by barry | Mar 11, 2023 | Government, nuj, Reviews, unions
Yorkshireman Sir Bernard Ingham who died on 24 February aged 90 is best known for being Margaret Thatcher’s high profile press secretary a post he held for eleven years. He was regarded as a highly effective propagandist for the Thatcher cause. But he was not always a...
by barry | Feb 25, 2023 | Campaigns, censorship, Government, media freedom, Press, whistle blowing
Recent press reports reveal that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ordered the controversial Bill be reviewed because of concerns about its impact on journalism https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/national-security-bill-journalists-public-interest-defence/ . This...
by barry | Feb 12, 2023 | Campaigns, censorship, freedom of information, Government, media freedom, whistle blowing
Last week at Prime Minister’s Question Time, Labour MP for Streatham in south London, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, asked the Prime Minister to come clean on how much public money has been spent on secretive Whitehall ‘counter disinformation units’...
by barry | Nov 10, 2022 | Campaigns, censorship, freedom of information, Government, media freedom
In June I blogged that the government had introduced its much heralded National Security Bill into Parliament: https://thespark.me.uk/2022/06/15/governments-new-security-bill-threatens-whistle-blowers-and-journalists-and-our-right-to-know/. In the government’s view...
by barry | Nov 7, 2022 | Campaigns, Government, media ownership, Public Service Broadcasting
It’s reasonable to say that there have been a number of twists and turns since the Johnson government first announced it was considering privatising the commercially-funded public service broadcaster. Last July the broadcaster published its delayed Annual Report with...
by barry | Oct 10, 2022 | freedom of information, Government, media freedom, Press, whistle blowing
More than seven thousand people joined hands to form a human chain around the Palace of Westminster on Saturday to protest against the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and demand his freedom. They linked arms outside parliament along Westminster Bridge...
