Media

LIZ GERARD crunches the numbers on how Paul Dacre’s Daily Mail covered BBC stories and finds evidence that makes a mockery of the idea of him as an impartial arbiter. Over the last ten years of the Dacre reign, the Daily Mail carried more than 4,000 news stories with BBC in the headline or subhead, about […]

A decision on whether Paul Dacre will become the next head of Ofcom is expected imminently. That it is even being considered is a scandal that reveals much about the current administration There are any number of reasons why Paul Dacre should not be appointed head of Ofcom, the super-regulator that oversees not only our […]

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said the privatisation of Channel 4 will be considered during a government review of public service broadcasting. Channel 4 was launched in 1982 as a publicly owned, largely commercially self-funded public service broadcaster with a remit to offer “high quality and distinctive programming”. “I have set up a public service […]

Michel Barnier has told a French broadcaster the country must suspend all non-EU immigration for up to five years, in what is being seen as a tilt at the French presidency. Barnier told public broadcaster France 2 that the EU’s external borders had become a “sieve”. “I think we have to take the time for three or five years […]

Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has criticised government proposals that would force voters to provide photo I.D. before casting their ballot. Davidson branded the proposals “total b*****ks” during an appearance on ITV’s Peston show. She said: “In terms of this particular part of the Queen’s speech, I think it’s total b******ks and I think […]

News UK has drastically scaled back plans for a new opinionated television service in Britain after its chief executive said it was no longer financially viable. Rebekah Brooks told staff the enormous costs of launching a new channel on-air meant it did not make business sense. Brooks said News UK would instead focus on streaming platforms […]

A minister has insisted millions of pounds spent on a new media room have not gone to waste after the government scrapped plans to hold daily televised briefings. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden defended the government for spending £2.6million of taxpayer funds adapting a room in No 9 for TV press conferences complete with microphones, Union Jack flags, podiums, cameras […]

Alexei Navalny has been transferred to a prison hospital over concerns the opposition leader is dangerously ill and could die “at any minute”. It comes as doctors released paperwork showing Navalny – who has been on hunger strike for nearly three weeks – was in danger of a heart attack or kidney failure. In a […]

Denmark has revoked the residency permits of Syrian refugees, becoming the first European nation to do so. At least 189 Syrians have had applications for renewal of their temporary residency status denied since last summer. The Danish government says the security situation in Syrian has “improved significantly” and urged the refugees to return to the war-torn […]

Scottish Labour has announced plans to pay television licence fees or help cover broadband bills for the over-75s. Party leader Anas Sarwar said the “staying connected” policy would provide every household with people aged over 75 with the £159 cost of a TV licence. Free TV licences for all seniors ended in 2020 after the […]

Alex Salmond has claimed his Alba party is being censored by the broadcasters ahead of the Scottish elections. The former first minister said the broadcasters “are simply failing in their democratic duty” because Alba has been excluded from the televised debates featuring leaders of parties who currently have MSPs at Holyrood. Salmond took umbrage with […]

Nick Clegg has said the EU has let itself and millions of Europeans down over its troubled Covid vaccine rollout. This comes as a new poll shows two-thirds of adults believe being outside the EU helped the UK’s vaccination programme to succeed. Clegg told LBC radio he thought “the EU has let itself down, more importantly […]

The government has been accused of rewriting chunks of its reports on racial disparities, an expert has claimed. Significant sections of the report published on March 31 – which has been widely criticised – were not written by the 12 commission appointed by Boris Johnson last July, the Observer reported. It also said none of the […]

Every single person in a promotional picture on the front of the Daily Mail last year was white – including the carefree model family alongside the headline “William’s fury over too-white BAFTAs” Do you have the faintest idea what the prime minister looks like? No, I haven’t a clue either. If only newspapers would show […]

Malignant nostalgia is covering up the truth about racism in the UK, claims Bonnie Greer. The new voting laws in the US state of Georgia and the newly published report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in the UK have one thing in common: They belong to another age. Both came into being […]

While wealthier newspapers with larger readerships bowed the knee to the prime minister, this proud regional broadsheet refused to toe the line. Few in academia will profess ignorance of “no-platforming”. This expression of ideological zealotry seeks to restrict debate to orthodoxies with which its supporters sympathise. It restricts freedom of speech upon which, since the […]

The chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities has defended it against accusations of putting a “positive spin on slavery and empire”, saying that to suggest it was “trying to downplay the evil of the slave trade” is “absurd”. The commission’s report into racial disparities in Britain, published on Wednesday, was hit by […]

Britons are being accused of ‘ignoring’ new rules to leave Spain after legislation was passed that would mean those choosing to live “under the radar” could face deportation or fines. The British community in Spain are allegedly “burying their heads in the sand” over new Brexit rules on residency that come into effect this week. It comes as […]

A Tory council candidate has been reprimanded by his own party after calling for Bristol to be bombed after Kill the Bill protests in the city turned violent. Stephen Halbhuber, a Conservative candidate for Eastbourne Council, faced immediate backlash after tweeting “just bomb Bristol” in response to a video showing protesters painting graffiti on a […]

A Tory MP has clashed with a BBC chief over the lack of Union flags featuring in the corporation’s annual report. James Wild MP repeatedly asked new director-general Tim Davie why the flag had failed to appear on the report during a Commons grilling on the BBC’s role as a representative of Britain on the world stage. Davie […]

First minister Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code, an independent inquiry has concluded. The finding clears the first minister of any wrongdoing in the Salmond inquiry into sexual assault complaints. An investigation by James Hamilton found that Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code, following allegations she failed to record meetings with Salmond and others in […]

Policing minister Kit Malthouse has sparked chaos in the Home Office after going to work while waiting for the results of a Covid test. Home Office staff in London were forced to self-isolate and a deep-clean was arranged and air vents changed after Malthouse’s test came back positive, the Sunday Times reported. Government guidance says workers […]

Questions are bring raised about David Cameron’s latest lobbying attempt after it emerged he pressured the chancellor in private texts to issue hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of emergency Covid loans to a company he was advising. The Sunday Times reported the former prime minister sent multiple texts to Rishi Sunak’s private phone in April 2020 badgering […]

Journalist JESS BRAMMAR was dubbed part of the “Woke Wing of Fleet Street” after she criticised the way much of the press shrugged off Harry and Meghan’s accusations of racism. Here she explains why the issue needs addressing, not evading. People expected the Meghan and Harry interview to have global ramifications but no one could have […]

A Porsche 911 convertible which the footballer was caught driving through a red light at 111mph just after buying fetched a huge price at auction A Porsche 911 convertible which Diego Maradona was famously caught driving through a red light at 180km/h (111mph) just 30 minutes after buying has sold for €483,000 (£414,000) at auction in Paris. […]

An MP is cross-referencing constituents’ complaints about Dominic Cummings’ trip to Durham with those who complained about the Clapham Commons vigil. According to Guido Fawkes reporter Tom Harwood, an MP is sifting through his emails from people who complained about both in a bid to “point out the hypocrisy of their positions”. He tweeted: “One MP tells […]

A Russian-owned firm was hired to carry out key works in the £2.6million renovation of No 9 in an undisclosed contract to get it ready for White House-style television briefings. An inside source told HuffPost UK that Megahertz undertook essential work, including the installation of computers, cameras, microphones and a control desk to get the building […]

South African comedian Trevor Noah has taken aim at the royal family and Boris Johnson during his stint as host of this year’s Grammy Awards. Noah, who hosts the late-night satirical news programme The Daily Show in the US, made fun of the prime minister during a comment about UK pop star Harry Styles. The comedian joked that […]

LIZ GERARD on what is behind the contrast in coverage between the two royals. Why does the press hate Meghan? Why does it give her such a hard time and Prince Andrew such an easy ride? It must be because of her colour, her nationality, her gender, her wokeness. Or so at least one planet in […]

The vendetta between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the press cannot end well for anyone. That’s it then. They’ve gone for good. Driven out by the press. There have been plenty of instances where newspapers have been accused of hounding celebrities and royals and every time the same defences are wheeled out: “They want the publicity […]

Union leaders said the Rishi Sunak’s silence on pay for public sector workers was “deafening”. Officials of unions representing hundreds of thousands of public sector workers and civil servants described Rishi Sunak’s Budget as an “insult”. Many public sector workers face a pay freeze this year despite calls for an increase because of their efforts […]

Once noted for climate scepticism, the Express has now launched a green campaign. LIZ GERARD assesses the extent to which newspapers can ever comprehensively switch their stance.  Under new management! It’s a sign we’ll be seeing a lot when we finally emerge from this pandemic, as collapsed enterprises are rescued or people decide they’ve had enough after […]