Category Archives: Media

Columnists quit Jewish Chronicle over Gaza stories based on ‘fabrications’

Posted on by

David Baddiel and Jonathan Freedland among those to resign over articles by former IDF soldier Elon Perry

A number of prominent columnists have resigned in protest from the Jewish Chronicle after allegations it printed articles about the Gaza conflict that were based on “wild fabrications”.

The weekly title, the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, is facing calls for an investigation after it deleted nine articles by Elon Perry because of doubts over their accuracy and concerns he had misrepresented his CV.

Continue reading...

‘I’m not sure what to trust’: a student navigates the news in the age of social media

Posted on by

With more people getting their news online than on TV, Ben Herd, 20, records his experience of following current affairs

An Ofcom report this week marked a tipping point: more people now get their news online than on TV. We asked Ben Herd, a 20-year-old currently at university, to keep a diary for a couple of days of how he was following news stories and current affairs. He gets most of his news from social media …

Continue reading...

Blinken accuses RT of being worldwide Kremlin intelligence network

Posted on by

US secretary of state announces new sanctions against the Russian state-backed media company

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has announced new sanctions against the Russian state-backed media company RT, formerly known as Russia Today, after new information gleaned from the outfit’s employees showed it was “functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus”.

The Russian government in 2023 established a new unit in RT with “cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence”, Blinken claimed, with the goal of spreading Russian influence in countries around the world through information operations, covert influence and military procurement.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong journalists harassed in ‘systemic and organised attack’

Posted on by

Staff from at least 15 media outlets subjected to threats and defamatory letters sent to their families and employers

Journalists from more than a dozen media outlets in Hong Kong have been harassed and targeted in what the city’s largest journalist association said was a “systemic and organised attack” over recent months.

The harassment included death threats, and threatening and defamatory complaint letters being sent to reporters’ families and their employers, as well as landlords and neighbours, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said.

Continue reading...

IDF investigates claim Jewish Chronicle published stories based on ‘fabricated intelligence’

Posted on by

Israeli military launches inquiry into claims that stories may have been planted as part of disinformation campaign

The Israel Defense Forces have launched an investigation into claims in the Israeli media that the London-based Jewish Chronicle published stories based on “fabricated intelligence” relating to Hamas, amid claims that they may have been planted as part of a disinformation campaign.

Among the most controversial claims published by the Jewish Chronicle, the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, was the suggestion last week that the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, might be preparing to flee to Iran with Israeli hostages, a suggestion that has also been made by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Continue reading...

Internet replaces TV as UK’s most popular news source for first time

Posted on by

Media regulator describes change as a ‘generational shift in the balance of news media’

Online platforms have overtaken TV channels as the most popular sources for news in the UK, according to figures described as a “generational shift” in viewing habits.

More than seven out of 10 UK adults (71%) consume online news, said the UK’s communications regulator, slightly ahead of TV, which is used by 70% of adults. Ofcom described the survey result, the first time websites and apps have moved in front of TV, as marking a “generational shift in the balance of news media”.

Continue reading...

Dutch broadcaster launches news bulletin in easy-to-understand language

Posted on by

Programme uses simpler sentences and explains topics slowly for people who struggle with Dutch language

The Dutch public broadcaster NOS has launched an evening news programme using “easy language” aimed at 2.5 million people in the Netherlands who struggle with the language.

English speakers may joke about “double Dutch”, but foreigners are not the only ones who sometimes fail to comprehend the west Germanic language of long words, convoluted sentences and guttural sounds.

Continue reading...

Man thought to have killed himself after Jeremy Kyle Show was ‘broken’, hears inquest

Posted on by

Steve Dymond, 63, was distraught after being heckled and accused of cheating during 2019 filming, says landlady

A man who is believed to have killed himself after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show was “broken” and “wasn’t a well man”, his landlady has told the inquest into his death.

Steve Dymond, 63, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is thought to have ended his life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019.

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

Continue reading...

Social media age limits to go before parliament ahead of next election, Albanese says

Posted on by

Draft bill requires social media platforms to stop children in the restricted age range from accessing their services

The Albanese government plans to impose a minimum age for teenagers accessing social media and gaming platforms, with legislation to be introduced into parliament before the next election.

The prime minister will announce the nationwide move on Tuesday but will stop short of specifying the age, arguing the government wants to wait for the conclusion of an age-verification trial which begins its final phase this week.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Aid agency insiders claim BBC ‘blocking’ Gaza humanitarian appeal

Posted on by

Disasters Emergency Committee sources say BBC fears backlash from those supportive of Israel’s war with Hamas

The launch of a major humanitarian appeal for Gaza by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is being delayed by the BBC, it has emerged.

The corporation said the appeal did not meet all the established criteria for a national appeal, but the possibility of broadcasting an appeal was “under review”. Other channels have agreed to broadcast an appeal.

Continue reading...

YouTube to restrict teenagers’ exposure to videos about weight and fitness

Posted on by

Platform will ensure algorithms do not keep pushing similar content to young viewers, even though it does not breach guidelines

YouTube is to stop recommending videos to teenagers that idealise specific fitness levels, body weights or physical features, after experts warned such content could be harmful if viewed repeatedly.

