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SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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How Nigel Farage, Major Media Outlets and Ofcom ‘Normalised Islamophobia and Then Justified It’
Farage would be cancelled if he said the same things about Jews as he does Muslims – yet he gets endless airtime
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The Big Questions Nigel Farage Should be Asked by the Media
Why is a party with so few elected representatives and even fewer ideas being given such an easy ride?
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How Climate Change Went From a Hot Political Issue to a Tool to ‘Divide and Polarise’ the Public in Just Five Years
Climate leadership is not the vote loser its opponents like to portray it as – but the danger for the climate movement is assuming public support will endure forever, argues Russell Warfield
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‘Only a Bold Vision from Labour Will Restore Any Faith in Our Broken Politics’
Jennifer Nadel, co-founder of Compassion in Politics, argues that Westminster’s dysfunctional system under a potential Labour government could leave the door open to far-right politics in the years ahead
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‘Diane Abbott’s Treatment Raises Big Concerns About Racism and Factionalism in the Labour Party’
Labour figures from across Keir Starmer’s party are furious about her treatment by the leadership
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‘This General Election Will be the Dirtiest But Most Sophisticated Campaign So Far – Don’t be Fooled’
The Conservative “machine” will target voters with messages that speak to them, which appear to come from sources they trust. Here’s what to watch out for
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‘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
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Report on Closure of Private School is ‘Attempt by Conservative Establishment to Scare Voters Away From Labour – and has Nothing to do With Party’s VAT Payment Plans’
Alton School is closing due to a “continued decline in pupil numbers” and years of financial challenges, yet the closure is being reported in connection with Labour plans to introduce a 20% VAT levy on private school fees
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‘OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson Update Wasn’t About Bridging the Gap Between Tech and Creatives – It Was Just Sexist’
The CPT-4o update was removed just a week after going live and led to the A-lister releasing a statement
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‘Journalists Aren’t Asking the Right Questions On Why the Metropolitan Police is Such a Failing Institution’
The latest episode of the hit Media Storm podcast focuses on how the press frames our damaging and discriminatory policing culture
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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
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Neoliberalism: ‘Capitalism’s Response to Democracy’
Matt Gallagher watched Guardian columnist George Monbiot make the case for a ‘politics of belonging’ – but how to get there?
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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
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Stop the Student Votes: Leaked Memo Exposes the Real Purpose of Voter ID
The leaked memo reveals Downing Street feared letting veterans use their veteran IDs would “open the floodgates” to also making it easier for students to vote
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Infected Blood Inquiry: Why a ‘Misconduct in Public Office Act’ Could Hold Those Behind State Tragedies, Scandals and Frauds Properly to Account
Despite a raft of public scandals involving government corruption and negligence, there is still no adequate statutory framework to bring those guilty of misconduct in a public office to account
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The Curtain Comes Down on the Conservatives’ Theatre of Cruelty
Hardeep Matharu, Editor of Byline Times, explores why the June 2024 print edition focuses on how ‘cruelty is the point’, to a point – and what the left must understand about the role of emotion in politics today
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The Plan is Working: Rishi Sunak Races Up the Rich List as Homelessness Soars
The Prime Minister and his wife’s personal wealth rose to £651 million amid the biggest fall in living standards for British people since records began
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Toxic Media Climate: ‘Air Pollution Is As Invisible in the Press As It Is in Our Atmosphere’
The latest episode of the hit Media Storm podcast focuses on how journalists have covered ULEZ, often politicising the issue rather than exploring it through a health lens
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Six Things Keir Starmer’s ‘Six Steps’ Tell us About the Labour Party
The Labour leader’s new six ‘first steps’ for Government reveal a lot about the kind of administration he plans to lead
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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
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The Kremlin’s Game of Thrones: Why did Putin Sack Shoigu?
