Media

A civil rights campaigner has delivered a stunning rebuke to Ann Widdecombe’s reason for leaving the National Trust. The former Thatcherite minister decided to cancel her membership because of the “sorts of woke games” she claimed National Trust was playing. Flummoxed at the body for publicising Winston Churchill’s opposition to an independent India, she said: […]

Viewers have squirmed and cringed at Matt Hancock discussing how new coronavirus restrictions affect people’s sex life. The health minister was asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley how long the government had planned to stop people having “casual sex”. Burley was pointing out the restrictions allow “established couples” to meet up but bans those who […]

The government has criticised the BBC for allowing Keir Starmer a “right of reply” broadcast on prime time television. The leader of the opposition was allowed to speak to the nation a day after Boris Johnson’s address was broadcast on all of the major television channels. Under BBC guidelines it is standard for the Labour […]

The government is facing imminent defeat of its bill to extend Covid-19 emergency powers, a Tory rebel has claimed. One minister and up to 50 Tory MPs are expected to withhold their support when the government’s legal extension of its lockdown powers goes to a vote in the Commons next week, The Telegraph has claimed. The paper […]

In a Britain where Gavin Williamson is education secretary, Suella Braverman is attorney general, Liam Fox is our candidate to lead the WTO and Priti Patel is home secretary, it comes as little surprise to hear of Boris Johnson’s supposed choice as the new chairman of the BBC Board. As the Mail on Sunday asked, […]

No 10 has narrowed the number of candidates to fill the role of Downing Street’s press briefing spokesperson to five. The role was created in the summer as part of an overhaul of the government’s communications strategy. Guido reports there are five final candidates in the mix to take up the role which will consist of […]

There’s more than just misguided coverage behind the Today programme’s malaise, says MIC WRIGHT The Today programme — required listening for anyone who works in politics — took a beating in the latest Rajar figures. The body, which monitors UK radio listening, reported last week that the audience for Radio 4’s flagship current affairs show […]

While the Telegraph has never been shy about its politics, it was once known for its tolerance and diversity of views. Not any more, says its former diarist TIM WALKER It seems a comical notion now, but The Daily Telegraph once recommended Gina Miler for a peerage. We’re going back a few years, of course, […]

The furore over high street chain Paperchase’s U-turn over advertising with the Daily Mail has caused an almighty row over what is pressure group Stop Funding Hate’s objective. LIZ GERARD investigates ‘The British people relish a good hero – and a good hate.’ Thus spake Sunny Harmsworth, first and only Lord Northcliffe, pioneer of popular […]

A new report from campaigning group Women in Journalism shines a light on the sexism of Fleet Street, says its authors Eleanor Mills, Katie Hind and Áine Quinn. The media is the mirror that society holds up to itself. It is through newspapers – whether in print or on screen – that the first draft […]

There’s good news and bad news for online news publishers: The good is that people are increasingly willing to pay for digital news subscriptions. The bad is that news often takes a back seat to entertainment services like Netflix and Spotify. This comes out of the latest study by Kantar Media on behalf of the […]

The lights are going out in comments sections all over the world. Over the past few years publishers as diverse as NPR, VICE, The Week and Popular Science have been united by the decision to shut their commenting capabilities, denying their audience the opportunity to comment under their articles. For an industry that’s putting all […]

If you’re looking for a phrase to describe the change in newspaper print circulations this year, it might well be ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’. The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) demonstrate that only the Metro managed to increase its print circulation year-on-year, with every single other national […]