Andrew Purcell
@andrewpurcell.bsky.social
Journalist turned human rights activist, creative project enthusiast, runner, father of two boys, exhausted shell of a man.
Britain's political and media establishment is still on X, pretending it's a news source and measure of public opinion.
Our politics is deeply influenced by rage bait that is manufactured and amplified overseas, for profit. It is so broken and so damaging. Will the govt do anything about it?
Our politics is deeply influenced by rage bait that is manufactured and amplified overseas, for profit. It is so broken and so damaging. Will the govt do anything about it?
Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Britain's political and media establishment is still on X, pretending it's a news source and measure of public opinion.
Our politics is deeply influenced by rage bait that is manufactured and amplified overseas, for profit. It is so broken and so damaging. Will the govt do anything about it?
Our politics is deeply influenced by rage bait that is manufactured and amplified overseas, for profit. It is so broken and so damaging. Will the govt do anything about it?
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
Seeing how much of the right-wing on Twitter is just bot farms, kinda lays bare how much hate and hatred is a project that needs to be constantly maintained, a fire that needs to be fed all the time lest it go out for a moment, so much time, effort, and resources to keep people angry and hateful.
November 24, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Seeing how much of the right-wing on Twitter is just bot farms, kinda lays bare how much hate and hatred is a project that needs to be constantly maintained, a fire that needs to be fed all the time lest it go out for a moment, so much time, effort, and resources to keep people angry and hateful.
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
I read “It is hard to imagine that taking place in Britain” initially as “thank goodness”. Then I realised that Phillips *wants* this for Britain! He wants a Britain where visible minorities live in fear of abduction and deportation? WTAF?
Just a jaw-dropping paragraph in Trevor Phillips's column for The Times.
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
November 24, 2025 at 11:40 PM
I read “It is hard to imagine that taking place in Britain” initially as “thank goodness”. Then I realised that Phillips *wants* this for Britain! He wants a Britain where visible minorities live in fear of abduction and deportation? WTAF?
RIP Jimmy Cliff. Interviewing him was one of the great privileges of my time at BBC 6Music. Few have done "sweet but tough, tough but sweet" even half as well, and the songs on The Harder They Come will live forever.
November 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
RIP Jimmy Cliff. Interviewing him was one of the great privileges of my time at BBC 6Music. Few have done "sweet but tough, tough but sweet" even half as well, and the songs on The Harder They Come will live forever.
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
"Record numbers of overseas-trained doctors are quitting the UK, leaving the NHS at risk of huge gaps in its workforce, with hostility towards migrants blamed for the exodus...the NHS is so heavily reliant on doctors from elsewhere – 42% of its entire medical workforce qualified overseas."
All those people, including current government, who falsely claim migrants are to blame for failings with the NHS, along with infrastructure in general, are in for one hell of a shock with how much worse things will get with Labour's anti-immigration policies.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Overseas-trained doctors leaving the UK in record numbers
Medical bodies warn that hostility towards migrants is behind a 26% rise in departures last year that imperils NHS
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 AM
"Record numbers of overseas-trained doctors are quitting the UK, leaving the NHS at risk of huge gaps in its workforce, with hostility towards migrants blamed for the exodus...the NHS is so heavily reliant on doctors from elsewhere – 42% of its entire medical workforce qualified overseas."
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing
The de facto Saudi ruler was branded a pariah in 2018 after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, U.S.-Saudi relations are approaching a high point.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:11 PM
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
Not everyone is unhappy about the Government's descent into anti-refugee politics
November 16, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Not everyone is unhappy about the Government's descent into anti-refugee politics
Extremely thorough analysis of the BBC's distorted coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza by @trillingual.bsky.social
The piece is very well sourced, fair, nuanced, sympathetic to institutional pressures on the BBC - making the verdict on its biased output all the more damning.
The piece is very well sourced, fair, nuanced, sympathetic to institutional pressures on the BBC - making the verdict on its biased output all the more damning.
Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco • EQUATOR
How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart
www.equator.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Extremely thorough analysis of the BBC's distorted coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza by @trillingual.bsky.social
The piece is very well sourced, fair, nuanced, sympathetic to institutional pressures on the BBC - making the verdict on its biased output all the more damning.
The piece is very well sourced, fair, nuanced, sympathetic to institutional pressures on the BBC - making the verdict on its biased output all the more damning.
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
Last punt for this. Applications close at midnight on Sunday. Come and work with me.