Putin may replace his long-standing Defence Minister but cannot tackle the real cause of his disastrous foreign policy – himself
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‘Why the BBC Should Give a Voice to the Terminally Ill in Its Assisted Dying Documentary’
The latest episode of the hit Media Storm podcast focuses on a new programme arguing against the legalisation of assisted dying – but some viewpoints are missing
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‘Assisted Suicide: Always Personal and Always Political’
For Penny Pepper, debates about changing the law on assisted suicide are a way in for a dangerous, niggling, idea of how we should value disabled people’s lives
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‘Kevin Spacey Unmasked’: Why Feminists Must Use their Campaigning Experience to Fight Discrimination Against #MenToo
The executive producer of a new compelling documentary into the disgraced actor reveals why being a man should not make a difference when it comes to being a victim of unwanted sexual advances
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‘Labour Won the Local Elections but it has a Problem – it Can’t Engage With UK Muslims’
Labour’s triumph was almost entirely due to a collapse in Conservative support. To succeed in the General Election it must directly engage with a new generation of British Muslim voters
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Why Mayors Outside Westminster Are Distancing Themselves From their Parties’ Politics and Colours
Much was made of newly elected Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen not being able to find a blue rosette – but outside the Westminster bubble associations with party brands are often an obstacle to get work done
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‘Keir Starmer’s General Election Reality and Why Comparisons with Tony Blair’s Victory Are Problematic’
Professor Chris Painter explores the likely determinants of the next general election outcome – which polls consistently predict Labour will win
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‘When Articles Exclude Voices of People They’re About, It’s Dehumanising’ – UK’s Biggest Media Players are the Worst Offenders
Once you notice their silence, you can’t not hear it – introducing a new Byline Times column to accompany the new series of the hit podcast Media Storm
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The Local Election Results Flush the Conservative Party’s Culture War Strategy Down the Gender Neutral Toilet
The Conservative party’s strategy of trying to win the general election through a mixture of ‘culture wars and the trans debate’ is only worsening their defeats to Labour
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How the Georgian ‘Foreign Agents Bill’ May Cost it Everything its People Have Ever Dreamed Of – And Benefit No One But Russia
Georgian Dream’s ‘Russian-style’ law has prompted strong statements of concern from the UK, US and EU with critics saying it is an attempt to muzzle the media and NGOs – it may also end Georgia’s hopes of joining the EU
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Drax to ‘Begin one of the Most Expensive Energy Projects in the World – And UK Public Will Pay Three Times Over’
Through its expensive and harmful bioenergy with carbon capture scheme (BECCS), Drax will impose a triple cost on taxpayers in the form of public money for subsidies, higher energy bills, and more extreme weather, the CEO of the Environmental Justice Foundation argues
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‘We Must Stop Incitement of Violence Against Environmental Activists Before Someone is Seriously Harmed’
Regulators are failing to stop the media from encouraging vigilante action against activists – the law must step in to keep them safe, argues Tom Hardy
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The Labour Scandal that’s Arguably Bigger than the Angela Rayner Story
The new Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething and the £200,000 donation that could trigger a leadership crisis
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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
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‘With his Poll Ratings Sinking, Sunak Goes For One More Attempt at Scapegoating the Vulnerable: The “Skivers” Revisited’
The Prime Minister’s announcements on sickness and disability benefits were not just another assault on an already punitive welfare system – they were nuclear-level gaslighting, writes Mary O’Hara
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‘The Prayer Ban at Michaela Community School Will Not Set a Landmark Precedent’
The CEO of the Islamophobia Response Unit sets out the significance of the High Court’s ruling being made in a very specific context of one school’s strict behavioural regime
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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
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Special Report: Our Society’s ‘Non-Human’ Population – A National Scandal Ignored
Hardeep Matharu, Editor of Byline Times, explains why the May 2024 print edition focuses on the denial of human rights and basic care to people with learning disabilities
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‘Gideon Falter Came to a Pro-Palestine Demo Looking to Provoke – And the Media Gave him What He Wanted’
The chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism appears to have got ‘exactly what he came for’ at the march, according to a witness who was there
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‘Asylum Seekers Could Make UK £1.2 Billion – Instead the Government is Spending That On Keeping them in Inhumane Conditions’
One solution to the UK’s economic and labour shortage problems is asylum seekers – if only the Government stopped to consider options other than sending them to Rwanda
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Russia’s war Against Ukraine is About to get a lot More Difficult for Vladimir Putin
While Ukraine has struggled to maintain vital supplies, Russia has lost all momentum and is pushing for a timeout just as things are set to dramatically change, writes Paul Niland. Here’s what will happen next
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‘Neglected, Exhausted and Exploited’: A Mum’s Story of Caring for her Disabled Daughter 24 Hours a Day
A parent carer to a severely disabled woman explains just how difficult life can be – and just how little help and support is available
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Voter Data is Being Trawled by Conservative Politicians – Help Us Shine a Light On It
Help Byline Times follow the dark money and track the dirty data as millions are spent on online political campaigning this election year
