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Anna Cook

@annacook.bsky.social

Partner at Bristows LLP and trustee of Full Fact.

497 Followers  |  1,807 Following  |  3 Posts  |  Joined: 23.12.2023  |  1.6134

Latest posts by annacook.bsky.social on Bluesky

Text of email

Two BBC slogans - "Inform, Educate, Entertain" and "The fight for truth is on"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/bbc-news-trust-is-earned

We've spent a couple of days now discussing the "problem" of "small boats", and claims that immigrants are responsible for a disproportionate number of serious crimes. The government has played along with this narrative - it's all a serious problem - and various BBC programmes have quoted figures from Robert Jenrick, which appear to be taken from a Daily Telegraph story, quoting Nigel Farage, who in turn quotes an organisation called the Centre for Migration Control, which appears to be a one man band - the trading name of Athelney Campaigns Ltd, run by one Robert Bates.

I've heard Robert Cuffe of BBC Verify telling us the figures should be treated with caution, but the story doesn't change.

Yesterday, Yougov released figures
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52704-is-there-public-support-for-large-scale-removals-of-migrants
which would be no surprise to anyone who's read - or presented - the news over the last few years:

- 45% of Britons would support a halt in immigration and deportation of recent arrivals (that's not quite what the Yougov report says, of course, but it's the kind of headline the papers produce from the figures, and the kind of headline you read out at nine minutes past six)
- 47% of Britons think there are more migrants staying in the UK illegally than legally, when a comparison of those arriving in small boats (the headline number, arriving in an irregular/illegal way but immediately taking on the legal status of asylum seeker) with those arriving with government-issued visas (for work, to join family members, to escape Ukraine, Afghanistan, Hong Kong...) shows the "illegal" number is around 4% of the total

It's not your job to argue for or against immigration or asylum. But you do, calling arrivals over the Channel a "problem" - not because of the exploitation or the deaths; you

Text of email Two BBC slogans - "Inform, Educate, Entertain" and "The fight for truth is on" https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/bbc-news-trust-is-earned We've spent a couple of days now discussing the "problem" of "small boats", and claims that immigrants are responsible for a disproportionate number of serious crimes. The government has played along with this narrative - it's all a serious problem - and various BBC programmes have quoted figures from Robert Jenrick, which appear to be taken from a Daily Telegraph story, quoting Nigel Farage, who in turn quotes an organisation called the Centre for Migration Control, which appears to be a one man band - the trading name of Athelney Campaigns Ltd, run by one Robert Bates. I've heard Robert Cuffe of BBC Verify telling us the figures should be treated with caution, but the story doesn't change. Yesterday, Yougov released figures https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52704-is-there-public-support-for-large-scale-removals-of-migrants which would be no surprise to anyone who's read - or presented - the news over the last few years: - 45% of Britons would support a halt in immigration and deportation of recent arrivals (that's not quite what the Yougov report says, of course, but it's the kind of headline the papers produce from the figures, and the kind of headline you read out at nine minutes past six) - 47% of Britons think there are more migrants staying in the UK illegally than legally, when a comparison of those arriving in small boats (the headline number, arriving in an irregular/illegal way but immediately taking on the legal status of asylum seeker) with those arriving with government-issued visas (for work, to join family members, to escape Ukraine, Afghanistan, Hong Kong...) shows the "illegal" number is around 4% of the total It's not your job to argue for or against immigration or asylum. But you do, calling arrivals over the Channel a "problem" - not because of the exploitation or the deaths; you

Email just sent to today @ bbc . co . uk and feedback @ bbc . co . uk

#r4today

06.08.2025 04:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 106    ๐Ÿ” 46    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 12    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4
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In the 1770s the Intolerable Acts were economic threats intended to cripple us into submission. Once again we find ourselves faced with intolerable actions that threaten our prosperity, happiness and freedom. Boston wouldnโ€™t stand for it then & we wonโ€™t now.
#silencedogood #boston #resist #nokings

10.04.2025 19:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 67    ๐Ÿ” 20    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

The article does indeed reference the European omas. Most of the article is about post-retirees being willing to risk a criminal record by โ€œradical tacticsโ€ and the rise of women as activist leaders.

21.04.2025 09:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Massive, Unarchivable Datasets of Cancer, Covid, and Alzheimer's Research Could Be Lost Forever Days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 10,000 HHS staffers would lose their jobs, a message appeared on NIH research repository sites saying they were "under review."

