Outside the system
Column / Investigation: Truth Captured
Oligarch press ownership, BBC capture, disinformation networks, the weaponisation of free speech, and the media’s refusal to investigate itself.
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‘Habibi’: The Anatomy of an Influence Operation on X
An exclusive six-month investigation by Byline Times has mapped the workings of pile-ons and cancellations of public figures on social media
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Jason Arday Again Cleared of Plagiarism as His Attackers Launch an ‘Independent Inquiry’
Backed by Reform UK megadonor Ben Delo, the Committee for Academic Freedom defended Arday’s accusers and has now commissioned a report into his appointment by Cambridge University
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The Media ‘Manufactured’ Millionaire Exodus From UK, Campaigners Tell IPSO in Open Letter
Eleven campaign groups write to the official regulator demanding an investigation, saying eight newspapers misrepresented a discredited study in their reporting
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Former Ofcom Standards Chief Condemns Watchdog’s ‘Two Tier’ Approach to GB News
Former regulator calls for a clampdown as Andy Burnham’s Government tells Byline Times that ministers are now ‘exploring what action to take’ about MPs like Nigel Farage double-jobbing as presenters on GB News
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The BBC’s Dangerous Attempt to Balance Truth With Lies
When you have one side lying and the other side trying to tell the truth, the BBC’s misguided approach to balance inevitably favours the liar, argues former BBC reporter and producer Patrick Howse
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Green Party Would Force Daily Mail Owner to Sell Up Papers
Zack Polanski’s party also backs plans to force media companies to operate under a licence granted by a regulator
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Times Higher Education, Sponsored by Orbán’s Hungary, Failed to Report James Orr Allegations
The publication signed a partnership with Viktor Orbán’s government and has since published no coverage of the allegations around a Cambridge academic and former Reform UK policy chief whose foundation receives Hungary-linked funding
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‘Andy Burnham’s Plans to Make Britain Great Again Are the Polar Opposite of Trump’s’
If Burnham succeeds where Trump has failed, the whole MAGA agenda will be exposed, argues Alexandra Hall Hall
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Rupert Murdoch Flew Kemi Badenoch and Her Deputy to Mediterranean for Summer Trips Worth £12,000
The Conservative leader and Alex Burghart MP held “off-site meetings” with the billionaire media mogul in August
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Reform Council Leader Denies Climate Change Crisis After Record Heat Deaths
Leader of Kent County Council dismisses recent surge of wildfires and heat deaths as a “scare” and suggests the world is merely emerging from a “mini ice age”
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Nigel Farage Handed Platform by GB News to Defend Reform UK’s £72m Donations From Crypto Billionaires
“These donations are completely legal,” insisted the Reform UK leader as he used his first appearance as a GB News host for six months to dismiss all questions about where his party is getting its record-breaking funding from
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The BBC Is Just Nodding Along
The corporation’s news coverage has lost its soul as a bulwark against unaccountable power and extremism, writes a former BBC News producer
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Where Are the Climate Protests? Human Rights Group Warns Government Crackdown Is Silencing the Green Movement
Liberty says a slew of new anti-protest measures, including a ban on ‘cumulative disruption’ are silencing calls for government action to prevent catastrophic climate collapse
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Jason Arday: We Must Rage – Rage Against the Journalism of Cruelty
The death of the academic shows the casual conversion of humiliation into entertainment by a media running on monetised hate and cruelty
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UK Government Sues Conservative-Linked VIP Lane PPE Firm for £90 Million
Documents obtained by Byline Times reveal how a Conservative MP whose office is housed in a building owned by the firm, lobbied officials to push through the deal
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Talk TV Host André Walker Found Guilty of Assaulting Climate Protester at Pro-Trump Dinner
Presenter at Rupert Murdoch-owned station assaulted protester and NHS doctor Kush Naker, a judge finds
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Zack Polanski Promotes Radical Plan to Break Up Britain’s ‘Billionaire Media’
Green leader throws weight behind Media Sovereignty Act campaign to stop press barons “literally buying democracy”
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Talk TV Presenter Dragged Climate Activist Into Room and Assaulted Him During Pro-Trump Dinner, Court Told
André Walker denies assault by beating over incident at Republicans Overseas gala dinner during Trump’s state visit to the UK
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News UK Keeps André Walker on Air Despite Talk Presenter’s Assault Trial Over Trump Dinner Clash
EXCLUSIVE: André Walker, accused of assault by beating over a clash with a Fossil Free London activist during the President’s state visit, continues to front shows for the Murdoch-owned station
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‘The BBC’s Ill-Conceived Cuts Sacrifice Journalists In Order To Save Managers’
The BBC is sacking journalists whilst leaving layers of largely superfluous and expensive management in place, argues former BBC reporter Patrick Howse
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Ofcom Taken to Court After Clearing Talk TV’s ‘Torrent of Transphobia’
The regulator is accused of allowing the Murdoch-owned station to “serve as a megaphone for billionaires to spread toxic lies and amplify dangerous, far-right rhetoric”
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Why the British Press Is Really Angry About the Government’s Planned Media ‘Prominence’ Law
Julian Petley on the real reasons why the right-wing press are so worried about plans to ensure online platforms prioritise trustworthy news over disinformation
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As Extreme Heat Hits London, Fossil Fuel Interests and Global Far-Right Politicians Gather for a ‘Glastonbury of Climate Science Deniers’
Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch are both scheduled to address the event, reports Max Colbert
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Whatever Happened to the Brexit Battalion Media Corps?
