This week Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena answer all your questions - from tattoo regrets to the meaning of truth to who was shagging who in the newsroom. Variety.

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The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠).

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The Telegraph is for sale. Why? A couple of billionaire brothers ran it into debt, and now a few more billionaires are lining up to buy it. Spoiler alert: most of them already own the mainstream media! But just because our news is owned by billionaires, that doesn’t make it biased towards them… right?!

On Media Storm podcast, we break down hidden biases behind the week’s headlines - everything from immigration to geopolitical conflict to healthcare. And we find lots of common problems: clickbait, missing voices, polarisation. But there’s one problem to rule them all, and it helps to explain where all the others are coming from: MONEY.

All roads lead to Capitalism. And so for today’s deep-dive episode, economics reporter Jessica Burbank (@kaburbank) and critical theory scholar Louisa Munch (@louisamunchtheory) join Mathilda and Helena to talk about how profit perverts journalism. We look at the week’s headlines in the USA and UK, and ask if the wealthy are weaving the story their way.

Economics is hard and boring, we get it. But both our guests are experts in making economics accessible, and as they tell us, until the public understands how the economy works, we can never make it work for us. The good news is, it’s not nearly as complicated as most media make it out to be - so get listening!

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

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Welcome to Media Storm's News Watch, helping you get your head around the headlines.

We’re taking on the right-wing hit job on the BBC. Why has one of the world’s most trusted news organisations capitulated to dodgy accusations of lefty, pro-trans and anti-Israel bias, when it gets just as many accusations from the other side? Learn about power structures inside global news and the battles for narrative control – while minorities continue to pay the highest price.

After the break: ever thought we'd be talking about football on Media Storm? Maccabi Tel Aviv played Aston Vila in Birmingham. We highlight buried police intelligence showing overlaps between Israel’s hooligan and military forces, and breakdown how Sky News manufactured the key headline (‘no-go area for Jews’) that came to shape political events. Listen and learn to spot misinformation in realtime.

The episode ends with Eyes on Genocide. Updates from Gaza, where the so-called ceasefire has entered its second month amid hundreds of Palestinian casualties; and from Sudan, where satellite imagery sparks fears that paramilitary forces are burning victims’ bodies in bulk.

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The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Margaux Blanchard is a widely published journalist. She has written everything from essays about motherhood to investigations about disused mines. But what her editors didn’t realise? Margaux Blanchard doesn’t exist. At least, not as a human being.

A company called Inception Point AI is using artificial intelligence to publish 3,000 podcast episodes a week at the cost of $1 a piece. Reviewers call it ‘AI sludge’ – is it coming for our jobs (and brains)?

Big Tech firms are using journalists’ work without permission to train AI to do their jobs. The AI summaries often get the facts wrong while putting human news publishers out of business. Where does this leave us in an era of disinformation warfare?

Can the mainstream media blame AI when it’s already churning out sensationalist clickbait and poorly fact-checked news? And could AI ever be used to improve chronic problems in our news, instead of exploiting them?

Press Gazette editor Charlotte Tobitt and tech journalist Rob Waugh join Media Storm to breakdown the best and worst impacts of AI on the news.

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Survivors of genocide in Gaza have called on the global community to launch criminal prosecutions of Western media professionals who they say carry blame for the murders of their colleagues, families and other victims of Israeli conquest.

Is criminal prosecution possible? Would it even be fair?

We put these questions to Palestinian and Western journalists, legal experts and other witnesses, to take the conversation about media complicity – which has featured on the podcast repeatedly over the past two years – to its next step. Where there is complicity, shouldn’t there be accountability

Guests include Palestinian journalists Ahmed Alnaouq and Abubaker Abed, US journalist Katie Halper, Israeli anthropologist Jeff Halper, Norwegian frontline medic Dr Mads Gilbert, and professor of law Penny Green.

This episode was recorded at the Gaza Tribunal in Istanbul, a people’s trial collating evidence alleging crimes against humanity in Palestine.

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The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Funding, for one thing. Political frontmen, for another. The question is why?

Money trailing into Far-Right groups connects European aristocrats with US Christian evangelicals and Russian propagandists. Together, these vastly different interest groups support joint campaigns undermining migrant rights with one hand, and abortion rights with the other.

