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Company behind Bid and Price Drop shopping channels found to have made misleading price claims and product descriptions

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:16:13 +0100

The company behind the shopping channels Bid and Price Drop could have its broadcast licence revoked after being found to have consistently made misleading price claims and product descriptions.

i Assistant Editor's Letter: A British crack at The Final Frontier

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:39 +0100

Labour MP Tom Watson urges Theresa May to investigate 'suppressed' Leveson evidence

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:54:17 +0100

The Home Secretary has been asked to investigate whether vital reports and documents in the possession of Scotland Yard were seen in full by Lord Justice Leveson before he reached key conclusions in his report on the press.

Six of of 10 UK internet users access BBC website - but even that is below target

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:32:22 +0100

The BBC website has failed to hit its target of reaching 65 per cent of the UK adult online population by 2013, an official report revealed today.

Ian Burrell: YouTube's global reach is making it a powerful rival to TV

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:32:58 +0100

You all know Thomas "TomSka" Ridgewell right? You don't? Well, he's arguably the most popular British comedy star on the internet. His channel on YouTube, which he set up as a student, has a staggering 1.8 million subscribers and has registered 377 million views. To give you a comparison, Ricky Gervais, the mainstream British comedian who has done most to engage with the YouTube audience, has 128,000 subscribers and 15 million views.

i Assistant Editor's Letter: Fancy a family trip? Try the cemetery!

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:09 +0100

i Assistant Editor's Letter: The referendum we've all been waiting for...

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:39 +0100

Lawyer who took Rupert Murdoch's News International to court over hacking complains of 'bully boy tactics' over possible counter-claim

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:40:43 +0100

The lawyer instrumental in exposing phone hacking at the News of World is now being pursued by Rupert Murdoch's News International (NI) over the way he conducted a two year-long damages claim against the company, the High Court has heard.

i Assistant Editor's Letter: Pick up the phone and talk to your relatives, before you have in-laws too!

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:16 +0100

Whistleblowing: The New Yorker plugs its leak-proof leaking system

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:50:05 +0100

What do you do if you're a whistleblower with confidential documents you want to see the light of day? It may be ethical to email them to a dozen reporters, but will the men in dark suits come looking for you? In America this is increasingly the case, where the Obama administration has prosecuted more leakers under the draconian Espionage Act than all other presidencies combined.

Troubled BBC Newsnight making another apology - over accusations against Help for Heroes charity

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:09:10 +0100

The BBC is apologising for another bungled report on its flagship current affairs programme Newsnight, mistakenly accusing the charity Help for Heroes of misspending cash.

Older women are disappearing from TV due to combination of ageism and sexism, warns Harriet Harman

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:41:32 +0100

Women on television are affected by a “combination of ageism and sexism” that does not apply to men, new figures show.

i Assistant Editor's Letter: Angelina Jolie: News or not?

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:55 +0100

World Press Photo winner cleared after 'forensic examination'

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:56:23 +0100

Can a news photograph be enhanced without distorting the truth - and, if so, how much distortion is acceptable before the picture becomes a fake?

LinkedIn prohibits 'the world's oldest profession': Prostitutes banned from offering sex to users

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:24:18 +0100

LinkedIn has tightened its rules after some of its members starting offering a different kind of business relationship.

i Editor's Letter: 'Be careful what you wish for'

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:42 +0100

Independent writers win awards

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:38:43 +0100

An Independent contributor Philip Hensher has scooped the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize with a fictionalised account of his husband's childhood in what is now Bangladesh.

BBC offers staff £24m 'bribes' for move to Salford

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:28:32 +0100

The BBC paid more than £100,000 each to 11 members of staff to induce them to move to the organisation’s new broadcasting centre in Salford.

ITV win rights to all England qualifying matches

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:53:32 +0100

ITV has won the right to show all England's matches at home and away for the Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup qualifying competitions.

Song Awards 2013: Record-breaking tenth gold for radio DJ Christian O’Connell

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:17:06 +0100

Christian O’Connell has become the first radio presenter to win 10 gold Sony awards, the sector’s most prestigious accolade.