Massive, unarchivable datasets of cancer, covid, and Alzheimer's research could be lost forever

๐Ÿ”— www.404media.co/nih-archives...

04.04.2025 15:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 933    ๐Ÿ” 445    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19    ๐Ÿ“Œ 37
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Downing Street video doesnโ€™t show Volodymyr Zelenskyy using expletive to refer to Donald Trump - Full Fact A clip being widely shared online, which appears to be a news report covering a moment where the Ukrainian president swore when asked about President Donald Trump, is fake.

A video is circulating online with claims it shows President Zelenskyy uttering an expletive when asked about President Donald Trumpโ€™s latest comments on Ukraine.

But the clip has been edited to mislead, and the Ukrainian leader says nothing of the sort.

08.03.2025 09:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 221    ๐Ÿ” 115    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
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Please share this fact sheet on Ukraine with anyone who needs it

understandingwar.org/backgrounder...

23.02.2025 07:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6712    ๐Ÿ” 3562    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 133    ๐Ÿ“Œ 129

A BBC study just found that generative AI can't even generate news story synopses with any consistent accuracy, and here we are happily pretending it's a symmetrical replacement for education and experience

17.02.2025 22:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1455    ๐Ÿ” 532    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 29    ๐Ÿ“Œ 70
Behind the scenes, the company was also quietly dismantling a system to prevent the spread of misinformation. When the company announced on Jan. 7 that it would end its fact-checking partnerships, the company also instructed teams responsible for ranking content in the companyโ€™s apps to stop penalizing misinformation, according to sources and an internal document obtained by Platformer.

The result is that the sort of viral hoaxes that ran roughshod over the platform during the 2016 US presidential election โ€” โ€œPope Francis endorses Trump,โ€ Pizzagate, and all the rest โ€” are now just as eligible for free amplification on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads as true stories.

Behind the scenes, the company was also quietly dismantling a system to prevent the spread of misinformation. When the company announced on Jan. 7 that it would end its fact-checking partnerships, the company also instructed teams responsible for ranking content in the companyโ€™s apps to stop penalizing misinformation, according to sources and an internal document obtained by Platformer. The result is that the sort of viral hoaxes that ran roughshod over the platform during the 2016 US presidential election โ€” โ€œPope Francis endorses Trump,โ€ Pizzagate, and all the rest โ€” are now just as eligible for free amplification on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads as true stories.

NEW: Meta has quietly dismantled the system that prevented misinformation from spreading in the United States. Machine-learning classifiers that once identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach have now been switched off, Platformer has learned www.platformer.news/meta-ends-mi...

15.01.2025 00:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 26235    ๐Ÿ” 9368    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1381    ๐Ÿ“Œ 974
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Great letter in today's Guardian. What sort of free speech is prevented by factchecking, Zuck?

09.01.2025 13:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 28613    ๐Ÿ” 5983    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 841    ๐Ÿ“Œ 291
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European Federation of Journalists to stop posting content on X The EFJ represents over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries.

"X is a platform that no longer serves the public interest at all, but the special ideological and financial interests of its owner and his political allies"

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/media/e...

02.12.2024 22:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 903    ๐Ÿ” 202    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 22    ๐Ÿ“Œ 7

This sort of thing has happened repeatedly - journalists, I have a list of immigration and asylum experts you can contact, if you are interested in accuracy
bsky.app/profile/did:...

17.11.2024 12:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 194    ๐Ÿ” 45    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 7    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Taking inspiration from our new Brit members, I`ve taken a crack at a Bluesky starter pack for Canadian law and lawyers. Tell your friends! And if you want in the pack, slide into my DMs! go.bsky.app/9ZQ6QYm

09.09.2024 21:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 18    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Google.org: Googleโ€™s philanthropy Google.org connects nonprofits to funding & additional resources. Learn about our philanthropy program & goal to aid underserved communities.


Full Fact AIโ€™s new tool allows fact checkers and journalists to identify the most important issues in the tsunami of misinformation they are facing, and tackle them more quickly and effectively.
Itโ€™s already being road-tested by teams around the world. Weโ€™re excited by its potential 3/3

04.09.2024 19:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Victoria line?

25.08.2024 16:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Hi Sean - glad to see you on here!

07.08.2024 17:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

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