Could there have been a more topical time to focus on social media disinformation? The day after Donald Trump was sworn in (again) as US President, a live online event on the issue took place, co-organised by West Country Voices. We saw how Elon Musk’s X became a MAGA mouthpiece during Trump’s 2024 election campaign, […]
Following what I thought was a simple online search, I learnt an important lesson about the trustworthiness, or otherwise, of AI. I asked Google the simple question; “Does ITV get money from the TV licence?” I was fairly certain that it doesn’t but wanted to double check before making that claim online. And as is […]
A few days ago, George Monbiot posted that he was considering leaving the site and suggested that maybe we all leave in a co-ordinated fashion. We agreed and the original thought was that a mass exodus on Inauguration Day might make a point. But….and it’s a big but… the idea of hanging around a moment […]
The Chancellor is due to announce his Autumn Statement on November 22. Truss will apparently also announce her own so-called ‘Budget for Growth’. This is an open letter to the Economics Editors of our major newspapers and broadcast media setting out a few suggestions for how to analyse the Budget(s) in a way which accurately […]
Dear Editor, I have sent this response to the BBC, after their wholly inadequate response to my complaint about the lack of coverage of the big rejoin march in London on September 23: I am incensed and insulted by the generic, risible, unsubstantiated and facile response to my original complaint. “BBC News is unable to […]
On Saturday 23 September, tens of thousands of people marched from Hyde Park to Parliament Square to listen to speakers including former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt and Gina Miller, who has repeatedly stepped up to defend democracy and the rule of law. The BBC did not cover the march or rally, choosing instead […]
Dear Editor, I am appalled by the Phillip Schofield scandal. Not (absolutely not) by the behaviour of Schofield himself – who seems to have done nothing worse than what innumerable other men in positions of power have done, and continue to do, usually without any reckoning – but by the behaviour of the media, in […]
The social media platform has become a fully weaponised promotional tool for far-right content, toxic conspiracy theories and cryptocurrency scams. And Putin’s regime is loving it, writes Tom Scott. Like millions of other Twitter users, I logged on to my account a couple of days ago to find that the familiar blue bird logo on […]
Dear Editor, Once again, I find myself in complete agreement with the analysis of one of your contributors (Jim Grace, writing about the Conservatives’ capture of the BBC). Although I don’t watch Match of the Day, following the Lineker debacle I made a formal complaint to the BBC about long-term right-wing bias within that organisation. […]
Wow! It’s our second birthday on 23 July. We started out as West Country Bylines and now we’ve completed nearly 7 months as West Country Voices and all thanks to the same great team of editors and proof readers, excellent writers – some new, some longstanding contributors – and a growing band of loyal readers […]
The battle in the UK is not the traditional competition between parties, but a much more dangerous struggle between a small number of billionaires and the bulk of the UK population. On 5 May, much of the country went to the polls: most for local and mayoral elections, and Northern Ireland for the Assembly. The results […]
“Always look at both sides of the argument before you decide”, my father used to say in his wisdom when I was young. His life’s experience had taught him that: he had grown up as a young man who was categorised as an ‘enemy alien’ in 1939, yet who volunteered to join the British Army […]
Yesterday I did a stupid thing. Let me rephrase. Yesterday I did a really stupid thing. I had gathered up some big bags of clothes to go to one of the few charity shops able to take donations, grabbed gloves and a warm scarf and a furry hat and waltzed off out of the house, […]