Bill Oddie: Why I was chucked out of HSBC headquarters over Bankwatch film

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:01:06 +0100

For most of my life I have been a birdwatcher and a writer and performer of generally fairly frivolous shows. Two areas I have never been comfortable with – politics and finances. It is not that I am perversely not interested, it is that I don’t understand the language. However, one of the perks or pains of being a "public figure - or even a "celeb" - is that I am often asked my opinion. Some time ago I gave myself a couple of rules: 1) Don’t try to be an authority on something I am not; 2) Do consult an authority that will tell me the truth. When faced with an environmental topic this means consulting relevant NGOs, and if possible going to see for myself. If the issue is British - badgers, the shooting industry, snaring or poisoning of birds of prey – it is all too close to home. However, what about the desecration of wildlife or habitat in far away places? For example, Malaysia.

i Editor's Letter: 'YOUR PAPER NEEDS YOU'

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:30 +0100

Bankwatch: Bill Oddie evicted from HSBC headquarters after protest over bank's links to logging companies blamed for destruction of the rainforest in Malaysia

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:01:23 +0100

Bill Oddie, the naturalist and BBC television presenter, has made a provocative protest film intended to embarrass the global bank HSBC over its links to logging companies blamed for the destruction of the rainforest in Malaysia.

Sir David Frost calls upon Tony Hall to take a knife to BBC's management structure

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:06:35 +0100

Having worked for the BBC for more than 50 years, Sir David Frost has advised the new Director-General Tony Hall that he must take a knife to the organisation’s debilitating management structure.

Ian Burrell: A question of sport in the British pay television market

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:06:54 +0100

The resignation of Sir Alex Ferguson feels like a symbolic moment, not just in football but also in the British pay television market which is so closely aligned with the national sport. When the Premier League began in 1992, the start of a journey that turned Rupert Murdoch's struggling satellite broadcasting adventure into the dominant force in commercial television, Sir Alex's Manchester United were its inaugural champions. He will hold the trophy aloft again this season, for the 13th time in the league's 21-year history.

i Editor's Letter: A long time ago in a country not so far away...

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:52 +0100

Can you tell which cover girls are the real thing?

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

One of Britain's biggest glossy magazines has broken ranks to take a stand against the digital trickery that transforms models into gaunt-faced mannequins.

C4 switches off profits and makes a loss

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Channel 4 is set to announce its first annual loss in a decade after the state-owned corporation used some of its cash reserves to fund new programming such as the Paralympics.

Sport on TV: Spectre of Thatcher hangs over the governor of Govan

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

So Sir Alex Ferguson finally stopped all the clocks. Jon Snow took himself up to Chester racecourse, where the old nag was supposed to be, to cover the biggest story of the day for Channel 4 News. He was accused of downgrading the Queen's Speech and vilified with as much venom as the Prince of Darkness himself might have unleashed. Meanwhile Fergie had done a neat side-step, Cristiano-style, and was nowhere to be seen. From the other end of the sofa came the comment: "Bloody hell, it's not like the Queen's abdicated" – although as she tuned into the news, she might have considered it. Except that the one person who could run the country instead of her had just headed for the Highlands himself.

i Editor's Letter: Turning austerity into creativity

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:26 +0100

The Conversation: Jon Lee Anderson, foreign correspondent

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Your father was a diplomat and you had lived in, by my count, seven different countries by the time you were an adult. Can you imagine a life without travel?

i Editor's Letter: Why must we assume all our kids have to be astronauts?

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:06 +0100

Newspaper groups unified behind ‘softer’ Royal Charter

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:15:59 +0100

Newspaper groups have unified behind a softened version of a Royal Charter on future press regulation by agreeing to drop a proposal which would have given them a veto over appointments to a new watchdog body.

Apprentice 2013 gets straight to the finger point: Hundreds of the thousands tune in just to see Lord Sugar say 'You're Fired!'

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:15:49 +0100

Forget the preamble, let's get straight to the pointed finger. This appears to be the consensus among viewers of the new series of The Apprentice. This week hundreds of thousands tuned in only to watch the bit when Lord Sugar fires someone, rather than sit through the preceding 55 minutes.

Police sergeant jailed for selling information to the Sun newspaper

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:25:11 +0100

A former police sergeant has been jailed for 10 months for trying to sell a story about celebrity Katie Price's daughter to the News of the World.

i Editor's Letter: You can't help but admire Fergie

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:27 +0100

Sun’s royal reporter pledges to clear name

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:00:02 +0100

Journalists from The Sun newspaper packed the public gallery at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to support the red-top’s royal correspondent as he faced charges of paying a public official and his wife for information about the Royal Family.

