour.

“I am excited to share that from next year I will be stepping into the newly appointed position of editorial advisor of British Vogue and global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue, where I will continue to contribute to the creative and cultural success of the Vogue brand globally while having the freedom to take on broader creative projects,” Enninful wrote to staff.

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Vice files for bankruptcy protection amid cut-price sale to consortium

Digital publisher and owner of Vice News and Vice TV was once valued at $6bn but has agreed sale for $225m

Vice, the once high-flying media startup that reached a peak valuation of nearly $6bn (£5bn), has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US as the digital publisher engineers a cut-price sale to a group of lenders.

The company, whose assets include Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29 and Vice TV, has agreed a sale to a consortium that includes Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital for $225m in the form of a credit bid for its assets as well as assuming Vice’s “significant liabilities”.

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Indian ministers rebuke Der Spiegel for ‘racist’ cartoon mocking population size

German magazine accused of putting down India with caricature depicting population overtaking China

A cartoon in the German magazine Der Spiegel poking fun at India as it becomes more populous than China has been castigated as “racist” by Indian ministers.

The cartoon shows a rickety old Indian train packed with people and swarms of passengers atop it. On a parallel track, a sleek Chinese bullet train is seen with just two drivers, looking surprised at the sight of the Indian train.

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Trump drawing to be first New Yorker cover featuring courtroom sketch

Jane Rosenberg was one of three permitted sketch artists during the hearing involving the ex-president on Tuesday

The next cover of the New Yorker will feature a drawing of Donald Trump at his arraignment on felony charges this week – the first time a courtroom sketch has graced the cover of the famous magazine.

Jane Rosenberg was one of three permitted sketch artists during the hearing involving the former president at the Manhattan criminal courthouse on Tuesday.

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Indigenous tattooist becomes Vogue’s oldest ever cover star at 106

Apo Whang-Od appears on front of Philippine edition and is credited with keeping batok form of art alive

An Indigenous tattooist in the Philippines credited with helping to keep alive a form of the art known as batok has become the oldest Vogue cover star after appearing in the Philippine edition of the magazine at the age of 106.

Apo Whang-Od, who is from Buscalan, a remote, mountainous village in the Kalinga province of the northern Philippines, began tattooing at 16. Once described as the last remaining mambabatok, or traditional Kalinga tattooist, she has since inspired a new generation to learn batok, said Vogue. Batok involves tapping the tattoo into the skin by hand, using a thorn, which is dipped in soot and natural dye, and is attached to a bamboo stick.

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Drake and 21 Savage sued over use of Vogue name to promote new album

Condé Nast files complaint in Manhattan federal court after rappers allegedly use trademark without permission

The rappers Drake and 21 Savage have been sued by Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue magazine, for allegedly using the Vogue name without permission to promote their new album, Her Loss.

Condé Nast claimed the musicians’ promotional campaign, including to their more than 135 million social media followers, was built “entirely” on the unauthorised use of Vogue trademarks and false representations that they would appear on Vogue’s next cover, and with the “love and support” of the magazine’s longtime editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour.

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Why politicians can’t resist striking a pose in Vogue

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.

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Afghan journalist Zahra Joya among Time’s women of the year

Now a refugee in the UK, Joya and the Rukhshana Media agency defied threats to report on life for women under the Taliban

The Afghan journalist Zahra Joya has been named as one of Time’s women of the year 2022 for her reporting of women’s lives in Afghanistan through her news agency, Rukhshana Media.

Now living as a refugee in the UK, Joya continues to run Rukhshana Media from exile, publishing the reporting of her team of female journalists across Afghanistan on life for women under Taliban rule.

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Benedict Cumberbatch swans about on the baffling cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue

Scowling, sodden and surrounded by waterfowl, the actor adorns the new Hollywood issue as an icon of … what exactly?

The customary brouhaha erupted yesterday after the release of Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood Issue cover photos, the most striking of which depicts an angry Benedict Cumberbatch emerging fully clothed from a hot bubblebath sesh with a bevy of swans.

The Hollywood Issue increasingly feels like it belongs to a different era, when fashion magazines and actors’ star power were at their respective heights. These days, the printed press is clinging on for dear life (Entertainment Weekly announced just last week that it will be ceasing its print edition), and in Hollywood no one performer is bigger than a franchise. So the Hollywood Issue, which trades in the nose-to-the-window glamour of movie stars, has a more forlorn quality than it used to.

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