Category Archives: Media

‘Back to the future’: how the papers covered the return of David Cameron

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Rishi Sunak’s decision to bring a more moderate figure to his cabinet and oust Suella Braverman is viewed as likely to set up a clash with the Tory right

The return of former PM David Cameron to government as foreign secretary has evoked surprise for many, shock for some, and anger among MPs on the right of the Tory party. The British papers reflect the full spectrum of reactions.

The Guardian says: “Cameron’s shock return in high-stakes reshuffle”, noting that the political comeback for the now Lord Cameron marks a return to a more centrist team for Rishi Sunak, particularly given the sacking of Suella Braverman as home secretary.

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Hungarian plan to target foreign influence fuels NGO and media fears

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Campaigners say ‘sovereignty’ law is further step by Viktor Orbán to silence critics and solidify control

Hungarian rights advocates have raised fears over new legislation that they say could put more pressure on independent media and civil society groups.

The draft bill, which Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party is expected to submit on Tuesday, is set to propose creating a new office tasked with investigating activities that threaten Hungary’s “sovereignty”.

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BBC faces broad backlash over cuts to local radio output

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Exclusive: Fallout includes anger from listeners, potential legal action and concerns from Ofcom

The BBC is facing a backlash from listeners, concerns from the regulator Ofcom and potential legal action over controversial cuts to its local radio output.

Complaints have been made about the corporation’s decision to share more programmes across its 39 local stations and about the axeing of presenters.

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UK police dismiss ‘misleading’ media reports of attacks on poppy sellers

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Royal British Legion says public supported appeal as usual with no evidence volunteers were targeted

On the concourse of Waterloo station in London on Friday morning, poppy seller David Poynter, 45, was relishing the bumper demand. He had set up the stall at 6.30am and commuters were queueing to donate and support the fundraising campaign.

Poynter, a train driver, has volunteered each November for nearly 30 years and takes holiday to support the cause. He is so dedicated to the role that he regularly works a shift lasting 12 hours.

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Lost Doctor Who episodes found – but owner is reluctant to hand them to BBC

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As sci-fi show’s 60th anniversary nears, a collector pleads for BBC to offer amnesty to those with recordings discarded by corporation

For Doctor Who-lovers they are the missing crown jewels: lost episodes of the first series of the TV sci-fi drama, shown in the 1960s. But now film recordings of not just one, but two of the early BBC adventures, both featuring the first doctor, William Hartnell, has been found in Britain by amateur sleuths.

The episodes, one featuring the Daleks, would offer viewers a chance to travel back in time without the use of a Tardis. But the Observer has learned that the owners of the rare, rediscovered footage are not prepared to hand it over to the BBC, even as the clock ticks down to the 60th anniversary of the show’s launch this month.

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Israel-Hamas fake news thrives on poorly regulated online platforms

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Claims on X and Telegram include downplaying 7 October Hamas attack and allegations Palestinians are faking scenes of suffering

Disinformation has flourished across a range of online platforms in the month since Hamas launched its bloody attack on Israel, fuelled by weak content regulation on X, formerly Twitter, and Telegram and at times propelled by state actors.

Widely shared faked news and false claims include efforts to downplay the horror of Hamas’s cross-border attack on 7 October through to distasteful allegations that Palestinians, already under heavy bombardment, are faking scenes of violence.

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French social media influencers feel the heat over new law on paid content

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Authorities step up checks and ‘name and shame’ content creators who break rules in move to regulate industry

When Marie Lopez started recording YouTube videos of makeup and hair tutorials in her bedroom in Lyon aged 16, she “ate, slept and breathed” social media.

By 21, she had an online community of millions and was one of the most watched French women on YouTube, posting about topics from bullying and acne to ecology. Now 28, under the name EnjoyPhoenix she uploads content from her life so many times a day that she is scared to count her working hours, aware that part of success is to “reveal more and more” of your private life.

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ABC calls for apology after Bronwyn Bishop tells Sky the public broadcaster is ‘aligning’ itself with Nazi policies

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Former Howard government minister tells Sharri Markson the ABC is ‘aligning themselves with policies in place with national socialism during world war two’

The ABC has lodged a formal complaint with Sky News Australia after Bronwyn Bishop said the public broadcaster was “aligning themselves with the policy of Germany’s national socialist party for the elimination of Jews” in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

A regular guest on Sky, the former Liberal senator was responding to the Sky News host Sharri Markson’s claim that the ABC was “so biased, so one-sided, so anti-Israel”.

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The Guardian wins three Society of Editors’ Media Freedom Awards

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City editor Anna Isaac, political editor Pippa Crerar and columnist Marina Hyde honoured at ceremony in London

The Guardian has won three awards at the Society of Editors’ Media Freedom Awards at a ceremony in London.

Anna Isaac, the Guardian’s city editor, was named the Media Freedom Awards National Journalist of the Year and was praised by the judges for her stories exposing a culture of sexual misconduct at the Confederation of British Industry.

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RMIT’s fact check reinstated by Facebook two months after suspension over News Corp voice complaints

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Exclusive: Meta suspended RMIT FactLab from Facebook’s fact-checking program after no campaigners claimed it was biased

Facebook has agreed to reinstate RMIT FactLab to its factchecking program two months after it was suspended in the wake of repeated complaints by Sky News Australia about the key factchecker’s debunking of claims by the no campaign about the voice.

