Category Archives: Media

Jimmy Lai trial: key points from media mogul’s testimony on first day

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Detained pro-democracy activist spoke for first time about charges against him under Hong Kong national security law

Jimmy Lai, the detained pro-democracy activist and media mogul who is the target of Hong Kong’s most high-profile national security case, took the stand in court on Wednesday. For the first time since he was detained in December 2020, Lai spoke publicly about the charges against him, for which he faces spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Four years after his arrest, the 77-year-old seemed older and not as strong as he used to be. His first words – swearing an oath on the Bible – were delivered hoarsely.

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MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough brushes off backlash to his meeting with Trump

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Morning Joe host accuses critics of being disconnected from ‘the real world’ amid outcry over Mar-a-Lago visit

The Morning Joe star Joe Scarborough brushed off criticism of last week’s meeting with Donald Trump in Florida amid reports that the get-together was motivated by the liberal news network show host’s fear of retribution from the US president-elect.

Scarborough, along with his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, revealed during Monday’s broadcast that they personally met with Donald Trump last week to “restart communications” following their unrelenting opposition to his campaign for the White House.

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Guardian Australia wins Walkley innovation award for Gaza interactive

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Story showcasing text messages between Palestinian friends at start of Israel-Gaza war claims gong at 69th annual awards

Guardian Australia has claimed an award for innovation at the 69th annual Walkley awards for excellence in journalism.

At the awards evening in Sydney on Tuesday, a team of Rafqa Touma, Ariel Bogle, Mostafa Rachwani, Nick Evershed, Andy Ball, Christelle Basil and Shelley Hepworth claimed the category for digital media innovation for the Leaving Gaza interactive.

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Scientific American editor steps down after calling Trump supporters ‘fascists’ and ‘bigoted’

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Laura Helmuth, who had led the magazine since 2020, wrote an expletive-filled social media post on election night

The editor in chief of Scientific American, the US’s oldest magazine, has announced her resignation after a series of online posts in which she called some Donald Trump supporters “fascists” and “bigoted”.

In a post on Bluesky on Thursday, Laura Helmuth, who was originally appointed as the magazine’s editor in chief in 2020, said: “I’ve decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor in chief. I’m going to take some time to think about what comes next (and go birdwatching).”

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Essex police defend their investigation of Allison Pearson tweet

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Force says Telegraph writer accused of inciting racial hatred, rather than committing a non-crime hate incident as she had claimed

Essex police have defended their decision to investigate the Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over a social media post, saying she is accused of “inciting racial hatred” not of committing a “non-crime hate incident”, as she had claimed.

The row over Pearson’s tweet has been splashed across the front pages of the Times, Telegraph and Mail this week. Leading figures on the right, including the new leader of the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch, and the former prime minister Boris Johnson, have leapt to her defence.

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How will BBC revamp Match of the Day when Gary Lineker leaves?

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Plan is forming for digitally focused show to expand and grow the brand in a fractured media landscape

When the BBC confirmed the news this week that Gary Lineker was leaving Match of the Day at the end of this season, the presenter’s official reaction was limited to a terse 21-word statement that he was “delighted” at signing a new contract to cover the FA Cup and 2026 World Cup.

The former England striker was – unsurprisingly – more expansive about leaving the BBC’s flagship football programme after 25 years on his own podcast, the Rest is Football, on Thursday. “All things have to come to an end,” he mused. “I think the next contract, they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently. So I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.”

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Prince Harry to continue lawsuit against Sun publisher, high court hears

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Duke is ‘one of two claimants whose claims are still live’ against NGN, court told, the other being ex-MP Tom Watson

The Duke of Sussex is continuing his lawsuit against the publisher of the Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering, the high court has heard.

Prince Harry “is one of two claimants whose claims are still live” against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), his barrister David Sherborne said, with the other being the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson. The court was told 39 cases had been settled since a previous hearing in July.

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Efune insists his Daily and Sunday Telegraph bid is still on track

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Asset manager Oaktree out of running as backer but businessman has ‘high confidence’ he will get finance

The British owner of the New York Sun has said his £550m offer to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph is still on track, despite a big potential backer not joining the bid.

Dovid Efune entered exclusive talks to buy the Telegraph titles last month after submitting the highest bid in the second round of the auction for the titles.

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Swedish firm censured for use of C-word in ads for vaginal health supplements

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Regulator deems posters offensive, though Elexir Pharma argues term is ‘not loaded in the same way as in the UK’

The Swedish advertising ombudsman has criticised a company for using the C-word in posters to promote vaginal health supplements, saying the use of the “gross profanity” is offensive to consumers.

The ads, displayed on public transport in Stockholm and Gothenburg, feature the phrase “you can cunt on us” in pink writing.

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Fears for local news diversity if rightwing startup buys Southern Cross regional TV network

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Fringe news streaming channel ADH TV, which launched with Alan Jones at the helm, confirms offer for 93 regional free-to-air stations

Diversity of local news may be at risk if a rightwing startup, ADH TV, is given the green light to purchase Southern Cross Austereo’s regional television network, an expert has warned.

Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has confirmed it has received an offer from the fringe streaming news channel to buy its 93 regional free-to-air TV stations. The digital broadcaster, which is chaired by the former ABC chair Maurice Newman, was launched in December 2021 with the former 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones at the helm.

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BBC confirms Gary Lineker’s departure from Match of the Day

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Corporation says presenter will quit highlights programme at end of 2024-25 season but will cover 2026 World Cup

Gary Lineker is to step down as the presenter of Match of the Day at the end of the season, the BBC has said.

The BBC confirmed earlier reports that Lineker would stay with the broadcaster to cover the FA Cup in 2025-26 and the 2026 Fifa World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, but step back from its flagship highlights programme at the end of the 2024-25 season.

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Great Britain ‘lags behind’ Europe on betting ad regulation, says gambling charity

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Public health concerns fuel restrictions across comparable markets, yet UK remains ‘lenient’

Great Britain “lags behind” Europe on measures to restrict betting adverts, according to a report released days after official data showed a sharp increase in the number of children with a gambling problem.

Restrictions on ads by bookmakers and casinos are increasingly becoming “the norm” across Europe in response to public health concerns, according to a report commissioned by GambleAware, the UK’s leading gambling charity.

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Barry Keoghan hits out at ‘disgusting’ online trolls using his son against him

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Saltburn actor tells Louis Theroux podcast about his difficult childhood and decision to keep his child offline

Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan has hit back at “disgusting” online trolls who he claimed use his relationship with his son as “ammunition” against him.

The 32-year-old Irish actor, who is dating US singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter, has a two-year-old son, Brando, with his former partner.

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French parents whose children took own lives sue TikTok over harmful content

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Lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders

Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said.

The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, lawyer Laure Boutron-Marmion told broadcaster Franceinfo on Monday.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Greggs scoffs at reports of snub by its Christmas ad star Nigella Lawson

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TV chef, who has signed up for bakery chain’s first ever festive advert, says she is a fan of its sausage rolls

Nigella Lawson has issued an impassioned paean to the Greggs sausage roll, amid reports of a banger-based dust-up that threatened to cast a shadow over her appearance in the bakery chain’s first ever Christmas advert.

Greggs confirmed on Sunday that the celebrity chef and cookbook author had agreed to star in its inaugural Christmas promotion, in which Lawson will purr over such delicacies as vegan festive bakes.

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The ultranationalist TV channel fast becoming Israel’s most-watched news source

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Channel 14, which counts Netanyahu as a supporter, has denied allegations that its coverage has incited war crimes

An ultranationalist Israeli television channel backed by the government is fast emerging as one of the country’s most-watched news sources, despite allegations from liberal groups that it is inciting war crimes, and claims from the army that it is riling up hatred of its generals for not being far enough to the right.

Last month Channel 14, also known as Now 14, beat Israel’s principal mainstream news outlet, Channel 12, in viewer ratings when 343,000 Israelis watched Channel 14’s “Patriots” talkshow, known for its virulent rhetoric on Gaza.

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Ofcom fines GB News £100,000 for breach of impartiality rules over Sunak interview

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GB News to challenge decision and watchdog will not enforce sanction until proceedings are concluded

Ofcom has fined the rightwing broadcaster GB News £100,000 for “breaking due impartiality rules” after an interview with the former prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year.

The media regulator said it chose to impose a fine over the programme titled People’s Forum: The Prime Minister because it considered the breach serious, and because of GB News’s track record of breaking impartiality rules.

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Budget 2024: what the UK papers said about Rachel Reeves’ statement

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Headlines featured numerous ‘nightmare’ allusions for budget delivered the day before Halloween

After Rachel Reeves‘ first budget as chancellor, which included £40bn in tax rises, newspaper headlines in the UK featured “nightmare” and “horror show” allusions as it came a day before Halloween.

The Financial Times’ front page featured a picture of smiling Reeves headlined “Reeves unveils £40bn budget tax rise”. The paper reported the chancellor’s aims of fixing public services, and the “broken” finances, saying businesses and the wealthy would “bear bulk” of the “heaviest fiscal burden” in a generation.

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New Jersey’s largest paper ends daily print editions but will continue online

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Star-Ledger’s owner said decision was due to rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print copies

The owner of New Jersey’s largest newspaper says it will stop publishing a daily print version of the paper early next year, but its online version will continue.

The Newark Morning Ledger Co said the decision announced on Wednesday was due to rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print copies of the Star-Ledger. Two other daily New Jersey newspapers are also expected to end their print publications in the coming months, while a fourth daily newspaper, the Jersey Journal, is expected to cease publication altogether.

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ABC chair says pressing ‘digital titans’ for revenue is a ‘mainstream democratic imperative’

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Kim Williams says funding local news and public interest journalism is crucial in a world where ‘the distortion of culture poses such a grave threat to democracy’

The tech giants must be pursued for a cut of their substantial revenue to fund journalism in order to fight disinformation and “navigate the dangerous world”, ABC chair Kim Williams has said.

Last week a parliamentary committee recommended the government impose a tech tax on companies like Meta and Google as well as establish a fund to help traditional news media organisations.

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