Difficult times ahead for UK TV news production following the Sky and ITV merger. But there could be a ray of light for ITN from all of this. open.substack.com/pub/mattwals...

Times Radio was leading on this garbled nonsense. The media keeps finding ways (inc nonsense) to report "immigration still rising" yet serious outlets show little/no interest in the actual news. (Immigration has fallen fast & will fall further in 2026-27 than almost anybody realises or recognises)

The combined Sky & ITV will be spending north of £200m on news, including the ITN contract. That seems unsustainable. Where will the axe fall? What safeguards - if any - are in place to protect news provision?

Words we don’t want to hear on Saturday : "Lord Nelson! Lord Beaverbrook! Sir Winston Churchill! Sir Anthony Eden! Clement Attlee! Henry Cooper! Lady Diana! Maggie Thatcher — can you hear me, Maggie Thatcher! Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!"

Hard to believe Donald Trump is a bad sport.

Could Channel 4 News go MAGA? open.substack.com/pub/mattwals...

Putin’s useful idiots: George Galloway, Tommy Robinson and the Starmer rent boy conspiracy searchlightmagazine.com/2026/06/puti...

What does impartiality actually mean in journalism? This thought-provoking piece argues that impartiality is not the same as neutrality or objectivity. Read more: tinyurl.com/5yh5eyna 🧵👇 #impartiality #journalism #journalismstudies

Ah the joy of rolling news on a big day with few pictures

I wonder how much reflection will be taking place in the BBC about the Makerfield Question Time special. The decision to exclude Restore - the party that finished third - was supported by Ofcom. But I’d be surprised if a similar situation happened again that would be a sustainable position

Good thread

Well, there we are then. Good to understand what's driven Ofcom's approach in recent years. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Watching the BBC’s Brexit doc. It’s the usual brilliant Norma Percy production. The people in the room are almost all represented. But what z-list cast they are.

@timbale.bsky.social An enjoyable open day talk earlier

So weird.

"Journalists should read this book, as should academics who study journalism—and anyone else who is interested in how good intentions can go badly astray."--Michael Schudson DOES TRUST MATTER? by Efrat Nechushtai. Use the code CUP20 and save 20% bit.ly/48FrAfj @columbiaup.bsky.social

I mean obviously the Today programme didn’t state that highly contentious claim as fact. Come off it.

Update: Judge orders businessman to pay Mill Media almost £40,000 in costs after two defamation claims dismissed pressgazette.co.uk/news/mill-me...

Jim Dickinson has an excellent response to this new Policy Exchange report on universities wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

Former Director of BBC Global News, Prof @sambrook.eurosky.social, discussed problems with journalistic false equivalency and opinion-based journalism. From the Cambridge Disinformation Summit webinar series. Full video available at: youtu.be/MrAnVd35bcE

Excellent piece open.substack.com/pub/fraserne...

I’m very sorry to hear this. Jon was very kind to me at the start of my career. He was one of the best TV journalists of his generation but more importantly a thoroughly decent man. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

The Times seems to have gone all in on this. The DEI usage rather than EDI is also quite the tell.

If you read one thing today, make it @stephenkb.bsky.social's admirably clear and rational analysis of the police's actions following Henry Nowak's murder, from the @financialtimes.com Inside Politics newsletter www.ft.com/content/aa94...

🎉 Save the date — the #JournalismAI Festival is back in November! 👇 📅 17–18 November 2026 📍 London & online

“We’re living in a world now where public service media is more important than it ever has been.” Professor Justin Lewis FBA gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Inquiry into the BBC Royal Charter Review this morning. @hoccommittees.parliament.uk 🧵

This is a very odd thing to say. The choice of stories to cover has always been for broadcasters. That isn’t the criticism being made of GB News at all.

“The anesthesiologist died on May 9, Dr. Lokudu said. The surgical assistant died a day later. Dr. Lokudu said he also fell sick around the same time, but survived. He is not sure how” Brilliant, brave reporting on the Ebola outbreak that the world is ignoring

Excellent article by @joshuabenton.com based on some great recent research by Amsterdam Uni's finest. It shows that we all think the news media is biased against us, but also that misinformation is biased against our POV. Right wingers feel it more but it's general. www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/thin...

Peter Gabriel once pretended to be on the phone to avoid talking to me in a bar in Johannesburg

This is an interesting story but why include this parsgraph? Candace Owens claimed the FBI was covering up the truth and said the suspect had not planned the attack alone.

Research carried out at Cardiff University has confirmed that UK-wide TV news gave limited attention to May's elections in Wales, Scotland and England, often treating them as second order contests ✍️Martin Shipton

We’re pleased to share a new report from the Enhancing the Impartiality of Political News project, examining UK- & Wales-based media coverage of the 2026 Senedd, Holyrood & English local elections. 🔗 canva.link/reporting-uk... 🧵👇 #journalismstudies #impartiality #impartialityproject

Turned on the Today Programme at 6AM to be greeted with... guess what? 🤬

Our new Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture election research featured in the Guardian 👇

“Our products iPlayer, Sport, and Sounds aren’t doing a good enough job for the content that we’re all making” That's a fair point and exactly the sort of thing he should be championing. The sat nav for bias sounds worryingly naive though.

Delighted to see the Enhancing the Impartiality of Political News project contribute to a major new report on the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. 🧵👇 🔗 tinyurl.com/yvpsj2hc #Holyrood #Senedd #elections #journalism #journalismstudies

@bskyplays.bsky.social hitchhiker’s

Reform are very good at moving the goalposts. They said they’d win Gorton and Denton (lost by 12pts), win Wales (lost by 6pts), destroy the Tories in 2026 (PNS rose vs 2025) and win six London boroughs (won one). Each time journalists concluded those outcomes were clear from the outset

I dunno - maybe the crisis in news could be solved by creating a website super focused on using lists for engagement…

Smartly done, witty & forensic takedown by @helenlewis.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Interesting thread. Underlines the issues thrown up by the decline in local news and court reporting

This is a shame. My son recently brought home a copy of it, the first time I'd read it in decades. I was surprised it was still going, but it was a great read. www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2610009...

Wales just held its first Senedd election under a new proportional voting system. But did the media treat the electoral contest as a two-horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK? Our new research systematically examines campaign news coverage 👀🧵 theconversation.com/a-new-voting...

Deborah describes this as a provocation. And she’s right to do so. Whether she’s got the right prescription is up for debate but I think her diagnosis is bang on www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

NEW: Traditional broadcasters now facing existential threat from ‘creator journalism’, says ex-head of BBC News. Deborah Turness says the switch to personality-led, digital content is real… and collapsing TV news audiences. How can broadcasters respond? www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...

Well, it's all kicking off at ITN deadline.com/2026/05/itn-...

Latest in a couple of recent big resignations. Corp as head of BBC news? Katz as DDG?

If you want to vote for the next Prime Minister now would be a good moment to join the Labour Party or affiliated organisation. In the end, members are the ones who decide