TV wars: Former New International boss Tom Mockridge moves to Virgin Media as John Malone takes on Rupert Murdoch

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:18:25 +0100

Virgin Media's new owner John Malone today pulled off a coup by recruiting a boss who used to work for his arch-rival Rupert Murdoch in a sign that the war between Britain's pay-TV and telecom providers is hotting up.

i Editor's Letter: Nothing really changes in politics

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:36 +0100

Inside the surprisingly old science of double vision: Charity uses optical illusion to deliver hidden message to children to report abuse

Tue, 07 May 2013 18:18:38 +0100

A charity in Spain has revealed an advert that uses an optical illusion to deliver a hidden message to passing children, encouraging them to report potential abuse.

Cyberwars: 'The Onion' runs rings round its Twitter feed hackers

Tue, 07 May 2013 18:13:10 +0100

On Monday night the Twitter feed of satirical newspaper The Onion was hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army (Sea), supposed supporters of the Assad regime. Or that’s what it looked like.

Channel 4 rapped by watchdog for broadcasting 'sexual' ad directly after 'disturbing rape scene'

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:18:20 +0100

Channel 4 has been criticised for showing a light-hearted advert featuring a couple having sex immediately after a rape scene in a film.

i Editor's Letter: Onwards and upwards

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

BBC will not hold separate inquiry on Hall

Mon, 06 May 2013 02:03:37 +0100

There will not be a separate inquiry into how the disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall was able to abuse his victims while working at the BBC, the chairman of the Corporation's trust has said. Lord Patten said instead a review into the Jimmy Savile scandal by Dame Janet Smith would also investigate how Hall – who has admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls during the 1960s, 70s and 80s – gained access to his victims.

Ian Burrell: The only transparency at the BBC is in the Pit

Mon, 06 May 2013 01:14:45 +0100

The BBC, we learned last week, was an organisation crawling with more sexual predators than we had previously thought. It was also, said an official report, a place gripped by an "undercurrent of fear", where bullied staff were afraid to speak out because they did not trust their managers.

i Editor's Letter: Thank you and goodbye

Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:46 +0100

Phillips launches ‘Brand Melanie’ as she tries to become the darling of the American right

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:49:14 +0100

Look out, America. Melanie Phillips is coming.

i Editor's Letter: Workplace culture matters

Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:31 +0100

BBC serves up recipe for ratings success as MasterChef final peaks with 5.5m viewers

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:39:22 +0100

Last night’s MasterChef final was watched by 5.5 million people as Hackney DJ Natalie Coleman took the trophy.

i Editor's Letter: Who are The Sun's readers voting for these days?

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:45 +0100

Nigeria joins journalist danger list on World Press Freedom day

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:29:50 +0100

Nigeria today joined the list of countries where journalists are routinely murdered and assaulted without any convictions for their attackers.

War reporting - a veteran’s guide: Shot at, seized by a murderous mob and chased by kidnappers...

Thu, 02 May 2013 18:27:23 +0100

This article is part of the series Voices in Danger, which aims to highlight the plight of journalists working in difficult conditions around the world.

Years ago, a colleague rang me for advice. She was being sent to Baghdad in advance of a US threat to attack Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. But should she go? Were the dangers simply so great that she should not risk her life? I gave her the only advice I could – the decision was up to her, but she should remember one thing: she was going to Baghdad to report, not to die.

Number of complaints to doomed PCC boom in wake of Leveson

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:35:26 +0100

The Press Complaints Commission might be doomed but it is dealing with a rise in complaints amid the furious political negotiations over the future regulation of newspapers in the wake of the Leveson inquiry.

BBC issues anti-harassment guidelines to combat a 'strong undercurrent of fear' and bullying

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:18:38 +0100

The BBC today moved to address a culture of bullying and fear within the organisation by issuing new anti-harassment guidelines to staff and removing “gagging clauses” from contracts.

i Editor's Letter: Why don't people vote?

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:08 +0100

David Cameron set to defy newspaper industry over press regulation

Wed, 01 May 2013 21:07:52 +0100

David Cameron is set to reject moves by three of the country’s largest newspaper groups to water down the proposed Royal Charter creating a new regulatory system for the press.

i Editor's Letter: Ukip's evil plays on immigration fears

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:01 +0100

Curb ads for payday loans, urges poverty minister

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Britain's only poverty minister will today demand strong action to curb payday lenders who prey on vulnerable people.

