No tracking. No cookies
Subscriptions
SubscriptionsColumn / Investigation: The Crisis in British Journalism
Byline Times investigates media monopolies, their proximity to politicians, and how the punditocracy doesn’t hold power to account
-
Private Investigator Convicted of Milly Dowler Phone Hacking Lodges Appeal Amid Claims he was ‘Scapegoat’
Private eye at heart of phone-hacking scandal claims he was wrongly convicted twice for same crime as he launches “vindicating” book
-
‘BBC Hopes to Remind Viewers of its Tradition of Authoritative Journalism By Having Clive Myrie Join Laura Kuenssberg for its Election Night Coverage’
Having a figure such as Kuenssberg in such a prominent position during the upheavals of the past 14 years helped the BBC appease its implacable Conservative enemies, writes former BBC producer and journalist Patrick Howse
-
How Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code Revisions Are Anything But – And Why Allowing GB News to Cover the General Election is ‘Terrifying’
Ofcom’s attempt at addressing concerns has resulted in ‘no substantive changes’ – but it now says it is considering sanctions against GB News for breaking impartiality rules
-
The Spectacle of Impunity: Phone-Hacking Cover-Up Claims Cross the Atlantic
With news that senior Murdoch executives now face a civil trial, Peter Jukes looks back on a decade of deceit
-
Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary Says the Press is Bound by the Law: Has She Been Paying Any Attention?
Days after four more current national newspaper editors were accused of having acted unlawfully, the party’s media spokesperson rules out future action on press accountability
-
The Shadowy Conglomerate Behind LBC
Frances Coppola looks at the rise of Global and reveals that much of the UK’s radio network is controlled by an opaque offshore entity
-
Sangita Myska: More Media Figures Sign Open Letter to LBC Expressing ‘Deep Concern’ About Her Departure
Broadcasters and politicians say they fear her “abrupt” exit from the station means “excellent journalists are at risk for simply doing their job and asking robust questions”.
-
Murdoch Empire Hacked Politicians for Commercial Gain and Hid Evidence, New Report Suggests
New evidence suggests that Murdoch’s company targeted politicians of every rank, including the Attorney General and Chancellor
-
‘Fire Farage’: Public Wants Ofcom to Ban GB News Politician Presenters
The poll comes as broadcasting regulators give the green light to Nigel Farage and other senior politicians to keep presenting on news channels during the general election
-
Rishi to the Rescue: How the Prime Minister ‘Moved Heaven and Earth to Help the Conservative Press’
The Government went to bat for Conservative media titans to quickly block the Telegraph takeover bid – yet more pressing reforms often take years to progress
-
Ofcom Confirms GB News Is Not Being Held to Different Rules on Impartiality
Julian Petley and the Good Law Project informed the broadcast regulator that it would apply for judicial review of its approach to the controversial channel unless it made clear the same rules apply to it
-
Caroline Flack’s Lawyer Suggests Decision to Charge her May Have Been ‘Driven by Desire’ to Appease Media as Met Police Probe Case
A recent Byline Times investigation uncovered evidence that led to the Metropolitan Police announcing that it is re-examining its decision to charge the TV star with assault
-
We’re All ‘Funding Hate’: UK Government Biggest Spender on GB News Advertising
Film producer and former peer David Puttnam speaks up against taxpayer support for the controversial channel
-
Newspapers Knew New Team GB Kit Was Not a ‘Flag Redesign’ Project
A Team GB spokesperson told Nathan Jones-Sparkes that the British Olympic Association was very clear with the press that its new kit design would always feature the Union Jack
-
Lawfare: How Journalists and Activists Can Combat Vexatious Litigation
Lawyer Stephen Kinsella examines the exploitative use of legal threats, and offers advice on how not to play the game
-
Princess Diana ‘Phone Pest’ Story Links Both Rupert Murdoch and Piers Morgan to the ‘Criminal-Media Nexus’ of Police Corruption
An amended claim by Prince Harry in the High Court puts both the interviewer and newspaper mogul in the spotlight
-
‘Telegraph Takeover Bid Backed by UAE Doesn’t Matter – Because there’s an Agenda at Every Newspaper’
A former Editor of The Independent provides an inside look at just how much influence the owners of British newspapers – including Rupert Murdoch – have on what gets written
-
‘Why We Will Apply to Take Ofcom to Court Unless It Explains Its Approach to GB News’
Julian Petley and the Good Law Project argue that the channel is being held to different standards on impartiality from those governing public service broadcasters
-
‘Starmer Cosied Up to the Murdoch Press in the Same Week It Faced New Allegations of Criminality – Why?’
The latest legal claims allege that law-breaking at the Murdoch tabloids has been even more widespread and systematic than previously acknowledged
-
The BBC’s Road to Appeasement
As Theresa May’s former Communications Director Robbie Gibb is re-appointed to the BBC board, the new retail edition of Byline Times’ reveals the inside story of how the corporation was cowed by the Conservative party machine
-
Sunak’s Private Meetings With Murdochs and Right-Wing Editors Were Purely ‘Social’ Says Government
Voters will never know what was discussed between the PM and media bosses
-
Prince Harry Demands Piers Morgan Police Probe as ‘Shockingly Dishonest’ Mirror Pays Out Again Over Hacking
Substantial evidence of criminal behaviour and cover-up at Mirror Group Newspapers emerged last summer at trial
-
Morgan On Marcus Rashford: Did Someone Say ‘Hypocrisy’?
