by admin | Mar 26, 2020 | Press
In the middle of the worst public health crisis in our lifetimes comes some familiar news. There are always some who make a profit out of public adversity. So step forward Bill Ackman a hedge fund manager who according to The Guardian (26 March) has claimed his firm...
by admin | Feb 16, 2020 | BBC, Press
Last week I sent out an email to contacts telling them about a new Government inquiry into the future of journalism. Chaired by Lord Gilbert of Panteg, chair of the House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee, it will investigate how the production and...
by admin | Feb 9, 2020 | Press, Reviews
Almost a year after it was published, the government has finally responded the recommendations of Dame Frances Cairncross’s review into the sustainability of the UK news industry (see my 20 February 2019 blog at: http://thespark.me.uk/?p=1074 ) . Whilst accepting most...
by admin | Nov 26, 2019 | Press
If elected on 12 December, will a new Tory government unleash an attack on some of the democratic traditions we have taken for granted for many years? After all, during the last parliament there were frequent attacks on MPs’ attempts to hold the government to...
by admin | Feb 20, 2019 | Press, Reviews
Almost a year ago the government announced the setting up of a commission chaired by Dame Frances Cairncross to examine the future of local journalism. It reported earlier this month. Its purpose was to look into the sustainability of high-quality journalism, and...
by admin | Nov 14, 2018 | Campaigns, international, media freedom, Press
It’s some 6 weeks since the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist in what, on the basis of the evidence so far, was a state sponsored killing, which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. To date the Saudi ruling elite,...