It's a great job, varied and challenging, working with journalists at top tier media outlets every day and shaping stories that make a difference.
It's a great job, varied and challenging, working with journalists at top tier media outlets every day and shaping stories that make a difference.
Media Officer Vacancy - Reprieve
How to apply: Please download the application form and job description. Completed application forms should then be uploaded using the form below by 23:59 GMT on 16 November 2025. Please note that cove...
reprieve.org
November 13, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Last punt for this. Applications close at midnight on Sunday. Come and work with me.
It's a great job, varied and challenging, working with journalists at top tier media outlets every day and shaping stories that make a difference.
It's a great job, varied and challenging, working with journalists at top tier media outlets every day and shaping stories that make a difference.
This is erudite, insightful, searching, funny - the antithesis of the ubiquitous, lazy 'both sides' journalism it elegantly tears to pieces.
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:53 PM
This is erudite, insightful, searching, funny - the antithesis of the ubiquitous, lazy 'both sides' journalism it elegantly tears to pieces.
Saudi authorities are executing hundreds of people a year, mostly for alleged drug crimes.
This excellent Guardian article, reported with Reprieve's help, tells some of their stories. The cruelty of the MBS regime is unfathomable - and the bravery of these families speaking out.
This excellent Guardian article, reported with Reprieve's help, tells some of their stories. The cruelty of the MBS regime is unfathomable - and the bravery of these families speaking out.
‘I’ll be executed on Tuesday’: families reveal panicked last calls from foreigners on Saudi’s death row
Relatives share with the Guardian final words of those killed amid ‘horrifying’ surge in capital punishment under Mohammed bin Salman’s rule
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Saudi authorities are executing hundreds of people a year, mostly for alleged drug crimes.
This excellent Guardian article, reported with Reprieve's help, tells some of their stories. The cruelty of the MBS regime is unfathomable - and the bravery of these families speaking out.
This excellent Guardian article, reported with Reprieve's help, tells some of their stories. The cruelty of the MBS regime is unfathomable - and the bravery of these families speaking out.
Admirably clear take from the BBC's own Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall.
It's carefully worded, of course, but concludes that "some are asking" if "the BBC has been weaponised" by the right.
It's carefully worded, of course, but concludes that "some are asking" if "the BBC has been weaponised" by the right.
Katie Razzall: A seismic moment that shows rift at top of BBC
There may be more to this than meets the eye, says the BBC's culture and media editor.
www.bbc.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Admirably clear take from the BBC's own Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall.
It's carefully worded, of course, but concludes that "some are asking" if "the BBC has been weaponised" by the right.
It's carefully worded, of course, but concludes that "some are asking" if "the BBC has been weaponised" by the right.
"All requested anonymity, fearing legal repercussions."
In Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia you can be executed for saying the emperor has no clothes.
The project will never be built but they've already sentenced some tribespeople to death for getting in the way.
In Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia you can be executed for saying the emperor has no clothes.
The project will never be built but they've already sentenced some tribespeople to death for getting in the way.
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"All requested anonymity, fearing legal repercussions."
In Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia you can be executed for saying the emperor has no clothes.
The project will never be built but they've already sentenced some tribespeople to death for getting in the way.
In Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia you can be executed for saying the emperor has no clothes.
The project will never be built but they've already sentenced some tribespeople to death for getting in the way.
The Times was always a conservative paper but it's startling how hard it's swung to the right under Tony Gallagher, with Labour in power.
This is their top story today, splashed on front page of app.
This is their top story today, splashed on front page of app.
November 7, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The Times was always a conservative paper but it's startling how hard it's swung to the right under Tony Gallagher, with Labour in power.
This is their top story today, splashed on front page of app.
This is their top story today, splashed on front page of app.
We started working with the NYT on this story months ago, but it's worth the wait. Their journalists have dug into Saudi Arabia's record year of executions for drug offences, to tell the stories of some of the poor migrants targeted - often killed just for being in the wrong place at wrong time.
As Saudi Arabia Cracks Down on Drugs, Executions Near a Record High
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:03 PM
We started working with the NYT on this story months ago, but it's worth the wait. Their journalists have dug into Saudi Arabia's record year of executions for drug offences, to tell the stories of some of the poor migrants targeted - often killed just for being in the wrong place at wrong time.
The UK right have been flirting with this as a wedge issue for some time.
The death penalty is not a deterrent, miscarriages of justice are fatal, it targets the most vulnerable and there's no humane way to execute someone. It is banned in Britain for good reason.
