7 ms·

A quick search using Google news in the UK shows that all the main broadsheets and many of the tabloids have Assange related stories over the past several days

by mnem 7y ago

A quick search using Google news in the UK shows that all the main broadsheets and many of the tabloids have Assange related stories over the past several days at least. I don’t think it’s fair to characterise the media as disinterested.

have_faith 7y ago
None of the homepages I looked at today (Guardian, BBC) has a single mention of Assange. Yes they all had token articles buried somewhere though if you search.
- Zenst 7y ago
  There is only so much space front pages have and much more impacting news events transpiring currently. The aspect as you say that even the Guardian has no mention of this upon its front page, should be testament to that, more so as they would be the first ones in many eyes to jump all over this if it was felt by them to be front page material over other content. However - https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/26/julian-assange-lawyers-argue-us-charges-are-purely-political https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/26/julian-assange... does not appear to be a token article in any way, shape or form. Though if one is to label anything not upon the front page as a token article, then I concede that point from that perspective, albeit I disagree with that assertion given the substance and depth of the article in this instance.
  - have_faith 7y ago
    Fair point regarding it perhaps not being a token article. What I was trying to express is the lack of attention the trial is receiving, no one I know has mentioned it because the media has decided not to give it any obvious coverage, obvious in the sense that people realise it is something that is currently happening. The Guardian has chosen many mundane subjects to grace it's homepage that I think most readers would agree are much lower on the importance scale. Someone at the organisations has obviously decided "yes, we need to cover it, but just do the minimum we have to to appear to not be ignoring it"
    - Zenst 7y ago
      Agreed, though equally interesting how social media seem to not be picking up upon it either - at least going by Twitter trends in the UK: https://trends24.in/united-kingdom/ https://trends24.in/united-kingdom/ Though given those trends, kinda glad the front page is not composed around those trends as a whole and with that, we should be thankful as the news would be a far sadder place if that was the case. [EDIT ADD] the BBC article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51633303 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51633303 seems like it could and should traction and if enough people click the link - it would actually make the front page given how the BBC has the top 10 articles being viewed listed upon its front page. So there is some people power input upon this that you can exercise.
    - dwild 7y ago
      The article he linked is in the frontpage of The Guardian right now, under Headlines.
      - have_faith 7y ago
        This is correct, I'm now seeing it near the bottom of the homepage. The decision not to the show it during prime news reading hours in the morning and mid day would have been a conscious decision though I believe. I think there's some apathy towards the case these days.
    - fluuuhi 7y ago
      "decided" versus do give it a different priority then you do. They are much further away from this story as we are. I can ask plenty of people whats up with assange and they will just not know anything much. There might be no article from him today but i have read plenty of articles about him the last few weeks. Including the criticisim of how he gets treated. So what is the real issue? I would say none. Would i say there is some deliberate action going on? Also no.
- mnem 7y ago
  The Guardian has it on it's UK Politics main page. That's not really buried.
einpoklum 7y ago
A prominent journalist has been locked up in Belmarsh prison in harsh condition for months. Even if there was some coverage now, it's still massively undercovered. That should have been on the news just about every day or two - as a form of news media self-defense if nothing else. Politicians answer other questions should also have been asked why Assange is in custody. Not to mention the under-coverage during his years in effective imprisonment by the UK in the Ecuadorian embassy.
- JoeSmithson 7y ago
  > Politicians answer other questions should also have been asked why Assange is in custody. He's in custody because he's a flight risk. Are there people out there genuinely disputing this?
  - einpoklum 7y ago
    1. I meant, why is the government pursuing any legal action against him, not why he's in custody vs house arrest. 2. Even the claim that he is a flight risk is disputed. Assange has not ran away or hid anywhere - neither while in Sweden nor in the UK. He asked for political asylum, which is not the same as flight. Not to mention the fact that Assange is in a poor condition, physically and mentally, after years of detention and months of harsh solitary confinement, and if anything, should be transferred to a civilian medical facility for treatment and recuperation.
    - JoeSmithson 7y ago
      The UK government are pursuing legal action against him because he is wanted in the US and the US government submitted an extradition request under the US-UK extradition treaty, and Assange is appealing it
      - einpoklum 7y ago
        ... and journalists should be asking why is the UK government helping the US in trying to put a publisher like Assange on trial, rather than repealing the extradition request.

by mnem 7y ago

have_faith 7y ago

None of the homepages I looked at today (Guardian, BBC) has a single mention of Assange. Yes they all had token articles buried somewhere though if you search.

