News UK

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'''News UK''' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] news organisation that's part of [[Rupert Murdoch]]'s empire. It owns newspapers ''The Times'', ''The Sunday Times'', and ''[[The Sun]]'', a TV channel TalkTV, and some radio stations and other businesses. Its outlets generally have a [[right-wing]] political bent.

It was formerly known as '''News International''', taking its current name in 2013 in the wake of the phone hacking scandal and [[Leveson Inquiry]] which forced the closure of its former newspaper ''[[News of the World]]'' for vast illegality. In 2016 it bought the [[Northern Ireland|Northern Irish]] media group Wireless Group, which owned various [[radio]] stations including the populist talk station TalkRadio, as well as [[music]] and sports channels. In 2022 News UK launched a TV station, TalkTV, which is based on TalkRadio with added content from the likes of [[Piers Morgan]].

==''The Times''==
''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' are august names in British newspaper publishing, with ''The Times'' traditionally considered a newspaper of record. ''The Times'' began as ''The Daily Universal Register'' in 1785, changing its name to the current version in 1788; ''The Sunday Times'' was founded in 1821.<ref>{{wpa|The Times}}</ref>

In 1981, Rupert Murdoch took them over, guaranteeing editorial independence and that the papers not be merged.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/22/newsid_4312000/4312698.stm 1981: Murdoch bids to take over Times], BBC On This Day, accessed 21 June 2022</ref> These requirements were formally lifted in 2022, but had long been a joke.<ref>[https://bylinetimes.com/2022/02/15/10-favours-the-government-has-done-its-press-friends-at-our-expense/ 10 Favours the Government has done its Press Friends At Our Expense], Byline Times, 15 Feb 2022</ref>

''The Sunday Times'' enjoyed a lot of success in the 1980s, despite a few missteps like publishing [[Adolf Hitler]]'s diaries, which turned out to be fake.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hitler-diaries-anniversary-sunday-times-extracts-hoax-fake-news-germany-a8337286.html The Hitler Diaries: How hoax documents became the most infamous fake news ever], ''The Independent'', 5 May 2018</ref> For much of the decade it was edited by Andrew Neil, who proved to be a high-profile and controversial figure who went onto a long career in newspapers and TV. In the 1980s and early 1990s it published [[AIDS denialism]] notably by its health correspondent Neville Hodgkinson, who claimed the disease [[AIDS]] was unconnected with the HIV virus.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/newspaper-will-continue-to-question-hiv-link-with-aids-1424871.html Newspaper will continue to question HIV link with Aids], ''The Independent'', 24 June 1994</ref>

''The Times'' repeatedly and falsely claimed that former Labour leader Michael Foot was a spy for the [[Soviet Union]] in an attempt to smear the [[Labour Party]]; even Andrew Neil criticised the paper for this.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/15/labour-figures-slam-claim-that-michael-foot-was-paid-by-soviets Labour figures slam claim that Michael Foot was paid by Soviets], The Guardian 15 Sep 2018</ref><ref>[https://inews.co.uk/news/ex-sunday-times-ed-andrew-neil-leads-criticism-of-times-over-soviet-sympathiser-michael-foot-197910 Andrew Neil leads criticism of Times over claims Michael Foot was ‘Soviet sympathiser’], The Independent, 15 Sep 2018</ref>

''The Sunday Times'' indulged in a variety of illegal or [[Morality|immoral]] activities to engage stories: in 2018, ''Byline Times'' reported that for 15 years during the editorship of John Witheroe the paper paid a man called John Ford to hack emails and illegally obtain phone records and bank details of people in the news. Examples included accessing bank records of [[Conservative Party|Tory]] leader William Hague to see if he was having an affair with a researcher, buying her presents, or paying for hotel rooms (he wasn't).<ref>[https://bylineinvestigates.com/2018/03/07/the-wapping-whistleblower-15-years-hacking-and-blagging-for-the-sunday-times/ The Wapping Whistleblower – 15 years hacking and blagging for the Sunday Times], ''Byline Investigates'', 7 March 2018</ref>

In February 2022 ''The Times'' attempted to smear [[Black Lives Matter]] and the [[LGBT]] organisation Stonewall by falsely claiming the Department of Education had described them as "[[bias]]ed" and tried to have them banned from schools. In reality the government had not mentioned Stonewall and only made a passing reference to BLM, urging caution rather than a ban.<ref>[https://bylinetimes.com/2022/02/21/the-times-smears-black-lives-matter-and-stonewall-another-example-of-bad-unaccountable-journalism/ The Times Smears Black Lives Matter and Stonewall], ''Byline Times'', 21 Feb 2022</ref>

