The Cairncross Report: what it says and first impressions
These decent proposals for helping public service journalism are worryingly vulnerable to manipulation by corporate press bosses and their ministerial friends
Author: Brian Cathcart
Phone hacking: time the police stepped in
Evidence against executives and editors is piling up in the civil courts, but newspapers are just buying their way out of trouble. The right place for this is the criminal courts, which means the Met must act
The Cairncross Review and the crisis in journalism
Can Dame Frances Cairncross find a way of subsidising journalism without giving ministers the power to syphon money to their corrupt press chums – and without enabling Big Tech to buy itself freedom from scrutiny?
Racism in the press: lessons of the Raheem Sterling case
Calls for change from within the press are welcome but will make no lasting difference. The only workable remedy is effective, independent regulation that takes racism seriously
Andrew Norfolk of the Times: more bad journalism
The reporter who got things spectacularly wrong over ‘Muslim foster care’ has offered another lesson in what journalists should not do
Facebook backs the wrong horse in UK local journalism
The tech giant’s £4.5m donation is good news, but boosting the firms that oversaw the devastation of the local press is a mistake
Arron Banks, UK sovereignty and £163,000 in tax
European law should trump the British Parliament, says the alleged money-man behind Brexit – at least when it comes to taxes on his UKIP donations
Days away: a new subsidy for our corrupt press
A likely Budget cut in VAT on online publications will be presented as a boost for journalism. In reality it is a bung for the pro-Tory billionaires behind the Mail, the Sun and the Telegraph
The toothless puppet rolls over for its masters (again)
‘We order you to print this correction on page 2,’ said IPSO. ‘We’d rather not,’ replied the Mail on Sunday. ‘Oh dear,’ said IPSO, ‘in that case page 8 will do.’
How to support ‘high quality journalism’
Public subsidy for journalism can only be justified if that journalism is effectively regulated to keep standards high. My submission to the government review
Full text of official summary of final judgment in ‘Muslim fostering’ case
This summary, issued by Tower Hamlets local authority on the instructions of the judge, has been accepted by every party in the case
‘Muslim fostering’: Times journalism utterly discredited
The story caused a sensation but quickly fell under a cloud of doubt. Now the release of the final court judgment in the case leaves the newspaper’s reputation in shreds and surely puts senior journalists’ jobs on the line
Boris Johnson, his marriage and me
I detest him as much as anyone does, but I’d rather we left his relationship with his wife out of it
Sam Allardyce, the Telegraph and another IPSO failure
Read the press and you’d think the sting had been vindicated. Cut through IPSO’s tangled prose, however, and you find the truth is otherwise
If you don’t want the Daily Mail and the Sun to receive public subsidies you need to say so now
A public consultation on future funding of journalism closes on 14 September. It’s a government device to give taxpayers’ money to their press friends. Please let them know you object
The press and Sir Cliff: they have no idea
The response of editors to the judgment shows them out of touch with the public and digging an ever-deeper hole of contempt for their journalism
Theresa May did the bidding of the press, now they call her a traitor
She used up capital cancelling Leveson 2 for them, but it did not buy her favourable coverage. She is the corporate papers’ ever-willing victim: the more she appeases them, the harder they kick her
A dose of reality about IPSO for Matt Hancock
‘Even a cursory consideration shows it does not meet the requirements,’ says the Press Recognition Panel – after the Culture Secretary told us IPSO was just great
Matt Hancock makes himself ‘state approver’ of press arbitration
A week ago the corporate papers were screaming blue murder about threats of state control. Yet now the government has given itself a real power over them they are silent
Leveson 2: they stooped very low to conquer
In the end, none of the arguments mattered, because the Tories had already struck an outlandish and disgraceful deal with the DUP
Local papers cry wolf when there is no danger
Trusted local titles are being used by the corporate press to send out false distress signals even though they have nothing to fear from Leveson reforms
Eight reasons why Leveson 2 must go ahead
This is about trust, democracy, freedom, justice, constitutional propriety and the future of journalism
Leveson reforms back before Parliament
MPs have a chance to put Part 2 of the Leveson inquiry back on track next week, and the vote is too close to call
IPSO and arbitration: don’t get fooled again
After promising million-pound fines, front-page corrections and tough investigations – none of which happened – the sham regulator says it will offer ‘compulsory’ arbitration. We’d be mad to trust it
IPSO’s latest season of calamities
Damned in an official report, exposed as useless by a select committee, incapable of tackling flagrant press dishonesty, caught cherry-picking complaints – the sham press regulator is blundering between disasters
A warning for Grenfell Tower survivors
The inquiry into the disaster has two parts, with the toughest questions due in part 2. But will part 2 ever happen? The example of Leveson 2 says no
How IPSO cherry-picks complaints
The tame press ‘regulator’ faces a court challenge about the way it dismisses some complaints because they are made by the wrong people
Dacre and the Lawrence case: another problem with facts
The Daily Mail editor has been quoted saying something strikingly at odds with his own testimony to the Leveson Inquiry
The Cairncross Review: it’s about subsidising the press
Behind Culture Secretary Matt Hancock’s bold claims about making high-quality journalism sustainable is a sleazy scheme to give public money to the Mail, the Mirror and the Murdoch press
Leveson 2: the Guardian has no case
After endorsing the cancellation of an inquiry into its own corrupt and untrusted industry, the paper offers only obfuscations and distractions
The Daily Mail, Max Mosley and me
The Mail’s obsessive campaign against Max Mosley is a hypocritical bid to distract attention from its own wrongdoings
The Leveson 2 decision shows just how corrupt Britain is
Ministers have shamelessly put their own interests and those of their Murdoch and Mail cronies before those of the public
