The Chompsky Weekly #73
In which the BBC is in an "extreme neoliberal cult".
Hello all.
Guardian columnist George Monbiot has accused the BBC of being ‘captured by right-wing thinktanks’ and “break[ing] its own rules to promote and normalise an extreme neoliberal cult”.
(WOW, George, tell us what you really think.)
To be fair, though, he’s not even exaggerating. Lobby groups funded by “tobacco firms, oil firms and foreign oligarchs” are platformed by the BBC “to comment on the performance of this government as if they are impartial observers, rather than the authors of its policies”.
To continue hopping astride the conspiracy bannister, he followed his column up with a tweet saying that, though he’s “sure this is just coincidence and means nothing”, on re-reading a Truss speech he was “struck by this weirdly redundant phrase”:
While delivering this speech, he says, she was wearing a dress “identical to the fascist leader's in [dystopian BBC drama] Years and Years”…
“I couldn't help feeling a slight shiver”.
I reckon this proves all conspiracy theories are 100% true.
Joking aside, that dress is amazing though. If I wanted to hint to people that I was a fascist, this is definitely how I would do it.
It’s Tuesday 11th October, 2022
Media News
Ten years since Lord Justice Leveson published his report into the culture, practices and ethics of the press, the Daily Mail is, for the first time, being sued for phone hacking and other illegal activities. Associated Papers, parent company of the Mail, Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, is being sued by Ex-Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes for phone hacking, and also by a group of high-profile people such as Prince Harry, Elton John and Doreen Lawrence, for bugging their homes and cars. (The Guardian/Press Gazette)
Reach plc, the largest newspaper publisher in the UK, has revealed the financial impact of the advertising blackout following the Queen’s death. Their losses “more than offset” any uptick in sales following the news: while the Express and the Mirror saw 30% higher circulation of issues on September 9, this only translated to a 4.3% rise overall in September. Ad money was down 32.2% in total for September, compared to 17% in July and August. (Press Gazette)
Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund which bought a huge number of US newspapers in recent years, has told editors of its almost 200 titles to “end the practice of endorsing major political candidates in their opinion pages”. They say they intend to prevent “culture wars” clashes, and push back against the conflation of opinion and news. (NYT)
John Cleese, a long-time critic of both “cancel culture” and legacy media, is taking up a slot on right-leaning GB News. He says he wants to talk about “important information that gets censored”. (The Guardian)
Following in the footsteps of Australia’s News Bargaining Code, the Canadian government has estimated Google and Facebook may end up paying $329 million a year to Canadian news publishers after the country passes its Online News Act. The sum could cover around 30% of Canadian newsrooms’ editorial costs. (Press Gazette)
Birdwatch, Twitter’s crowdsourced fact-checking programme, will be made visible to all US users. The service used 15,000 fact-checkers in its pilot phase, who added notes on accuracy and context to tweets that don’t violate Twitter’s rules, but aren’t necessarily accurate. (@Birdwatch)
Writers at left-wing news site The Canary say they have “overthrown” their management, claiming business malpractice and a ‘culture of narcissism’. They are now running the publisher as a co-operative, and say they have a £14,000 VAT debt left by the now-departed directors. (Press Gazette)
The Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation in India was temporarily shut down and searched by tax inspectors last month, something the FT calls part of a ‘clampdown on free speech’ under Prime Minister Modi: “the searches were part of what liberal Indians decry as a clampdown on freedom of expression that, they say, has widened beyond media organisations and journalists to public intellectuals, think-tanks and comedians, too.” (FT)
LadBible is sacking 10% of its staff following a slump in its share price which it says is due to inflation. Only 3 months ago, the company was discussing its expansion into the US market, and said its staff was growing 45% each year. (The Guardian/LadBible)
The unions at Parcast and Gimlet claim to have been blindsided by Spotify, after the company fired a number of the production staff of each podcasting team. The company complained of low download numbers, but in a statement the union said that the company’s own decisions contributed to those stats. (@parcastunion)
Around 80 operational staff at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have gone on strike in response to the company’s termination of their health care. Editorial staff have enacted a ‘byline blackout’ in support of their colleagues. The union claims that this is the last straw, after a number of “unfair labour practices”, 6 years without a contract, and 16 years without a pay rise. (Poynter)
After becoming a non-profit newsroom at the beginning of the year, the Chicago Sun-Times has decided to drop its paywall and move to a digital membership model, saying it wants to be “truly open and inclusive” and accountable to readers. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Campaigns + Content
Public Interest News is a Necessity, Not a Luxury
Here are some independent local newsrooms who could do with your support:
The Burngreave Messenger, the UK’s only charity newspaper, did not receive vital funding this year after managing to survive on grants and donations for more than 20 years. “We now face the prospect of closure and we have a very short deadline to find alternative funding”, says the Messenger, based just outside of Sheffield. Drop them some cash if you can!
The Bristol Cable, is an award-winning, internationally-renowned pioneering newsroom (where I now work!), a members co-op that’s proven itself as a new model for local news. That said, you cannot eat prestige (who knew) and in order to earn a significant amount more than minimum wage, we are constantly working to find more members. Members vote on our operations, are part of our Bristol community, get free or discounted events access, and get an independent, investigative newspaper that truly represents them…no clickbait. Join today.
The Great Central Gazette is a new co-op newspaper for Leicester, which has just launched a crowdfunder. It is looking to replicate the Cable’s model, and what it has brought to Bristol’s media landscape. Donate to the crowdfunder if you can!
That’s all folks, see you next week.
Love.Eliz