BBC rebuked on rugby sponsorship after 'editorial integrity' was compromised by use of Accenture logo

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:22:06 +0100

BBC Sport has been rebuked by the corporation’s governing body for showing a technology company’s animated logo during its coverage of the Six Nations rugby tournament.

Syrian Electronic Army hackers attack Guardian Twitter accounts

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:11:23 +0100

The Guardian is the latest news organisation to come under attack from the Syrian Electronic Army, after the pro-Assad group hacked into the Associated Press Twitter account last week.

i Editor's Letter: All in this together? I beg to differ!

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:51 +0100

BBC One commissions second series of acclaimed Sunday night drama The Village

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:43:30 +0100

Its plotlines might go from bad to worse, veering from animal mutilation and suicide to medical manipulation, familial strife and the ravages of The Great War, but BBC One is set to return Peter Moffat’s acclaimed Sunday night drama to our screens.

i Editor's Letter: What price are we willing to pay?

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:59 +0100

Ian Burrell: Fleet Street still needs a champion to win its war of independence

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The launch of the "Independent" Royal Charter on the regulation of the press last Thursday was a significant moment, not least because it saw Rupert Murdoch's newspaper business going back on the front-foot in the public-relations arena. The humble days are over.

Savile 'to cost BBC insurers millions'

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Aviva and RSA are among the insurers facing a multi-million pound hit following the BBC's Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

Sport on TV: Unjust deserts as the wheels of fortune stop turning

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

You've heard of rallying the troops but this was something else. Dakar Rally: Frontline to Finish Line (ITV4, Wednesday) told the story of a team of servicemen with amputated limbs trying to complete the most difficult motor race on the planet. The Race2Recovery team were co-drivers and had dreamt up the challenge two years ago while undergoing rehabilitation. Surely someone must have piped up in the early stages and said: "Not the bloody desert again?" And maybe suggested that they cut their teeth in, say, Wales instead.

i Editor's Letter: How has plastic surgery become “a thing”?

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:11 +0100

Paper aeroplanes: A new breed of travel magazine will take you to places you'd never otherwise go

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

You can find out pretty much anything these days: all you need do is tap your question into keypad. That's particularly true of travel. A quick search online for a city, and there's a glut of facts and figures, news stories, headlines and interviews.

Watch out, Paxman: Manchester’s quiz-show guru reveals his secrets

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:59:04 +0100

"He's got a degree in economics, maths, physics and bionics. He thinks that I'm a cabbage, coz I hate University Challenge," sang The Undertones on My Perfect Cousin, their disaffected paean to inter-familial jealousy and failure back in 1980.

Robin van Persie joins Gareth Bale in ad campaign for BT Sport

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:51:10 +0100

Robin van Persie is the latest star from the Premier League to join BT Sport's ad campaign.

i Editor's Letter: Is loathing a bad thing?

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:48 +0100

Radical feminist magazine Spare Rib to be relaunched as bimonthly glossy and website

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:29:46 +0100

Radical feminist publication Spare Rib is to be relaunched as a glossy magazine and website as feminist alternative to “PR and celebrity-filled women’s” publications, according to reports.

Edwy Plenel: is the journalist detested by politicians and colleagues alike the most hated man in France?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:56:59 +0100

Edwy Plenel is one of the most hated men in France. And also one of the most admired.

Hyundai pulls viral zero emission car ad featuring man attempting suicide

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:48:50 +0100

A car advert which features a man attempting suicide in his garage before being thwarted by a zero emission engine has been pulled after prompting fierce criticism.

Newspapers set out rival plan for press regulation

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:46:52 +0100

The Government has poured cold water on an alternative plan for press regulation, backed by three of the country's largest newspaper groups, which proposed an independent system of self-regulation with the power to administer £1m fines but which would not be backed by statute.

i Editor's Letter: leap, and a net will appear

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:01:17 +0100

Sun’s royal editor, Duncan Larcombe, charged over Sandhurst payments

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:15:34 +0100

The royal editor of The Sun newspaper has been charged over allegations that he paid more than £23,000 for stories about the Royal Family and Sandhurst military academy.

BBC Three bomb unit drama Bluestone 42 recommissioned for second series

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:48:20 +0100

A BBC comedy about a bomb disposal unit in Afghanistan has been recommissioned for a second series.

i Editor's Letter: Alex Ferguson: Hero or Villain?

