Off Topic Politics Thread

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Absolutely, and they're unashamedly opinion driven. They're not reporting/news sources as such.
Yes. although I think some of the article such as Rotten Boroughs, Special Reports and articles from In the Back such as this https://www.private-eye.co.uk/in-the-back could be described as investigative journalism.
"Wall of silence
Suspicious death , Issue 1644"
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"MOTHER’S MISSION: Sheila Blanco with her son Mark, who died in 2006
SHEILA BLANCO had spent almost 17 years and £150,000 investigating the suspicious death of her son, Mark, at a 2006 gathering attended by drug-addled singer Pete Doherty when a Channel 4 documentary looked set to finally blow the case open.
The film, Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?, presented compelling fresh evidence that appeared to support Sheila's belief he had been murdered.

However, two years later, Scotland Yard refuses to investigate the new leads. Now Mark's family has submitted a complaint asking whether the Met's continuing lack of engagement is down to apathy, incompetence or corruption."
 
Yes. although I think some of the article such as Rotten Boroughs, Special Reports and articles from In the Back such as this https://www.private-eye.co.uk/in-the-back could be described as investigative journalism.
"Wall of silence
Suspicious death , Issue 1644"
You must log in or register to see images

"MOTHER’S MISSION: Sheila Blanco with her son Mark, who died in 2006
SHEILA BLANCO had spent almost 17 years and £150,000 investigating the suspicious death of her son, Mark, at a 2006 gathering attended by drug-addled singer Pete Doherty when a Channel 4 documentary looked set to finally blow the case open.
The film, Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?, presented compelling fresh evidence that appeared to support Sheila's belief he had been murdered.

However, two years later, Scotland Yard refuses to investigate the new leads. Now Mark's family has submitted a complaint asking whether the Met's continuing lack of engagement is down to apathy, incompetence or corruption."

Yeah, PE does hover between the two.
 
HIGNFY
Donald Trump refused to rule out a recession in America, saying "There is a period of transition... it takes time". After all, Rome wasn't destroyed in a day.
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I think Trump acknowledged instability in the market but not a full blown recession.

Some of the media appear to be having a field day as Trump is no inept. I think the mainstream media can see Trump is good copy and starting to discredit him but not everything is accurate. It is being a bit twisted and taken out of context but Trump clearly out of his depth
 
LBC have made today Online Safety Day, with every presenter holding phone in discussions regarding possible harms to children from social media. Reporter Henry Riley had a chilling experience when, using Grok, he created a fake TikTok profile of a 13 year old girl and saw how quickly the algorithm showed posts about eating disorders and suicide ideation.

Many parents have phoned in to share similar stories of real children, including mothers who have lost children to suicide.

You can read the report and watch the video here:

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/lbc-investigates-what-a-13-year-old-girl-sees-on-tiktok/
 
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Slightly odd article. I kind of get what he's saying, but he's also having a bit of a whinge along the lines of "I want Hislop and Private Eye to be bolshy about the same things as me". Maybe it has got a bit safer, but it's also hitting the targets that are the ones putting themselves most in the firing line, and who most importantly are the people that are going to be selling the most copy.
 
LBC have made today Online Safety Day, with every presenter holding phone in discussions regarding possible harms to children from social media. Reporter Henry Riley had a chilling experience when, using Grok, he created a fake TikTok profile of a 13 year old girl and saw how quickly the algorithm showed posts about eating disorders and suicide ideation.

Many parents have phoned in to share similar stories of real children, including mothers who have lost children to suicide.

You can read the report and watch the video here:

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/lbc-investigates-what-a-13-year-old-girl-sees-on-tiktok/
I know Australia has recently banned social media for kids. I'm not familiar with the details so I wouldn't give it unequivocal support but, broadly speaking, I agree with that. TikTok is a particular concern, given its Chinese ownership.
 
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Slightly odd article. I kind of get what he's saying, but he's also having a bit of a whinge along the lines of "I want Hislop and Private Eye to be bolshy about the same things as me". Maybe it has got a bit safer, but it's also hitting the targets that are the ones putting themselves most in the firing line, and who most importantly are the people that are going to be selling the most copy.

I think what he is saying is that Hislop has drifted away from balanced satire to becoming a mouthpiece for the centrists. The writer gives credit for the criticism of the Post Office and says that Musk and Farage are worthy targets but in his opinion Hislop isn't balanced, as he used to be, when there is plenty of material out there.
These two paragraphs sum up his piece quite well I think.

Hislop is still operating the mental model of a lost age, with an inability to face new, and very unpleasant, realities. The biggest of these is that the British institutions are no longer merely loveably incompetent. No, they are all utterly dysfunctional, from top to bottom. You’d think there’d be satirical material in that.

Private Eye, HIGNFY and Hislop himself are among these non-functioning institutions. Satire and snark only operate effectively if you are satirically snarky about everybody and everything. Hislop should be at the back of the crowd chucking bottles – at Musk and Farage, yes indeed, but at everybody else with political power, too. Instead he’s saying, ‘Aren’t our newspapers marvellous?’, and following the line of the government. It is a pitiful sight.

Nice to see someone make an intelligent comment without yet again criticising the source.

 
I think what he is saying is that Hislop has drifted away from balanced satire to becoming a mouthpiece for the centrists. The writer gives credit for the criticism of the Post Office and says that Musk and Farage are worthy targets but in his opinion Hislop isn't balanced, as he used to be, when there is plenty of material out there.
These two paragraphs sum up his piece quite well I think.

Hislop is still operating the mental model of a lost age, with an inability to face new, and very unpleasant, realities. The biggest of these is that the British institutions are no longer merely loveably incompetent. No, they are all utterly dysfunctional, from top to bottom. You’d think there’d be satirical material in that.

Private Eye, HIGNFY and Hislop himself are among these non-functioning institutions. Satire and snark only operate effectively if you are satirically snarky about everybody and everything. Hislop should be at the back of the crowd chucking bottles – at Musk and Farage, yes indeed, but at everybody else with political power, too. Instead he’s saying, ‘Aren’t our newspapers marvellous?’, and following the line of the government. It is a pitiful sight.

Nice to see someone make an intelligent comment without yet again criticising the source.

Yeah, I get that. And there may be some truth to it. But the reality is that the Musk and Trump show is the main thing in town, and I have no idea what the PE circulation is these days, but you end up cutting your cloth to what is going to sell copies. Plus I guess Hislop is getting on a bit, so probably isn't quite the firebrand of old.
 
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Reposting some PE covers having pop at the incumbents for those who choose not to accept everyone and every institution is in the firing line.
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