Zenst 7y ago
There is only so much space front pages have and much more impacting news events transpiring currently. The aspect as you say that even the Guardian has no mention of this upon its front page, should be testament to that, more so as they would be the first ones in many eyes to jump all over this if it was felt by them to be front page material over other content. However - https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/26/julian-assange-lawyers-argue-us-charges-are-purely-political https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/26/julian-assange... does not appear to be a token article in any way, shape or form. Though if one is to label anything not upon the front page as a token article, then I concede that point from that perspective, albeit I disagree with that assertion given the substance and depth of the article in this instance.
- have_faith 7y ago
  Fair point regarding it perhaps not being a token article. What I was trying to express is the lack of attention the trial is receiving, no one I know has mentioned it because the media has decided not to give it any obvious coverage, obvious in the sense that people realise it is something that is currently happening. The Guardian has chosen many mundane subjects to grace it's homepage that I think most readers would agree are much lower on the importance scale. Someone at the organisations has obviously decided "yes, we need to cover it, but just do the minimum we have to to appear to not be ignoring it"
  - Zenst 7y ago
    Agreed, though equally interesting how social media seem to not be picking up upon it either - at least going by Twitter trends in the UK: https://trends24.in/united-kingdom/ https://trends24.in/united-kingdom/ Though given those trends, kinda glad the front page is not composed around those trends as a whole and with that, we should be thankful as the news would be a far sadder place if that was the case. [EDIT ADD] the BBC article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51633303 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51633303 seems like it could and should traction and if enough people click the link - it would actually make the front page given how the BBC has the top 10 articles being viewed listed upon its front page. So there is some people power input upon this that you can exercise.
  - dwild 7y ago
    The article he linked is in the frontpage of The Guardian right now, under Headlines.
    - have_faith 7y ago
      This is correct, I'm now seeing it near the bottom of the homepage. The decision not to the show it during prime news reading hours in the morning and mid day would have been a conscious decision though I believe. I think there's some apathy towards the case these days.
  - fluuuhi 7y ago
    "decided" versus do give it a different priority then you do. They are much further away from this story as we are. I can ask plenty of people whats up with assange and they will just not know anything much. There might be no article from him today but i have read plenty of articles about him the last few weeks. Including the criticisim of how he gets treated. So what is the real issue? I would say none. Would i say there is some deliberate action going on? Also no.
mnem 7y ago
The Guardian has it on it's UK Politics main page. That's not really buried.

einpoklum 7y ago

A prominent journalist has been locked up in Belmarsh prison in harsh condition for months. Even if there was some coverage now, it's still massively undercovered. That should have been on the news just about every day or two - as a form of news media self-defense if nothing else. Politicians answer other questions should also have been asked why Assange is in custody. Not to mention the under-coverage during his years in effective imprisonment by the UK in the Ecuadorian embassy.

JoeSmithson 7y ago
> Politicians answer other questions should also have been asked why Assange is in custody. He's in custody because he's a flight risk. Are there people out there genuinely disputing this?
- einpoklum 7y ago
  1. I meant, why is the government pursuing any legal action against him, not why he's in custody vs house arrest. 2. Even the claim that he is a flight risk is disputed. Assange has not ran away or hid anywhere - neither while in Sweden nor in the UK. He asked for political asylum, which is not the same as flight. Not to mention the fact that Assange is in a poor condition, physically and mentally, after years of detention and months of harsh solitary confinement, and if anything, should be transferred to a civilian medical facility for treatment and recuperation.
  - JoeSmithson 7y ago
    The UK government are pursuing legal action against him because he is wanted in the US and the US government submitted an extradition request under the US-UK extradition treaty, and Assange is appealing it
    - einpoklum 7y ago
      ... and journalists should be asking why is the UK government helping the US in trying to put a publisher like Assange on trial, rather than repealing the extradition request.