How is phone hacking connected to one of the most notorious unsolved murders in Britain? Episode 2 of #afterthehack is out now. If you're watching the Hack on ITV 9pm, this is the best companion podcast for all the insights, hot takes and more. youtu.be/hN1NgxsJbxw

At the Labour Party conference this week advocating for quick wins and ready made solutions for a better media with @hackedoff.bsky.social @mediareformuk.bsky.social and @pressjustice.bsky.social

If you're in Liverpool on Monday, join MRC & @hackedoff.bsky.social outside Labour conference and call on Government to protect the public from press abuse: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gathering-...

Bear in mind that Phone Hacking was only the (more benign) tip of the iceberg when it came to unlawful information gathering which included blagging, email hacking, burglary #TheHack

If you're watching The Hack tonight on ITV, learn the background to the series & the politics of the hacking scandal on After The Hack, an @impressorg.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social podcast w/ @peterjukes.bsky.social @nakedpolitics.bsky.social @femi-oluwole.bsky.social & MRC's Tom Chivers

The truth about the BBC's Gaza doc review: 🎙️ Narration "factual & carries balance" 📰 No issues w/ "accuracy, fairness or impartiality" in content 💷All payments "reasonable" So why are the Culture Secretary & Ofcom lying about its findings? Why is the BBC still censoring 'How to survive a warzone'?

When a government minister who has pledged to "protect press freedom" is proudly interfering in the BBC's operations, it's a good reminder of why genuine media independence is so essential to democracy. On this week's News Club: Nandy's war on the BBC & UK Gaza spy ops newsclubuk.substack.com

So fulfilling to see the database I have built at the @publicinterestnews.org.uk being leveraged by @mediareformuk.bsky.social and the fantastic Tom Chivers for the 2025 edition of "Who Owns the UK Media?" To know more: www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/local-news-m...

Facts & figures won't end Israel's genocide in Gaza. But the new cfmmuk.org.uk report on BBC anti-Palestine bias is a vital tool for exposing media & political complicity On this week's News Club we explore media failures on Gaza, Welsh independence & rot in arts industry newsclubuk.substack.com

If you want to find out how Citizens Assemblies can help deal with the multiple challenges & emergencies… Come to Byline Festival on Saturday 12 July 10.45am to a panel with @jamiefry.bsky.social @joemulhall.bsky.social @petergwoghegan.bsky.social @janesuiter.bsky.social bylinefestival.com

PTO guest starter pack! go.bsky.app/TFxd9Yh

If we want to build a better democracy, we have to start by building a different media. Huge thanks to @turnleftmedia.co.uk for covering the Media Democracy Festival in May - check out their highlights & interviews with speakers on their YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@TurnLeft

❗️ The UK's crisis in media ownership is worse than ever before 📊 Our new 2025 'Who Owns The UK Media?' report details statistics & analysis exposing the media moguls, Big Tech billionaires & unaccountable corporations that dominate the UK media READ: mediareform.org.uk/media-owners...

Thank you to @zackpolanski.bsky.social and Aaron Bastani from @novaramedia.com for speaking to us at Media Democracy Festival 2025 @mediareformuk.bsky.social youtu.be/GgdaR9TMn4I?...

Platform enshittification, brazen media institution capture, and local media flattening, at @mediareformuk.bsky.social's Media Democracy Festival 2025 in London.

Turn Left is going to the Media Democracy Festival this Saturday! We'll be live streaming twice throughout the day, featuring speakers from the festival. @mediareformuk.bsky.social Join us this Saturday at the University of Westminster!

I won! “A resounding victory for press freedom.” Police were denied access to my devices by a court. The raid and the warrants used for it were unlawful. My full statement: asawinstanley.substack.com/p/judge-rule...

Everybody likes to talk about the news, but how can we change it? Join us & @newsclubuk.bsky.social at the Media Democracy Festival in London this Saturday for their Unfucking The Media workshop, building a toolkit for activists to challenge our broken media www.eventbrite.com/e/media-demo...

