Category Archives: Media

Papua New Guinea PM takes out advert urging journalists to stop calling him direct

Posted on by

Notice in two major newspapers asks reporters to use ministerial emails instead of contacting James Marape

The Papua New Guinean prime minister’s office has taken out a full page advertisement in the country’s two major newspapers urging journalists to stop calling and texting him directly.

“This circular is to advise all members of the media fraternity, both national and international, that the Prime Minister Hon. James Marape MP will no longer accept direct press enquiries from the date of this correspondence onwards,” said the public notice published in the Post Courier and the National on Friday.

Continue reading...

Politicians view face-to-face interviews as ‘all risk’, says Nick Robinson

Posted on by

BBC journalist says ‘broadcast interviews matter for the health of our democracy’ after Liz Truss cancels one-on-one encounter

Politicians feel television and radio grillings are “all risk” with almost “no opportunity”, Nick Robinson has said after Liz Truss cancelled an interview with him at the last minute.

The Conservative leadership frontrunner was to be interrogated by the senior BBC journalist in a face-to-face interview due to be broadcast at 7pm on Tuesday on BBC One. However, she pulled out on Monday because she could “no longer spare the time”.

Continue reading...

‘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...

Sudan journalists defy military rule by forming first union in 30 years

Posted on by

‘Historic’ move sees media professionals claim rights after years of persecution under Omar al-Bashir and crackdown after 2021 coup

Sudanese journalists have formed the country’s first independent union in more than three decades.

Abdulmoniem Abu Idrees, 58, Khartoum correspondent for the Agence France-Presse news agency, was elected the union’s first president in a vote on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Saudi woman jailed for 45 years over social media use, says group

Posted on by

Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani accused of ‘using the internet to tear Saudi Arabia’s social fabric’

Another Saudi Arabian woman has been sentenced to decades in prison by the kingdom’s terrorism court for using social media to “violate the public order”, according to court documents seen by a human rights group.

Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was sentenced to 45 years in prison after a specialised criminal court convicted her of “using the internet to tear [Saudi Arabia’s] social fabric”, according to documents that were obtained and reviewed by Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), an organisation founded by Jamal Khashoggi.

Continue reading...

Meghan: Mail on Sunday privacy battle cost Harry relationship with father

Posted on by

Duchess of Sussex reveals in magazine interview how toxic tabloid culture had torn her and Harry’s families apart

The Duchess of Sussex has said her and Prince Harry’s privacy battle with the Mail on Sunday cost her husband his relationship with his father.

In an interview with the Cut magazine, Meghan discussed how toxic tabloid culture had torn her and the Duke of Sussex’s families apart.

Continue reading...

UK police asking officers to disclose any personal ties with news reporters

Posted on by

Freedom of speech groups raise over clampdown, which only came to light by accident

Police chiefs have been issuing secret orders telling officers to inform bosses if they know any news reporters – as they would have to do with convicted criminals or extremists.

The measure is already in place in some forces, and follows guidance from the College of Policing, which sets standards in law enforcement. It is part of anti-corruption efforts and only came to light by accident.

Continue reading...

MTV VMAs 2022: Taylor Swift wins and Johnny Depp surprises in chaotic ceremony

Posted on by

Taylor Swift announced a new album, Nicki Minaj shouted out female genitals and Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance in a strange, profane evening

Taylor Swift took home the night’s biggest prize – and announced a new album – during the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, a chaotic, bleep-heavy show that nodded to music phenomena past and present, and featured a surprise appearance by Johnny Depp.

Swift, who won best longform video and video of the year for All Too Well (10 Minute Version) for her 2021 re-recorded album Red, was the only artist to double-up on televised awards. Across three hours, MTV moonmen statues went to industry veterans such as Nicki Minaj (best hip-hop) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (best rock); non-English superstars such as Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny (artist of the year) and Blackpink’s Lisa (best K-pop); and newer faces Jack Harlow (song of summer), Lil Nas X (best collaboration, with Harlow, for Industry Baby) and Dove Cameron, a former Disney child star turned actor, who surprised some to win best new artist.

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...

Labour pledges to strengthen the BBC’s independence and protect funding

Posted on by

Party would insulate broadcaster from political pressure, says shadow culture secretary, as Liz Truss prepares to wage war on it

Labour has pledged to strengthen the BBC’s political independence and retain it as a publicly-owned, public service broadcaster at the heart of British life, amid signs that a Tory government led by Liz Truss would wage war on the corporation.

Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, told the Observer she is examining a series of reforms to insulate the BBC from political pressures, including ending “revolving door” appointments of people in politics to top posts in the corporation, and extending the charter renewal period from 10 to 15 or 20 years to reduce pressures on BBC leaders to toe the government line.

Continue reading...

Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach lawsuit ends in 11th hour settlement

Posted on by

Dramatic move shows Mark Zuckerberg ‘desperate to avoid being questioned over cover-up’, says Observer journalist who exposed scandal

Facebook has dramatically agreed to settle a lawsuit seeking damages for allowing Cambridge Analytica access to the private data of tens of millions of users, four years after the Observer exposed the scandal that mired the tech giant in repeated controversy.

