Not that it isn't crap. It is. It's just also going to be a massively distorted influence in our already massively distorted news & information system.
The BBC & our strict Ofcom rules have been a bulwark against worst excesses of online mis- & disinfo. But for how much longer? The hounding of Newsnight's Nick Watt this week was a horrifying example of where this leads. And GB News has thrown a powerful new grenade into the mix.
I rang up @martinjemoore on Friday who's one of the smartest interpreters of all things media & he thinks it's inevitably going to impact BBC. Arguably, the whole channel is a troll on the BBC, a knowing provocation. UK news & info system just lurched a little bit further right
This has a personal element for me. How could it not? I deal with the aftermath of Neil's abuse of me every day. But it's also why I have an early warning system encoded into my cells. I wish I could laugh at GB News but I don't. I dread it.
I have strict policy of ignoring GB News's political correspondent. I make an exception only to point out that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This is who got to ask 2nd question at the PM's news presser on Monday. GB News already key part of govt's spin operation
This is why I'm writing this newsletter with @allthecitizens. It's part of our Keeping The Receipts project. The plan to destroy the Electoral Commission announced this week is exactly why we're doing what we're doing. Subscribing will help us keep track & hold to account.
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@LeighDay_Law
have spent years on this. The MPs are persevering even tho they've now left parliament. And whole subject couldn't be more urgent or more timely 🙏 3/
NEW: Police knew a Kremlin spy ring recruited former leader of Reform Wales at least 3 years ago.
So why was Nathan Gill not charged till Feb this year?
Pls read part 2 of @thenerve_news special investigation into Nathan Gill. And please share! 1/
Meet Nadia Sass.
This is the wife of the man who bribed Nathan Gill.
Today @thenerve_news reveals how she was a key part of the Kremlin operation that targeted not just Gill but at least 2 other MEPs and a member of the House of Lords.
In Israel, Ellison’s Oracle partners with Rafael Systems whose weapons are being used in the Gaza genocide & implicated in the deaths of British aid workers.
The targeting & killing of journalists in Gaza & the failure of the media to show collective solidarity & to take collective action is…incomprehensible.
I feel a such profound sense of shame & failure. It’s not just the death of journalists. It’s the death of journalism. 1/
This is Mariam Abu Daka, one of 3 journalists killed in latest strike, warning that journalists are being deliberately targeted & killed.
‘The Israeli occupation targets journalists because they tell the truth’
She calls for urgent international protection. It did not come. 2/
It is not that there has not been efforts to mobilise a collective response by press freedom orgs, including @RSF_inter, but there has also been silence , denial & cowardice from the prestige legacy outlets.
There’s a reason trust in all media is plummeting.
3/
Nick Clegg made a reported £100m from Facebook. And now the reputation laundering begins.
Congrats to him on this magnificent PR coup. Nicely played, Clegg. A glossy magazine profile AND extract in the paper that created the Facebook PR crisis that led to his hiring.
1/
It’s an abject reminder of how mainstream outlets are played by Silicon Valley, by the cosy rules of access journalism & the genre framing of the celeb interview.
Clegg never submitted to a proper interview in his time at Facebook & now gets to spin & whitewash & conceal all while still under a FB NDA.
2/
I understand why this was commissioned. The need for a culturally relevant ‘name’. The fact that many people will ‘hate-read’ it. It will get traffic.
But it also reinforces an impression that so many people have that the media is broken. Clicks & traffic & holding power to account are such competing incentives.
3/
Earlier this year, I lost my beloved job at my beloved Observer when the Guardian, in its great wisdom, gave the newspaper away to a podcast company...who promptly sacked me.
So, forgive my delight today, in being nominated for FIVE awards in the British Podcast Awards!! 1/
Huge kudos to super producers @RuthAbrahams5 of Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring & @GeorgiaJCatt & @ByrnesyGsy for Stalked.
Plus the brilliant & brave Hannah Mossman-Moore & Sergei Cristo 👏 👏 👏. Both FEARLESS in completely different ways.
But mostly, thanks for listening... & in Sergei's case for crowdfunding it. Incredible to be nominated alongside all the big companies for our indie DIY affair. Thanks also to @peterjukes for galvanising & dramaturgy.
And to BBC Sounds for being so punchy in naming Hannah's stalker
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