Ten years and six prime ministers on, Byline Times looks at the fate of Brexit’s most prominent media cheerleaders
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GB News Presenter Denied Racist Violence in Belfast Was a ‘Riot’ and Claimed ‘Not a House Has Been Burnt Down’
Bev Turner told her viewers that the Belfast violence amounted to mere ‘skirmishes’ despite hundreds of masked men terrorising migrants and ethnic minority people in the city
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Big Oil Employees Wrote Paper Behind Kemi Badenoch’s North Sea Fantasy
The Conservative leader and her media supporters used a new study as evidence to support her plan to increase drilling in the North Sea, without declaring who was really behind it
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Peter Mandelson, the New Statesman, and How the ‘Soft PR’ Sausage Gets Made
Mic Wright looks at evidence of backroom media wheeler dealing revealed in the recent tranche of documents released to Parliament
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Anger Over Oxford Union’s Tommy Robinson Invite Amid Suggestions of GB News Deal
The Union now denies that GB News— whose presenter Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg sits as a trustee of the Union’s governing charity — is set to film the far-right activist’s appearance, but concerns remain
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Keir Starmer’s Government Allows UK’s Biggest Polluter to Power AI by Burning Wood
Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs accuse Drax of ‘sleight of hand’ as it sidesteps £460 million government subsidy conditions in order to power AI
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He Who Pays the Piper: The BBC, Tony Blair, Rishi Sunak and a Failure of Journalism
News organisations need to be much clearer about the potential conflicts of interests that surround the ‘interventions’ made by former politicians, argues Adam Bienkov
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How ‘Anonymous Quotes’ Are Used by Political Journalists and Spin Doctors to Deceive the Public
A startling admission by a Times journalist has revealed how political journalism and power really works in Westminster, reports Peter Oborne
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Times Journalist Reveals Westminster Fake News Scam
Stories quoting three sources can be nothing of the sort, according to the Times parliamentary sketch writer: they are all from the same person – a single Labour spin doctor
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Government Urged to Act Fast to Prevent ‘Taps Running Dry’ Due to AI Data Centres and Climate Crisis
A new parliamentary report warns that rising temperatures, widespread leaks and the demands of a growing AI industry are putting unsustainable pressure on our water supply
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Ofcom Upholds Met Office Complaint Against Talk TV for Claiming Forecaster ‘Made Up’ Temperature Data
Exclusive: Broadcast regulator censures now-sacked Mike Graham’s show for unfairness to Met Office in landmark case
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10,000 People Sign Official Petition Demanding Government End ‘Capture of UK Democracy by Media Billionaires’
Ministers will be forced to respond to the proposals for a new ‘Media Sovereignty Act’ after campaigners passed a key threshold
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The Political and Media Myopia That Has Paralysed Keir Starmer’s Government
Distorted and biased media coverage and short-sighted politics in Westminster have both prevented Starmer’s Government from reaching its potential, argues Professor Chris Painter
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Britain’s Solar Revolution Is Here and We Should Be Shouting It From the Rooftops
Ed Miliband is helping to turn the country into a nation of ‘solar zealots’ and Josiah Mortimer is enthusiastically along for the ride
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GB News Hosts Reform UK and Conservative Politicians and Activists Posing as Ordinary Voters
The individuals were presented as ordinary members of the public, without informing viewers of their political affiliations, a new Byline Times investigation reveals
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From Coal Tip to Clean Energy: The UK Projects Turning Former Mines Into Renewable Powerhouses
Solar farms, wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps are breathing new life into former collieries. So why don’t we hear more about them?
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Kemi Badenoch Campaigns For North Sea Drilling at Company Owned by Oil and Gas Executive Who Donated £250,000 to the Conservatives
The Conservative party, which calls the Government’s plans for replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy “crazy” has also taken millions of pounds from funders and directors of anti-Net Zero lobby groups
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Spinning on His Axel: The Right-Wing Politics of the Billionaire Businessman Taking Over the Telegraph
Julian Petley investigates what really motivates the German media mogul taking over Britain’s leading conservative broadsheet
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MattGPT: The Sorry Tale of Matt Goodwin’s AI-Assisted, Fake-Quote-Filled New Book
It turns out that even ChatGPT has a more stringent approach to accuracy than the former professor, Matt Goodwin, reports Mic Wright
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Daily Mail Forced to Correct Electric Car Price Claim After Misleading Readers
Self-appointed press regulator IPSO initially refused to investigate the paper, until polling suggested that nearly two-thirds of readers had been misled