The platform will still allow 13- to 17-year-olds to view the videos, but its algorithms will not push young users down related content “rabbit holes” afterwards.

Continue reading...

US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

Posted on by

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson addressed allegations that a company they were associated with had been paid to publish videos with messages in favour of Russia

A number of high-profile, conservative influencers in the US have said they are “victims” of an alleged Russian disinformation campaign, after the Biden administration accused Moscow of carrying out a sustained campaign to influence the outcome of November’s presidential elections.

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson published statements on Wednesday evening addressing allegations that a US content creation company they were associated with had been provided with nearly $10m from Russian state media employees to publish videos with messages in favour of Moscow’s interests and agenda, including over the war in Ukraine.

Continue reading...

‘Everyone failed them’: what the papers say on report into deadly Grenfell Tower fire

Posted on by

British papers hone in on push for criminal charges after inquiry blames 2017 disaster on government failures and dishonesty of companies

UK papers on Thursday focused on the seven-year public inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which concluded that the deaths of 72 people were avoidable and blamed “decades of failure” by central government to stop the spread of combustible cladding combined with the “systematic dishonesty” of the multimillion-dollar companies producing it.

The Guardian headlined its story “Grenfell: a disaster caused by ‘dishonesty and greed’”. It reported that police are now “under pressure to accelerate the criminal investigation” into the blaze, although it could be another 12 to 18 months before police can send files to prosecutors to consider charges.

Continue reading...

US gambling sector’s ‘relentless’ social media posts breached own rules, study claims

Posted on by

Exclusive: University of Bristol academics say gambling industry code ‘not being followed’ after analysis of social media posts by leading firms

As gambling companies target social media users, the four leading online brands appear to be routinely breaching the industry’s self-imposed marketing regulations, according to a new study.

Over one week this summer, academics at the University of Bristol found that BetMGM, DraftKings, ESPN Bet and FanDuel published more than a thousand posts – 75% of their non-sponsored content on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok – that did not include problem gambling support messages or a helpline number.

Continue reading...

X goes offline in Brazil after Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with local laws

Posted on by

Millions of users shut out and 500,000 switch to rival platform Bluesky as providers enact supreme court ban

One of the world’s most popular social networks, X, has gone offline in Brazil – the country with the fifth largest digital population – after Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with local laws meant it was blocked by the supreme court.

Millions of Brazilian X users found themselves unable to access the network on Saturday morning as internet providers and mobile phone companies began to enforce the ban.

Continue reading...

Brazilian court orders suspension of Elon Musk’s X after it missed deadline

Posted on by

Social media platform to be blocked by ISPs because it did not appoint legal representative in allotted time

The Brazilian supreme court has ordered that X be suspended in the country after the social media platform failed to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.

Late on Friday afternoon, Justice Alexandre de Moraes – who has been engaged in a dispute with X’s owner, Elon Musk, since April – ordered the “immediate, complete and total suspension of X’s operations” in the country, “until all court orders … are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country”.

Continue reading...

Two Stand News journalists in Hong Kong found guilty of sedition

Posted on by

Chris Patten condemns ‘dark day for press freedom’ as Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam convicted over 11 articles

Two journalists from the closed Hong Kong media outlet Stand News have been found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious materials – the first such convictions since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control – after a trial that was closely observed as a bellwether for the city’s diminishing press freedom.

The former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested on 29 December 2021 after police raided the outlet’s newsroom.

Continue reading...

Australian PM caught on camera joking with senior US official over funding of Pacific policing plan

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese tells journalists to ‘chill out’ over comments filmed in the wings of Pacific Islands Forum

The Australian prime minister has been caught on camera in Tonga joking with a senior US official about going “halvies” on the cost of a newly announced Pacific policing plan.

The deputy secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, appeared to suggest in the video that the US had been planning to pursue an unspecified security-related proposal but had been encouraged by Australia not to proceed.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Telegram founder arrest part of cybercrime inquiry, say prosecutors

Posted on by

Investigation into Pavel Durov relates to app’s alleged failure to stop spread of child sexual abuse material

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire co-founder of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested in France in connection with an investigation into criminal activity on the platform and a lack of cooperation with law enforcement, prosecutors announced on Monday.

Durov, who has French citizenship, was detained at Le Bourget airport, just outside Paris, on Saturday evening after arriving from Azerbaijan on his private jet. His surprise arrest has sparked debate over free speech worldwide and led to an outcry in Moscow.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump threatens to pull out of 10 September presidential debate

Posted on by

Republican nominee calls ABC ‘fake news’ and sows further doubt over appearance at debate with Kamala Harris

Donald Trump has expressed doubt that he will participate in a scheduled televised debate with Kamala Harris next month, hurling a trademark “fake news” slur at the network that had agreed to host it.

The former president and Republican nominee threatened to pull out of the 10 September meeting with Harris, the vice-president and Democratic nominee for November’s election, in a post on his Truth Social network on Sunday night.

Continue reading...