The Guardian’s Leveson betrayal, line by line
This may well be the most intellectually dishonest and also the sloppiest Guardian editorial in decades
Select committee savages IPSO for failing to protect Muslims
Of 8,148 complaints about discrimination in the press in a year, the industry’s tame regulator upheld just one
Freedom & the local press: a CEO’s misleading message to readers
The boss of regional newspaper group Johnston has written a letter to readers that is packed with distortions
The PM’s journalism ‘review’: a job for Leveson 2
Unless it has the true independence of a public inquiry, Theresa May’s initiative will just be a gravy train for Dacre and Murdoch
Rebekah Brooks and the stink that won’t go away
Her company may be offering ‘sincere apologies’ in court, but the newspaper boss still hasn’t explained why a police officer’s family was targeted
A day of shame for Britain’s corporate press
Two events in one day demonstrate the corrupt power of the press bosses – and their lack of accountability
Leveson: Theresa May gets her facts wrong
The Prime Minister says press reforms backed by the Lords threaten local papers. But locals already have a special opt-out– thanks to measures she helped sponsor
The new culture secretary gets it all wrong first time
Matt Hancock had to choose between the interests of a corrupt national press and those of the people he serves. One tweet gave his preference away
LEVESON 2: 10 LIES TO IGNORE AND TWO QUESTIONS TO ASK
A decision on the second part of the inquiry into the press is imminent and the corporate papers are cranking up the disinformation. Here is an antidote
We are one signature away from a revolution in access to justice
A law has already been passed giving every citizen the right to affordable justice in libel and privacy. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley just has to sign it
Power corrupts, but Rupert Murdoch corrupts absolutely
Amid all the giddy excitement about the Disney deal, Tamara Holder reminded us what matters most: this man’s companies wreck lives
Trust in print journalism: it’s low and that matters
A battery of data show trust at pitiful levels. Journalists need to wake up before it’s too late
Trust, newspapers and journalists: a review of evidence
Is trust in journalism really declining? Which journalists are trusted least? Does it matter? Making sense of what the surveys tell us
IPSO’s badge of dishonour: some alternatives
With a little redrafting, the sham regulator’s new ‘kitemark’ tells a more realistic story
Boris Johnson says Stop Funding Hate is working
A point-by-point commentary on the Foreign Secretary’s attempt to deter campaigners against newspaper hate speech
IPSO, Trevor Kavanagh and a licence to abuse minorities
The Sun columnist has humiliated the puppet regulator and everyone associated with it
The Times and the Tower Hamlets foster care story: bad journalism
A tide of information suggests the report was inaccurate on essentials, omitted vital information and was poorly researched. The paper should come clean
‘MURDERERS’, myths, Macpherson and the Daily Mail
Almost 25 years on from Stephen Lawrence’s murder, it’s time to ask whether the Mail really played the pivotal and progressive role it likes to claim
For the corporate press, persecuting minorities is the new privacy intrusion
Their bread-and-butter activity used to be poking around in people’s personal lives. Now it is monstering Muslims, foreigners and anyone else they think of as different *
KAREN BRADLEY GETS IT WRONG FIVE TIMES
Back in 2013 she voted for the Leveson reforms. Now, as she struggles to justify ditching them, she relies on . . . let’s call them ‘errors’
Latest court bid by corporate press to wreck Leveson ends in humiliation
How can press bosses justify these costly legal failures at a time when print sales are in freefall and they are closing local papers by the fistful?
MURDOCH PAPER MAKES THE CASE FOR LEVESON 2
And no, although the corporate press are desperate to avoid a public examination of who was to blame for the criminality in their ranks, Part Two of the Leveson Inquiry has not been scrapped
A message for Sun advertisers: please stop
Either you support and profit from messages of hatred or you don’t. You can’t fudge this
Mainstream news media have earned the distrust they complain of
A long analysis in the Observer blames everyone but the mainstream media themselves for low public trust – demonstrating the complacency and denial in the industry
Why journalists must report other journalists’ failures
. . . and why the public must complain if they think that’s not happening
Newspapers: how near is the end?
A central feature of British life for more than two centuries, the printed morning newspaper will soon disappear for good. And it looks as though some of the biggest names will be the next to go.
Election 2017: the failures of journalism
British journalism could learn from its mistakes in covering the election, but will it?
Paul Dacre: colossus to dinosaur
For a year and more the Daily Mail’s editor towered over this country and a craven Tory party did his bidding. Now the electorate has stood up to him
Journalists in the US are fighting the problem. In the UK they are the problem
British journalism is failing democracy and our journalists don’t seem to care
The Tories hand the press their Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card
Worse still: May’s promise to ditch Leveson 2 and cheap arbitration would give the corporate national papers carte blanche to breach our rights in future
In despair? Maybe you are right to be. But let’s talk
Two brilliant events that look to the future
Three questions about the media that politicians must be asked
There is near-silence about the future of the media in this election, yet the winners must take momentous decisions about broadcasting and the press
Phone hacking: don’t let them fool you, most victims were ordinary people
Famous targets get the headlines but three-quarters of those illegally hacked by newspapers were people you’ve never heard of
The press and the election: four things we already know
This election could hand big corporate newspapers more power than they’ve ever had. But they’ll do all they can to drown out debate on the subject
Court hands ministers access-to-justice challenge
With ‘no-win-no-fee’ deals harder to get in libel cases, government must choose whether to back the corporate press or the ordinary citizen
Corporate press seeks to neuter the libel laws
if you thought today’s national press appeared unrestrained, just wait for tomorrow’s.