No voice campaigners – including Sky host Peta Credlin, Liberal senator James Paterson and the right-wing thinktank the IPA – claimed RMIT FactLab was biased and demanded Facebook remove it from its program which aims to tackle online misinformation.

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Philippines radio journalist shot dead during live broadcast

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Killer of Juan Jumalon, 57, pretended to be a listener to enter home studio in Misamis Occidental province

A radio anchor in the southern Philippines has been fatally shot in his studio in a brazen attack witnessed by people watching the programme live on Facebook.

The gunman gained entry to the home-based radio station of Juan Jumalon, a provincial news broadcaster known also as DJ Johnny Walker, by pretending to be a listener. He then shot him twice during a live morning broadcast in Calamba town in Misamis Occidental province, police said.

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Bong! Big Ben broadcasts to return to Radio 4’s regular schedule

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Westminster’s famous bell will be heard live from next week after years of only occasional appearances

It is one of the most recognisable sounds in the UK, and one that hasn’t been heard on BBC Radio 4 since New Year’s Eve last year, but from next week the famous bongs of Big Ben will be heard once again on the station.

The most famous bell in the UK will be heard live once again on Monday 6 November, just before the 6pm news bulletin and again before midnight. Listeners will be able to hear the chimes again before Radio 4’s Westminster Hour political discussion programme at 10pm on Sundays.

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White House denounces Fox News over host’s ‘foul’ remarks on CNN pair

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Mark Levin called Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper ‘self-hating Jews’ on syndicated radio show, prompting furious response

For the second time in two days, the White House denounced Fox News over remarks by a host relating to the Israel-Hamas war, following condemnation of Jesse Watters’ apparent incitement of violence against Arab Americans with condemnation of Mark Levin for calling two CNN anchors “self-hating Jews”.

Andrew Bates, a spokesperson, said: “President Biden believes in an America where we come together against hate and don’t fan its flames. But not only is Fox News aligning with those who fan the flames of hate – Fox is paying their salaries.”

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Amazon and Facebook owner Meta agree to protect consumers, CMA says

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Sites agree to stop practices that give them an unfair advantage over businesses and shoppers

The UK’s competition watchdog has said it has secured commitments from Amazon and the Facebook owner Meta to protect consumers on their marketplaces.

The agreements come after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched separate investigations into Amazon, which sells its own products and allows sellers to retail via its online marketplace function, and Meta, which owns Facebook Marketplace.

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US vows to support ‘free media’ in Pacific as concern over China influence grows

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Washington will look to partner with Pacific media sector, top official tells the Guardian

Regional media has emerged as a new front in the contest between the US and China in the Pacific, as Washington said it will support “free media” while warning of the dangers of Beijing’s efforts to manipulate information around the world.

During a visit to countries in the Indo-Pacific in October, the US under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, Elizabeth Allen, said Washington was “prioritising the support of independent media” across the region.

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Prominent US figures face backlash and firings for pro-Palestinian statements

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From magazine editors to Hollywood agents, supporters of Palestinians experiencing widespread rebuke

A rising number of prominent US figures have faced discipline over controversial public comments they have made about the Palestinian cause, as attacks by Israel on Gaza after the 7 October massacre of Israelis by Hamas fighters intensified.

David Velasco, the editor in chief of Artforum magazine, was reportedly fired after the magazine published an open letter in response to the war.

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Al Jazeera journalist who lost his family in Gaza airstrike returns to work

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Wael al-Dahdouh’s wife, children and grandson were killed in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on Tuesday

• Israel and Hamas at war – live updates

An Al Jazeera correspondent has returned to work just days after his entire immediate family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Wael al-Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in the strike late on Tuesday. They had moved to a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza following Israel’s warning on 13 October.

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Three former senior Lib Dems sue Sun and NoW publisher over phone hacking

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Exclusive: Vince Cable, Chris Huhne and Norman Lamb claim they were targeted for stories or to 'exert political influence’

Two former Lib Dem cabinet ministers and a former party whip are suing the publisher of the Sun and the defunct News of the World, claiming that their phones were hacked for stories or to “exert political influence”, including when Rupert Murdoch was seeking approval for a takeover of BSkyB.

Journalists working at Murdoch’s newspapers are said to have unlawfully targeted the former business secretary Vince Cable as well as Chris Huhne, a former energy and climate change secretary, and Norman Lamb, a whip and sometime adviser to the then deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg.

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US asks Qatar to ‘turn down the volume’ of Al Jazeera news coverage

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Secretary of state Antony Blinken made request of Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed during frantic trip to Doha

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has reportedly asked Qatar to moderate Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas, amid concerns within the Biden administration that the channel is inflaming public opinion and heightening the risks of a wider conflict.

Blinken raised the satellite news channel’s coverage with the Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, according to the website Axios, which said the US’s top diplomat had disclosed the request in a meeting with US Jewish leaders.

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BBC Radio 2 show loses 1.3m listeners after Vernon Kay replaces Ken Bruce

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Mid-morning programme now heard by 6.9m people as opposed to 8.2m who tuned in before veteran’s departure in March

Vernon Kay’s BBC Radio 2 show has lost 1.3 million listeners since he took over from the presenter Ken Bruce, the latest figures show.

Bruce, 72, worked at the station for 31 years before leaving in March and joining Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) the following month. Kay, 49, took over the station’s mid-morning slot in May.

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