Connecting the dots between them, is a debunked White Supremacist conspiracy theory called ‘The Great Replacement’. It argues that White Europeans and Americans are being deliberately seditiously replaced by non-white migrant populations, and that the solution is not just closing borders, it's forcing up White birth rates— and forcing down abortions.

Sian Norris is an investigative journalist exposing these dirty money trails, and she joins us on Media Storm. She says that while wealthy European aristocrats, hardline American Christians and Russian disinformationists may seem very different on the surface, each is incentivised to subscribe to a fascistic mythic past in which White people were superior to others and women’s bodies were controllable and for childbirth. As a result, absurd and extremist worldviews have entered mainstream politics.

How normalised is White Supremacism today? How does it threaten women’s bodily autonomy? How have legacy news outlets helped to make extremism mainstream? This week’s episode brings together the different fights against two far-right frontiers: immigration and abortion.

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The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This week your Media Storm hosts Mathilda and Helena answer all your questions - from hellish headlines to book recommendations to life with or without a fringe.

Some current affairs are covered, including the Manchester synagogue attack and an update on the flotilla detainees. But we also dive into personal, professional and even philosophical questions.

Plus, we even put on our Agony Aunt hats and advise on listener dilemmas: from trying not to look like a ‘conspiracy-theory-nut’, to taking on teachers at your children’s school.

We didn't have enough time to cover all your questions so there will be a Q&A PART TWO very soon, we promise. If you want to submit a question, you can do so by signing up to our ⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We recorded this episode in the knowledge that Israel's planned illegal interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla was imminent. Overnight, the abduction of its passengers begun, and at time of upload, it is still ongoing.

Israeli military vessels attacked the humanitarian boats with water canons, before boarding vessels and capturing passengers. Captives are expected to be taken to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert.

This was a forcible prevention of the flotilla's lawful aim to carry aid to Gaza as it endures a manmade famine and genocide. Under maritime law, it was an act of piracy. It was also enabled by international news media.

Here's how.

The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Whether it's the Reform Party weaponising women's safety, Donald Trump diminishing domestic abuse, or worrying stats about girls' safety in schools, you don't have to look far to see that discrimination against women still exists - and is often aided by lazy, misleading, or misinformed reporting.

What can we do about this?

This week, Media Storm showcases the people and platforms working to end gender-based violence, buy calling out and correcting misogyny in the media.

First up: an in-depth interview with Eliza Hatch. She’s the founder of Cheer Up Luv, the UK-based platform dedicated to ending gender-based violence, discrimination and bias through education, art and storytelling. Helena and Eliza chat about working in the VAWG sector, bringing men into the conversation, and the crucial point headlines are missing when they talk about young men "falling behind" women in education and academia.

And after the break: hear about This Ends Now's new campaign, Take It As Read, which will help us all to challenge misogynistic and victim blaming language around male violence against women and girls.

Interested in this topic? Listen to Media Storm's episodes on domestic abuse reporting, rape justice, and why 'violence against women' is a man's problem.

The episode is hosted and produced by Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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It's time for another News Watch, helping you get your head around the headlines.

This week we start by looking at Trump’s new Caribbean front in the ‘war on terror’, and rising authoritarian usage of “anti-terror” laws in the West.

Helena reflects on the unreported stories from a weekend of nationalist protests in the UK: people of colour trapped inside their houses. 100,000 people joined the march, which was led by far-right Tommy Robinson and riddled with racist violence. We consider the root causes of rapidly rising radicalism in the UK, and the lessons that populist press and politicians are all-too-slow to learn.

To listen to our episode 'Radical thinking: How to fight the far-right', click here.

Next - Charlie Kirk was an American right-wing political activist who campaigned against gun controls, before he was shot and killed in yet another political assassination in the US. His shooting gave rise to many conspiracy theories, but the one peddled across mainstream media was that the suspect was motivated by “transgender ideology”. Here’s everything wrong with that.

Finally, we turn to Gaza, where genocide has just been declared by a UN commission. The expert panel examined actions and statements made publicly by Israeli leaders and soldiers, and concluded that genocidal intent is “the only reasonable inference”. So why haven’t most Western media reached the same conclusion?

The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) 

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok ⁠⁠

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