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Ben Fenton

@benfenton.bsky.social

6.1K followers 960 following 1.1K posts

Media/politics(Covered 2 US presidential elections); Fairness - Author of TO BE FAIR https://menschpublishing.com/books/to-be-fair/ Formerly: Chair, Orwell Journalism Prize; FT chief media corr; Telegraph Senior Reporter & Washington Correspondent

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · Dec 16

I wrote a thing about how the folk-hero-worship of Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of a health-insurance CEO, is a result of our profound instincts of fairness and unfairness.

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/united...

Luigi Mangione, folk hero

The man suspected of murdering the CEO of America’s largest healthcare company has been lionised because of a yearning for fairness

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Reposted by Ben Fenton

Hend Amry @libyaliberty.bsky.social · 1d

MIT’s reply to Trumps shocking attack on education is a master class in deft rhetorical communication and positioning. It refutes without ceding ground. It negates without naming the charge. It accuses and rejects while sounding compliant. What a breath of fresh air after endless disappointments

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 1d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 1d

Is this the singularity?

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 1d

For "circle of peace", read "bomb blast area".

FinTwitter @fintwitter.bsky.social · 1d

Netanyahu: ‘Together we will complete our tasks. Together we will expand the circle of peace around us.’

Reposted by Ben Fenton

FinTwitter @fintwitter.bsky.social · 1d

Netanyahu: ‘Together we will complete our tasks. Together we will expand the circle of peace around us.’

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 1d

I'm sure if President Trump reads this excellent BBC explainer on the Nobel Peace Prize process, he will realise that, as he only took office as the committee was sitting down to consider 338 nominations, next year will be the time to have a hissy fit.

Nobel Peace Prize: Inside room where it gets decided – but will Trump get his wish - BBC News

For the first time in its 125-year history, the committee allows an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse.

www.bbc.com

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 1d

Also renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War is not, as the PR professions would say, good optics.

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

The most revealing moment of the Leveson Inquiry was when an editor explained how a story came together.

"You offer me a tip. I decide I'm interested in it. I then task a reporter to go and make that story work, see if that story will work."

'Make that story work.' 'Make the Proof.' Simples.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Reposted by Ben Fenton

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Reposted by Ben Fenton

The Onion @theonion.com · 2d

Bored National Guard Goes Door To Door Asking If Chicagoans Have Any Order They Need Restored https://theonion.com/bored-national-guard-goes-door-to-door-asking-if-chicagoans-have-any-order-they-need-restored/

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

I gather he is Donald Trump's favourite author.

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

The Founding Fathers really missed out when they failed to get the Declaration of Independence sponsored by Renault.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump Watches commercials are now running regularly on Newsmax

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Reposted by Ben Fenton

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump Watches commercials are now running regularly on Newsmax

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

Hunter Biden

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

Maybe if we made it a quid pro quo for retiring from public life next Wednesday? Plus guaranteed immunity from all crimes committed to date. That might work for everyone.

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

I'm 64 but I reckon I am mentally younger than the three young men. Will give the woman the benefit of the doubt, though the pearl-clutching may be indicative.

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

I'm with you, Rob. Any thoughts on what we might call it?

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

These young people are so obviously typical representatives of their generation that it must breathe real hope into their party's leadership.

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

If a news organisation is making -200% margin after five years, it is not a commercial operation and should be assumed to have a different purpose.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d

The channel lost £33 million to communicate its content to a large audience
www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/g...

GB News suffers huge loss despite doubling revenue and growing audience

The TV channel, whose well-known presenters include Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, fell to a pre-tax loss of £33.4m in the year to 31 May, 2024

www.business-live.co.uk

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Reposted by Ben Fenton

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d

The channel lost £33 million to communicate its content to a large audience
www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/g...

GB News suffers huge loss despite doubling revenue and growing audience

The TV channel, whose well-known presenters include Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, fell to a pre-tax loss of £33.4m in the year to 31 May, 2024

www.business-live.co.uk

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 2d

The Nobel committee for 2026 may also take account that while earning credit in the Middle East, he has also made peace harder to reach through his meandering, thoughtless rhetoric.

More importantly, how could you give a peace prize to a man who has just declared war on half his own compatriots?

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 4d

AI foul-ups are boring, but this seems different:Asked Google area of Iveragh peninsula in hectares: AI overview said "450 sq kms or 45K hectares"

Then it showed its working, which was based on 30 x 15 *miles*. And then it showed a different (correct) calc of 116K ha.

Why bother with it?

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 4d

If European courts were to make hallucinations a form of defamation, then we might be able to force people to check their AI research a bit more.

In the UK, defamation includes holding people up to "hatred, ridicule or contempt". Could be expanded to "by false attribution or citation".

Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 4d

This is astounding. Global Financial Crisis, plus the knee jerk response to cut, cut, cut, plus Brexit has made us a shadow of what we could have been.

Resolution Foundation @resfoundation.bsky.social · 4d

Britain has seen an acute living standards slowdown over the past 20 years.

This has affected incomes across the distribution.

A typical family today would be £20,000 richer if incomes had continued growing at the same rate since 2005, when the Foundation was founded.

⤵️ buff.ly/NuhNFF9

Chart showing average annual non-pensioner real household income growth, by income percentile: GB/UK

Reposted by Ben Fenton

Resolution Foundation @resfoundation.bsky.social · 4d

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Ben Fenton @benfenton.bsky.social · 4d

Each in their own way is thinking: "Thank goodness I'm the right kind of undesirable."