Transparency records reveal senior trade officials held dinners and strategy meetings with the notorious lobbying firm even as controversy over its Epstein links deepened, says SOLOMON HUGHES
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Australia v Facebook & Google: how will the new law affect public-interest journalism?
International Federation of Journalists general secretary ANTHONY BELLANGER speaks to Morning Star editor Ben Chacko about the 'Goliath and Goliath' struggle between old and new media monopolies
"What this episode has done is expose for all to see the true nature of companies like Facebook and Google. They talk about media freedom and freedom of expression, but their only real interest is how to profit from news"
Starmer promised a reset after Labour’s dire electoral performance, but the government’s programme still falls far short of the bold action needed, says ANDY McDONALD MP
ANDREW DRAPER reports on the deliberate targeting and torture of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli state
Author Michael Rosen asked people how we confront a takeover by Reform. The Labour Party would do well to listen to the answers rather than shuffle more deckchairs on the Titanic, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
What began as a purported ‘anti-drugs mission’ has evolved into a permanent regional military operation, write ROGER D HARRIS and JOHN PERRY
KEITH FLETT looks at a post-election London
GOVERNMENTS around the world are watching Australia, which became the first country to legislate to make Google and Facebook pay for news content last week.
The process has not been a smooth one – with Facebook dramatically “unfriending Australia” on February 18, shutting down Australian media pages and many more besides. The sweeping cull also cut access to some government and public information websites, as well as those of trade unions.
Facebook relented a few days later, but the message – that the firm is large and powerful enough to wreak havoc with the public’s access to information if it finds government policy objectionable – could hardly be clearer, especially since Facebook’s supposed climbdown came after it had secured further concessions in direct negotiations between Mark Zuckerberg and Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
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Claims that digital media has rendered press power obsolete are a dangerous myth, argues DES FREEDMAN
![[Pic: Andrew Wiard]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-01/19860330_a_wiard_0001JPG.jpg.webp?itok=nkzZbinE)
As advertising drains away, newsrooms shrink and local papers disappear, MIKE WAYNE argues that the market model for news is broken – and that public-interest alternatives, rooted in democratic accountability, are more necessary than ever
It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