A court filing reveals that Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has in principle settled for an undisclosed sum a long-running lawsuit that claimed Facebook illegally shared user data with the UK analysis firm.

Continue reading...

Julian Assange files appeal against US extradition

Posted on by

Lawyers for Wikileaks founder, who is indicted on 17 espionage charges in US, say he faces persecution for his ‘political opinions’

Lawyers for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange have filed an appeal against his extradition to the US, as the United Nations human rights chief lends support to the Australian’s cause.

Assange, 51, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges in the US and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of military and diplomatic documents leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

Continue reading...

Ex-BBC executive says he was blocked from board due to ‘Labour background’

Posted on by

James Purnell, a minister under Gordon Brown, says corporation feared his appointment would anger Boris Johnson’s government

A former BBC executive has claimed he was blocked from a top job at the broadcaster due to fears his background in Labour politics would anger Boris Johnson’s government.

James Purnell spent almost a decade at the BBC in a variety of executive roles, before leaving two years ago after the arrival of Tim Davie as director general. He had previously been an MP and served as a cabinet minister in Gordon Brown’s government.

Continue reading...

Spanish civil war book reveals hidden history of female journalists

Posted on by

Women less interested in ‘macho competitiveness of violence’ in conflict, says author

A new book has shed light on the little-known history of nearly 200 female journalists from 29 countries who covered the Spanish civil war.

While Ernest Hemingway and Arthur Koestler were among writers who made their names reporting on the war, Bernardo Díaz Nosty’s 900-page Periodistas extranjeras en la Guerra Civil (Foreign Female Journalists in the Civil War) uncovers the story of 183 women whose writing gave a new slant on the 1936-39 conflict, distinct from the masculine and bellicose tales of life on the frontline.

Continue reading...

Emily Maitlis says ‘active Tory party agent’ shaping BBC news output

Posted on by

Former Newsnight presenter says former No 10 communications chief Sir Robbie Gibb on board acting as ‘arbiter of impartiality’

Emily Maitlis has said a BBC board member is an “active agent of the Conservative party” who is shaping the broadcaster’s news output by acting “as the arbiter of BBC impartiality”.

The former Newsnight presenter highlighted the role of Sir Robbie Gibb, who previously worked as Theresa May’s director of communications and helped to found the rightwing GB News channel.

Continue reading...

Hope not hate: England women football team enjoy positive social media posts

Posted on by

Study shows female Euro players got 125 positive posts for each hate one – in contrast to abuse directed at England men

The vast majority of social media posts directed at England women’s triumphant Euro 2022 football players across a three-month period were positive, research has found.

The study of 78,141 posts on Twitter, Reddit and the imageboard website 4chan identified more than 50,000 positive posts – roughly one “hate” post for every 125 “hope” ones.

Continue reading...

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai to plead not guilty in national security case

Posted on by

Democracy activist and Apple Daily founder will stand trial without jury and could face up to life in prison

The founder of Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, will stand trial without a jury in Hong Kong, after he told a court he would plead not guilty to national security charges.

On Monday, prosecutors told a case management hearing that Lai would challenge the accusations but six fellow executives and manager from the now-defunct Apple Daily or its parent company, Next Digital, intended to plead guilty.

Continue reading...

Priti Patel urges Meta to give up on end-to-end encryption plans

Posted on by

UK home secretary hits out at Facebook’s owner over move that could hinder child abuse investigations

Priti Patel has hit out at Facebook’s plans to encrypt direct messages, even as the company is facing criticism in the US for failing to protect the privacy of women seeking abortions.

The UK home secretary has urged Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp, to give up on its intentions to apply “end-to-end encryption” to direct messages sent from Messenger and Instagram.

Continue reading...

Former Fox News politics editor says network stoked ‘paranoia and hatred’

Posted on by

Chris Stirewalter, who was forced out after Donald Trump’s electoral defeat, says Fox failed its viewers with 2020 election coverage

A former Fox News politics editor who was forced out of the conservative television network shortly after its opinions hosts’ preferred candidate Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential race has said that the channel failed its viewers with its election coverage.

In his upcoming memoir, Chris Stirewalt says Fox News resigned its duty to prepare Trump followers for the possibility that he would lose, instead stoking the “black-helicopter-level paranoia and hatred” which fuels white supremacist groups but translates into big ratings.

Continue reading...

Brian Stelter rebukes CNN on final show: ‘It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues’

Posted on by

Host says, ‘It is not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue,’ after CNN cancels media show Reliable Sources

Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s media affairs show Reliable Sources which was cancelled last week after 30 years on air, used his final episode Sunday to make a pointed rebuke of the network’s new bosses and their intention to pursue a more “neutral voice” to its coverage.

“It is not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue,” Stelter said in his final monologue, which he stressed was unvetted by CNN management before he delivered it live. “It is not partisan to stand up to demagogues – it’s required, it’s patriotic.”

Continue reading...