In June 2022, ''The Times'' published and then swiftly removed a story by Simon Walters claiming Prime Minister [[Boris Johnson]] had attempted to employ his then-girlfriend, later wife, Carrie in a well-paid job while he was foreign secretary. This story mysteriously disappeared from the paper's website, apparently after the government asked them to take it down.<ref>[https://bylinetimes.com/2022/06/20/anatomy-of-a-cover-up-how-no-10-killed-the-times-story-about-boris-and-carrie-johnson/ How Number 10 Killed the Times Story About Boris and Carrie Johnson], Adam Bienkov, ''Byline Times'', 20 June 2022</ref>

==TalkRadio==
TalkRadio has a format based around phone-ins and news. While known for its right-wing voices, it employed dodgy [[socialist]] grifter [[George Galloway]] for a while until he was sacked in 2019 after breaching media impartiality rules, including for defending [[Russia]] over poisoning incidents in the UK, calling a listener who disagreed with him a "gutless coward" and an "ignorant moron", and for his arguably [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] [[Twitter|tweets]]. The channel was fined £75,000 for Galloway's breaches of broadcasting regulations.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48498010 George Galloway sacked by talkRADIO over allegedly anti-Semitic tweet], BBC News, 3 June 2019</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/george-galloway-talkradio-impartiality-ofcom-salisbury-poisoning-antisemitism-labour-a9340326.html TalkRadio fined £75,000 over ‘impartiality’ failure with George Galloway’s comments on Salisbury poisoning and antisemitism], The Independent, 17 Feb 2020</ref>

It employs right-wing [[populist]] broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer who has been criticised for many things. These include anti-[[Face masks|mask]] [[rhetoric]] during the [[COVID]] pandemic.<ref>[https://www.thenational.scot/news/19812060.julia-hartley-brewer-may-face-legal-action-claim-dr-julia-grace-patersons-mask-sales/ Julia Hartley-Brewer may face legal action over claim about doctor's mask sales], The National (Glasgow), 28 Dec 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/julia-hartley-brewer-mocked-bragging-24378296 Julia Hartley-Brewer mocked for bragging about going mask-free on the tube], The Mirror, 23 June 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/tv/morning-fans-complain-over-julia-22308800 This Morning fans complain over Julia Hartley-Brewer's 'selfish' views], Yorkshire Live, 21 Nov 2021</ref> She is staunchly [[transphobia|opposed to trans rights]] and attacks [[non-binary]] people, gender-inclusive policies, and gender-neutral facilities.<ref>[https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/11/09/julia-hartley-brewer-lashes-out-at-topshops-gender-neutral-changing-rooms/ Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer has condemned gender-neutral changing rooms after Topshop restated their inclusive policy.], Pink News, 9 Nov 2017</ref> She claimed to have banned the word "[[cis]]" from her radio show, which is a common tactic of transphobes who for some reason object to the term "cis women".<ref>[https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/12/03/julia-hartley-brewer-talkradio-cis/ TalkRadio host Julia Hartley-Brewer threatened to remove a guest from the studio during a discussion on trans rights because he used the term “cis.”], Pink News, 3 Dec 2018</ref>

As well as Hartley-Brewer, it also hosted COVID [[denialist]] content from Mark Dolan who cut up a mask on air to protest about their use.<ref>[https://pressgazette.co.uk/talkradios-jamie-east-quits-after-presenter-cuts-up-face-mask-on-air/ Talkradio's Jamie East quits after fellow presenter cut up face mask on air], Press Gazette, 20 Sep 2020</ref>

==TalkTV==
TalkTV launched on 25 April 2022, widely seen as a response to the other populist right-wing TV news channel [[GB News]] which launched shortly before. TalkTV's regulars include former newspaper editor and TV presenter [[Piers Morgan]] and ''The Sun'''s former political editor Tom Newton Dunn. It launched with Morgan interviewing [[Donald Trump]], with some confected scandal claiming that Trump had walked out, which the ex-President denied.<ref name=indy20220504>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/talktv-piers-morgan-rupert-murdoch-b2071417.html 'Staggering levels of deference': What I learnt from watching TalkTV for a week], The Independent, 4 May 2022</ref> Trump called Morgan's show "[[Fake News]] Media" and claimed TalkTV had "unlawfully and deceptively edited his long and tedious interview with me."<ref>[https://deadline.com/2022/04/piers-morgan-donald-trump-interview-uncensored-promo-video-1235006813/ Piers Vs Donald: Spat Breaks Out Between Piers Morgan And Former POTUS Over Talk TV Interview], Deadline, 21 April 2022</ref> There isn't actually a law against using editing to make Trump look an idiot, or even to make Morgan look a good interviewer, though the latter is harder than the former.

Reviewing early coverage, ''The Independent'' attacked the channel's "staggering levels of deference" towards Prime Minister [[Boris Johnson]] in particular, who was given soft questions and allowed to talk uninterrupted for long periods.<ref name=indy20220504/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2|90%}}

[[Category:British media]]
[[Category:Murdochsphere]]
[[Category:Radio]]

Categories: British media, Murdochsphere, Radio