Bashir BBC emails fight a 'test' for FoI | Interview with political journalist of the year John Ferguson
Plus your news diary for the week ahead
Welcome to your daily update from Press Gazette on Monday, 5 February.
"In 100 years' time, people are not going to care one whit about what Huw Edwards did with his young pal. But I do know for a fact, I just know, that in 100 years historians will be interested to know why we didn’t have a Queen Diana.”
This is the view of freelance journalist Andy Webb, who has spoken to us about his mismatched legal fight against the BBC after he secured the release of 3,000-plus emails relating to the Martin Bashir scandal.
With 20,000 redactions in the emails that were finally shared by the BBC last week, Webb's Freedom of Information battle still has a way to go. He has challenged some 300 redactions with a view to securing further openness from the corporation.
We also today have an interview with another journalistic hero, John Ferguson of the Sunday Mail. He has spoken about how he had to face down furious denials and briefings against him to expose the SNP financial scandal that has severely tarnished the reputation of former political superstar Nicola Sturgeon.
And if, like me, you still need to wrap a towel around your head and lie down when you think too much about cookies and programmatic advertising, this comment piece from Ross Webster is a handy recap of what publishers need to know for 2024.
Your news diary for the week ahead includes three national elections. If you can name the countries where they are taking place without asking Google I want you for my pub quiz team.
New from Press Gazette
BBC FoI fight journalist: ‘In 100 years’ time historians will want to know why we didn’t have a Queen Diana’
“There is legitimate – if not suspicion, then legitimate scepticism – about the way the BBC has behaved in this.”
How Sunday Mail journalist defied ‘furious’ denials to expose SNP financial scandal
“Politicians and public officials and business people in the main are quite decent and clever individuals to different degrees, but you can never underestimate and never cease to be amazed by the things that people do from corruption to dishonesty, and just downright stupidity when power and money and party politics are involved.”
Publishers’ privacy conundrum in response to ICO warnings
"Publishers face a privacy conundrum — track consumer data and risk alienating readers, or abstain and jeopardise financial stability."
News diary 5-11 February: Stormont deadlock over, Super Bowl Sunday
A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda this week, from the team at Foresight News.
News in brief
The Financial Times reports that the UK Intellectual Property Office has failed to agree a voluntary code of practice with news publishers and others on data mining by large language models like ChatGPT. A government white paper on AI regulation is expected in coming days. (FT)
EU countries have agreed the technical details of a world-first AI Act, which divides models for regulation by the level of risk they pose. France had been a leading opponent of too much regulation, saying it did not want to suppress innovation. (Euronews)
The Private Eye Paul Foot Award 2024 for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism has an increased prize pot of £8,000, up from £5,000 last year. Entries are now open and close on 26 March at 1pm. Editor Ian Hislop said of the prize money increase: "This is a shocking 60% increase for the prize winner. And a 50% rise for the runners up. It is irresponsible and inflationary and might give journalists the idea that their work was in some way valued." (Private Eye)
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald owner Barrnon Media has been awarded £48,250 through an Innovating for Success grant from the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership. The money will help it develop production of some AI-generated content. (Hold the Front Page)
News publishers have said a Welsh Government proposal to get rid of a requirement for councils to publish notices of council tax changes in newspapers "will have the unintended consequence of causing harm to the local newspaper industry". (Wales Online)
The widow of ex-Dover MP David Shaw has unsuccessfully complained to IPSO about his obituary in The Daily Telegraph, objecting to alleged inaccuracies and criticism of him. IPSO said The Telegraph provided evidence for its reporting and other claims were the writer's opinion. (IPSO)
Donald Trump's London privacy lawsuit against former British spy Christopher Steele - the author of the infamous unsubstantiated "Steele dossier" published in full by Buzzfeed News in 2017 - has been tossed out by a High Court judge. (The New York Times)
Netflix has released the first images of Gillian Anderson playing Emily Maitlis and Rufus Sewell playing Prince Andrew in its upcoming drama about the making of the infamous Newsnight interview. (Daily Mail)
Some CNN staff have accused the broadcaster of "journalistic malpractice" over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, which they claim is skewed by a "systemic and institutional bias" in favour of Israel. CNN rejected the allegation of bias. (Guardian US)
This week on Press Gazette
BBC News Channel names Annita McVeigh, Ben Brown and Geeta Guru-Murthy as chief presenters
News media job cuts 2024 tracked: Year starts with at least 950 redundancies
Copyright, news and gen AI: Action needed from Government says Lords
Press Gazette tops the chart for media business news in the UK and US