Nick "I'm sorry" Clegg wants AI agents stealing your work and your voice to fuel the global slopmachine. On this week’s News Club, we discuss how the weed-like growth of harmful AI applications could tear apart the basic fabric of our social relationships. newsclubuk.substack.com

📢 MDI’s @milicapesic.bsky.social joins the panel “Oligarchs Inc: Who Owns the UK Media?” at #MDF2025! 🗓️ 31 May | 🕐 13:00–14:00 | 📍 Fyvie Hall, London 🎟️ Free tickets shorturl.at/BiamD @mediareformuk.bsky.social Who controls our media and whose stories go untold? Join us. #MediaDiversity

We're thrilled that Adele is joining us on Saturday to talk about 'Logging Off' & the human cost of our digital world, with @avasantina.bsky.social of @politicsjoe.bsky.social, @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social & Natacha Kennedy Sign up online & read Adele's interview: www.eventbrite.com/e/media-demo...

If the BBC was actually owned & controlled by the public, it would report truthfully on a genocide - not whitewash war crimes while removing staff who call them out. Received this survey? Tell the BBC: our public broadcaster has no future without a real democratic relationship with the public

💯 We urgently need radical media reform & support for independent, democratic media that truly serves the public interest We're delighted to welcome @zackpolanski.bsky.social to the Media Democracy Festival on 31 May to talk more about how we can transform our broken media system! Book your place:

Just two weeks to go until Media Democracy Festival 2025, at London's Fyvie Hall! With keynote speeches from @sangitamyska.bsky.social & @zackpolanski.bsky.social + panels on breaking up Big Tech, exposing failed war reporting & building a media commons. Only a few spaces left! Ticket link below

Just two weeks to go until Media Democracy Festival 2025, at London's Fyvie Hall! With keynote speeches from @sangitamyska.bsky.social & @zackpolanski.bsky.social + panels on breaking up Big Tech, exposing failed war reporting & building a media commons. Only a few spaces left! Ticket link below

We're thrilled to announce that @sangitamyska.bsky.social & @zackpolanski.bsky.social will deliver the keynote speeches at this year's Media Democracy Festival on Sat 31st May. Check out the day's programme below & don't miss the chance to register your ticket: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/media-demo...

It's not only the BBC's funding where the status quo cannot continue The next Charter must give the public democratic control over the BBC & end politicians' power to influence its work Read our report w/ @cmmonwealth.bsky.social on how to mutualise the BBC: www.common-wealth.org/publications...

The BBC's Director-General Tim Davie says he supports a universal BBC "in which everyone pays" - but this is completely untenable unless the public has real power over how the BBC is run Trust can only come from accountability, and that means democratic control www.common-wealth.org/publications...

🚨 What if the BBC *actually* belonged to the British public? Our new proposal says it can — and should. We can convert the BBC into something called a public service mutual — owned & governed by you. 🧵Here’s how. 🖊️ Dan Hind, Tom Mills and Tom Chivers www.common-wealth.org/publications...

“With far-right politicians and Big Tech billionaires threatening to tear up our national institutions, we need genuinely democratic media that’s owned, controlled by & accountable to the public” — Tom Chivers Our report with @mediareformuk.bsky.social in @bylinetimes.bsky.social 👇 🖊️ Olly Haynes

The BBC is failing its audiences, captured by elites & unaccountable to the public. With the UK's media dominated by oligarchs & Big Tech, we need a democratic alternative. Thanks to @bylinetimes.bsky.social for covering on our new report w/ @cmmonwealth.bsky.social on how to mutualise the BBC.

🔴The BBC Must Be Mutualised to End Its ‘Pro-Establishment Bias’ Warns Report It finds that BBC reporting is overwhelmingly focused on the concerns of senior politicians and business people around Westminster, rather than the country at large bylinetimes.com/2025/05/14/t...

