BBC reaches record global audience in 2020 despite cash crunch July 23, 2020 The BBC reached its highest ever audience in 2020, the broadcaster announced today, as it faces the most serious financial difficulty in its 97-year history amid the coronavirus pandemic. The public service broadcaster announced it reached 468.2m people a week in 2020, with BBC News scooping up the bulk of the share with 438.3m weekly [...]
Ofcom orders TV, phone and internet providers to stop preying on vulnerable customers July 23, 2020 Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has ordered phone, broadband and pay-TV companies to stop threatening to disconnect vulnerable customers struggling to pay their bills amid financial uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic. In new guidance issued this morning, Ofcom said the coronavirus pandemic has increased the likelihood of customers’ circumstances changing suddenly, making it more likely some customers [...]
Amber Heard’s former neighbour: Police said they had ‘enough’ to arrest Johnny Depp for domestic assault July 22, 2020 Amber Heard’s former neighbour today told the High Court that police said they had “enough” to arrest Johnny Depp for domestic assault following a fight between the former couple at their shared penthouse in Los Angeles in 2016. The court heard evidence from Heard’s friend and former neighbour Joshua Drew via video link from LA [...]
Former BBC boss Mark Thompson steps down as New York Times chief July 22, 2020 Mark Thompson, a former boss at the BBC and Channel 4, is to step down as chief executive of the New York Times. He will be replaced by the newspaper’s chief operating officer Meredith Kopit Levien, who was also previously its advertising head. Levien said she intends to focus on expanding the newspaper’s subscription model, [...]
Labour calls for review of Russia Today’s UK TV licence July 22, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for state-backed broadcaster Russia Today (RT) to have its TV licence reviewed on the back of fresh warnings about Kremlin interference in the UK. Starmer called on Boris Johnson at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to “stop the spread of Kremlin-backed disinformation”, adding that the UK’s High Court [...]
Wall Street Journal staff attack ‘misinformation’ and ‘racism’ in newspaper’s opinion section July 22, 2020 Almost 300 journalists at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal (WSJ) have sent a letter to the newspaper’s publisher lambasting “misinformation” regarding coronavirus and racism in its opinion section. The letter, signed by hundreds of reporters, editors and video journalists, accused WSJ’s opinion pages of a “lack of fact-checking and transparency” and a “disregard for [...]
Amber Heard admits punching ex-husband Johnny Depp during heated row July 21, 2020 Amber Heard has admitted that she punched ex-husband Johnny Depp during a heated row at their Los Angeles penthouse in 2015, as Depp’s court battle against the Sun newspaper enters its third week. Depp is suing the Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) and the Sun’s executive editor Dan Wootton over an article from April [...]
MPs criticise government for slow coronavirus misinformation response July 21, 2020 MPs have lashed out at the government over its failure to respond to concerns regarding online harms during the coronavirus pandemic, calling for legislation to be introduced as a matter of urgency. Members of the Digital, Cultural, Media and Sport select committee published a report today in which they pushed the government to name the [...]
Guardian to close weekend supplements as coronavirus batters newspaper July 16, 2020 The Guardian is planning to close its weekend supplements, after the firm yesterday announced 180 job cuts as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to hammer the newspaper’s finances. The Guardian is considering closing its Weekend, The Guide, Review and Travel print supplements, with further shake-ups to the newspaper’s size also expected. The newspaper is also mulling [...]
BBC to make 520 job cuts in news department July 15, 2020 The BBC has said it will axe 520 jobs in its news department as a result of the coronavirus crisis, marking 70 more redundancies than the broadcaster had originally planned. The BBC said in January that it intended to axe 450 jobs within its news department, but plans were put on hold due to the [...]