A recent column by the former Editor of the Daily Mirror on the superstar footballer revealed more about himself than the 26-year-old England player, writes Mic Wright
-
Labour Backs Leveson-Style Press Reforms in Commons Vote
The party’s decision signals continuing, if low-key, commitment to press reform, writes Brian Cathcart
-
Keir Starmer and the Labour Party – Press and Pundits Running Out of Dirty Tricks
Veteran media observer Tim Fenton watches as the right wing press paints itself into a pre-election corner
-
Time for Truth: Calls Grow for Police Probe into Piers Morgan and Mirror Editors
A prominent lawyer, hacking victim and an ex-police officer are joining Prince Harry in demanding police action into Mirror Group crimes and alleged lies to the Leveson Inquiry
-
‘Media Bill Votes Will Show Us the Real Keir Starmer’
How far will Labour go to appease the billionaire press ahead of the general election? We are about to find out, writes Brian Cathcart
-
Culture Secretary Hits Out at Supposed BBC Bias – But Claims Ofcom-Hit GB News is ‘Balanced’
The comments come despite GB News being subject to a swathe of Ofcom complaints about its broadcasts and Conservative MPs interviewing other Conservative MPs on the channel
-
‘Morals More Akin to the Mafia’: Former Minister on Illegality at the Murdoch Empire
From politicised phone hacking to aiding and abetting insurrection, the lawless threat of Murdoch’s organisations to democracy is only now becoming clear
-
TalkTV Boss Told Staff to ‘Make a Fuss’ About Channel Migrant Deaths and ‘Get Angry’
A News UK insider described the apparent attempts by the struggling channel to rile up viewers as ‘irresponsible’
-
‘Starmer’s Refusal to Confront the Press Isn’t Just a Mistake – It’s Irresponsible’
If the Labour Leader does not embrace media reform now, he never will – and the entire country will be far worse off as a result, writes Brian Cathcart
-
Rishi Sunak Meets Murdochs More than NHS Figures in Latest Lobbying Revelations
Sunak had eight meetings with senior media executives over the Summer – compared to just one meeting with health professionals.
-
Plurality and the Press: The Telegraph Takeover
The role of broadcasting and communications regulator Ofcom in scrutinising the proposed newspaper deal has not received the scrutiny it deserves, writes Julian Petley
-
Piers Morgan’s Statement on the Prince Harry Phone Hacking Case – Annotated
Dr Evan Harris, former Director of Hacked Off and now a legal analyst to the successful claimants against Mirror Group Newspapers over phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering, deconstructs former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan’s statement on the damning judgement against the firm last week.
-
Piers Morgan: ‘A Pretty Despicable Human Being’
Following the landmark judgment against the Mirror Group in the High Court, Byline Times is reprinting Paddy French’s June 2015 Press Gang article about Piers Morgan and unlawful information gathering
-
Respected Health Professionals Feel ‘Duped’ into Appearing in Michelle Mone PPE Documentary
A film about the PPE scandal did not declare to some contributors it was being funded by a company that won £203 million in Government PPE contracts
-
Ministers Accused of Waging ‘Culture War’ on BBC Amid Licence Review and More Cuts
The BBC will have to make £90m of cuts on top of its current £400m annual funding gap – while its entire funding model could be ripped up.
-
‘Reckless to the Point of Madness’: How the Murdoch Empire Hacked British Politics
Journalist Nick Davies talks to Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber in Prospect magazine’s ‘Media Confidential’ podcast about the new revelations from the settlement by News Group Newspapers
-
‘News Corp Was Out to Get Me’: Chris Huhne Condemns Murdoch Empire after Settlement for Phone-Hacking and Intrusion
The media company has now paid to settle a claim that alleges the involvement in, or at least the knowledge of, illegal activities by senior executives
-
‘The BBC’s Claim About COP28 Secret Oil Deals Is Deeply Flawed’
The job of journalism is not to reinforce a pre-existing bias, writes Nafeez Ahmed
-
‘The BBC’s Evisceration of Newsnight is a Craven Admission of Defeat’
Former BBC producer and reporter Patrick Howse explores why the cuts announced to the corporation’s flagship news programme are another damning, but unsurprising, blow to its reputation
-
Did Boris Johnson’s Circle Try to ‘Fix’ Who Became Head of Ofcom?
A potential cover-up I unearthed in the weeds of Nadine Dorries’s book remains a mystery. It has damaged the BBC, the broadcast regulator, and the process of public appointments
-
The Media, Johnson and Covid: ‘An Orgy of Narcissism’ that Killed Thousands
As the Covid Inquiry has revealed, Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings are morbid symptoms of a sick system. At the heart of that sickness is the media