The BBC is captured by elites, mired in biases, failing its audiences & unaccountable to the public With UK media dominated by oligarchs & Big Tech, we need a democratic alternative Read our new report w/ @cmmonwealth.bsky.social on transforming the BBC into a Public Service Mutual:

“Labour is being urged to safeguard the BBC's future by mutualising it. Under the plan ... all UK residents would become “members” of the BBC ... helping to oversee how it is run.” Our briefing w/ @mediareformuk.bsky.social in @theguardian.com’s Politics Live 👇 www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

“If the BBC is going to survive the digital age, it must be transformed.” Read our latest briefing with @mediareformuk.bsky.social: “Our Mutual Friend: The BBC in the Digital Age” 🖊️ Dan Hind, Tom Mills and Tom Chivers 🔗👇 www.common-wealth.org/publications...

Will Labour's local election humiliation lead them to desperately DOGE-ify DCMS? And who would even care? On this week's News Club, we look at what Trump's attacks on public media could mean for the UK, and how the left can make its own populist politics. newsclubuk.substack.com

The BBC is in crisis: captured by elites, isolated from the public & failing in the digital age If the BBC is going to survive it must be transformed into a new kind of institution Our new report w/ @cmmonwealth.bsky.social on how to mutualise the BBC, giving the public real ownership & power:

The BBC is in crisis: captured by elites, isolated from the public & failing in the digital age If the BBC is going to survive it must be transformed into a new kind of institution Our new report w/ @cmmonwealth.bsky.social on how to mutualise the BBC, giving the public real ownership & power:

The world's media is failing to provide accurate, truthful journalism on global conflicts. How can we resist censorship & empower independent reporting? Join us 31 May w/ @karishmapatel.bsky.social Peter Oborne @newint.bsky.social @markcurtis30.bsky.social Book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/media-demo...

"Facebook is our second-largest source of social referral traffic. We rely on platforms to connect with our audiences, particularly marginalised communities. But we cannot ignore Facebook's ongoing assault against publishers" @publicinterestnews.org.uk @impressorg.bsky.social

While Gordon Brown is trying to take down corporate media power, Tony Blair is laundering corporate spin for fossil fuel companies. On this week's News Club: why tech platforms like Google should be run as a global commons & lessons from the two ex-PMs' latest interventions newsclubuk.substack.com

The unjustified, unanswered banning of @leicester.news.web.brid.gy's local news group by Facebook is a dangerous attack on independent journalism & online freedoms. The UK must act to break up the dangerous and undemocratic power of Big Tech companies like Meta.

Digital platforms profit by exploiting our differences & spreading hatred: can we build something different? Join @avasantina.bsky.social, @adelewalton.bsky.social, @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social & @natacha.bsky.social on 31 May to discuss this & more #MDF25 Book: www.eventbrite.com/e/media-demo...

The Supreme Court has emboldened trans discrimination and exclusion, but also strengthened LGBTQ+ solidarity. On this week's News Club we look at the warped anti-trans ruling, and the BBC's weak attempt to prove its worth ahead of the government's Royal Charter review. newsclubuk.substack.com

“A free and healthy democracy depends on a free and independent media” theferret.scot/third...

“The media play a vital role in democracy, so it’s problematic when the owners of the media aren’t accountable to citizens and residents in the country where they operate" — Jonathan Heawood, @publicinterestnews.org.uk theferret.scot/third...

looking forward to this!

Digital platforms profit by exploiting our differences & spreading hatred: can we build something different? Join @avasantina.bsky.social, @adelewalton.bsky.social, @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social & @natacha.bsky.social on 31 May to discuss this & more #MDF25 Book: www.eventbrite.com/e/media-demo...

The government can't ignore the overwhelming case for media reform. To tackle climate change, challenge tech billionaires, and end economic & social injustices, we need new media policies that break with the failures of the past Share the Media Manifesto & join the movement to fix our broken media

There's shits in the rivers & shits on the company boards. Could a mass bill boycott finally break the UK's failed private water experiment? On this week's News Club, we look at taking back control of our water, overcoming the 'media blitzkrieg' & anti-worker reporting on the Birmingham bin strikes