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:09 +0100

Lord Leveson dismisses claims that lawyers’ relationship compromised press inquiry

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:17:07 +0100

Lord Justice Leveson has dismissed criticism of the barrister on his inquiry team who began a relationship with the counsel for victims, saying she had “absolutely no input into any conclusion” and was “simply not involved in any aspect” of the Levenson Report’s proposals on press regulation.

BBC One boss Danny Cohen appointed BBC's director of television

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:54:47 +0100

BBC One boss Danny Cohen has taken one of the corporation's top jobs, being appointed director of television.

i Editor's Letter: How we could learn a thing or two about justice from the Americans

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:55 +0100

NewsCorp agrees £91m settlement with own shareholders over complaints about Murdoch family and phone hacking scandal

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:56:24 +0100

News Corp today agreed a $139m (£91m) settlement with its own shareholders over a lawsuit claiming that its board of directors repeatedly put the interests of Rupert Murdoch and his family ahead of the company on issues including the phone hacking scandal.

Rowan Atkinson's Archbishop Comic Relief sketch prompts Ofcom investigation after 3,000 complaints

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:19:47 +0100

Rowan Atkinson’s Archbishop of Canterbury sketch for Comic Relief is to be formally investigated by Ofcom after it drew more than 3,000 complaints.

The Review Show loses 80% of its audience following move to BBC Four

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:32:33 +0100

The BBC’s flagship arts programme The Review Show, which was controversially moved from its weekly slot on BBC Two to BBC Four, has lost 80 per cent of its audience following the move.

Alan Titchmarsh ITV show rapped by Ofcom for allowing Patsy Kensit's Weight Watchers plug

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:20:35 +0100

An interview with Patsy Kensit on the ITV Alan Titchmarsh chat show was turned into a gratuitous plug for Weight Watchers, the broadcasting watchdog has ruled.

Animal rights group defeated in move that would have opened up paid UK political advertising

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:04:34 +0100

An animal rights group has narrowly lost an attempt to open up paid political advertising in the UK.

Ian Burrell: The rise of Asian radio

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:11:44 +0100

Does the BBC need a national radio service solely devoted to Asian listeners? Three years ago the organisation's own bosses seemed to doubt it, earmarking BBC Asian Network for the chop in a programme of cost savings.

i Editor's Letter: Does the end justify the means?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:14 +0100

Press exposes two Leveson lawyers' affair

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

He was the crusader on behalf of the phone-hacking victims, she was the lawyer who became known as the “woman on the left” after appearing to make eyes at Hugh Grant while he gave evidence. Now the revelations that two lawyers at the centre of the Leveson Inquiry became romantically entangled are threatening to overshadow their work.

Sport on TV: Sir Chris Hoy's achievements were literally out of this world

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Tributes have poured in this week to an inspirational leader who changed the way people think and left the country on the brink of countless revolutions. It was the arch-Thatcherite Norman Tebbit who told us to get on our bikes but it was Sir Chris Hoy who made us do it. We're all cyclists now.

BC chiefs face grilling by MPs over 'Panorama'

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

BBC chiefs will be quizzed by MPs this week over their decision to allow one of their journalists to use a university field trip as cover to enter one of the most repressive states in the world.

UK ban on political advertising may be lifted

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Britain may be forced to lift its ban on political advertising when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules on its lawfulness tomorrow.

i Editor's Letter: Are Britain's libel laws in need of an update?

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:15 +0100

The role of modern media in the liberation of Paris 1944

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:36:50 +0100

It’s hard to countenance in an era when political uprisings – such as those in Syria and Libya - are immediately documented by tweets, blog posts and the uploading of videos but the first multimedia insurrection took place nearly 70 years ago, in Paris.

ITV news crew forced out of Bahrain as it reported on anti-F1 clashes

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:05:13 +0100

A British TV crew has been forced to leave Bahrain by the country's authorities as they reported on the violent clashes taking place in the build-up to the Grand Prix.

i Editor's Letter: Can we talk about something else now?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:23 +0100

Sun executive editor Fergus Shanahan charged over payments to public official

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:43:32 +0100

The Sun’s executive editor Fergus Shanahan has been charged with authorising one of his paper’s journalists to make two payments totalling £7,000 to a public official.

Time 100: Malala Yousafzai, Barack Obama, Kim Jong-un and Jay-Z all make magazine's list of world's most influential people

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:41:12 +0100

They seem like an unlikely group: a school girl from Pakistan, the President of the United States of America, a multi-million selling rapper and the war-mongering supreme leader of a closed socialist state.