Of course Reform want it back!
The death penalty is not a deterrent, miscarriages of justice are fatal, it targets the most vulnerable and there's no humane way to execute someone. It is banned in Britain for good reason.
Of course Reform want it back!
Support for bringing back the death penalty, by 2024 vote
Reform: 82%
Con: 67%
Labour: 35%
Lib Dem: 30%
Green: 26%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
Reform: 82%
Con: 67%
Labour: 35%
Lib Dem: 30%
Green: 26%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
November 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM
The UK right have been flirting with this as a wedge issue for some time.
The death penalty is not a deterrent, miscarriages of justice are fatal, it targets the most vulnerable and there's no humane way to execute someone. It is banned in Britain for good reason.
Of course Reform want it back!
The death penalty is not a deterrent, miscarriages of justice are fatal, it targets the most vulnerable and there's no humane way to execute someone. It is banned in Britain for good reason.
Of course Reform want it back!
"His equally out-of-touch billionaire backers, who have barely seen the city beyond the windows of their SUVs for years, thought they had hired the man for the job, but didn’t actually understand what the job was."
A richly deserved and most enjoyable takedown of everything this man represents 🔥
A richly deserved and most enjoyable takedown of everything this man represents 🔥
Opinion | It’s Not Just Cuomo Who Lost. It’s Cuomoism.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:52 AM
"His equally out-of-touch billionaire backers, who have barely seen the city beyond the windows of their SUVs for years, thought they had hired the man for the job, but didn’t actually understand what the job was."
A richly deserved and most enjoyable takedown of everything this man represents 🔥
A richly deserved and most enjoyable takedown of everything this man represents 🔥
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
And frying their brains in ways they don’t even realise, never mind understand
must-read analysis of how Musk's twitter is drenching new users with right-wing propaganda
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
And frying their brains in ways they don’t even realise, never mind understand
The death of Twitter left a huge gap in NGO comms plans, so I understand it's hard to quit. But by staying, you are lending legitimacy to a far right radicalisation engine.
Too many journalists still treat it as a neutral news source, too, not acknowledging it vastly over represents r/w views.
Too many journalists still treat it as a neutral news source, too, not acknowledging it vastly over represents r/w views.
How the world's richest man is boosting the British right
How the world's richest man is boosting the British right
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
The death of Twitter left a huge gap in NGO comms plans, so I understand it's hard to quit. But by staying, you are lending legitimacy to a far right radicalisation engine.
Too many journalists still treat it as a neutral news source, too, not acknowledging it vastly over represents r/w views.
Too many journalists still treat it as a neutral news source, too, not acknowledging it vastly over represents r/w views.
Reposted by Andrew Purcell
The full transcript of Zohran Mamdani's acceptance speech is very much worth reading in full. Even if you don't agree with your politics, it's very beautifully put together.
archive.is/8VqQJ
[this is a useable link to the NYT transcript]
archive.is/8VqQJ
[this is a useable link to the NYT transcript]
November 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
The full transcript of Zohran Mamdani's acceptance speech is very much worth reading in full. Even if you don't agree with your politics, it's very beautifully put together.
archive.is/8VqQJ
[this is a useable link to the NYT transcript]
archive.is/8VqQJ
[this is a useable link to the NYT transcript]
Zohran Mamdani's rise is astonishing and his videos have played a huge part in it.
Of course you need a candidate who's authentic, disciplined and actually stands for something, but there's a template here for progressives shut out of and smeared by mainstream media.
Great article, too.
Of course you need a candidate who's authentic, disciplined and actually stands for something, but there's a template here for progressives shut out of and smeared by mainstream media.
Great article, too.
Selling Zohran | Defector
On a cool Sunday in November, a few days after Donald Trump’s re-election, Zohran Mamdani stood on a street corner in Jamaica, Queens, holding up a hastily drawn cardboard sign that read “DID YOU VOTE...
defector.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Zohran Mamdani's rise is astonishing and his videos have played a huge part in it.
Of course you need a candidate who's authentic, disciplined and actually stands for something, but there's a template here for progressives shut out of and smeared by mainstream media.
Great article, too.
Of course you need a candidate who's authentic, disciplined and actually stands for something, but there's a template here for progressives shut out of and smeared by mainstream media.
Great article, too.
"Cheney, 84, picked an appropriate time to die. His decades-long struggle to consolidate the unparalleled might of U.S. warmaking within the White House has succeeded."
Spencer Ackerman with the eulogy Dick Cheney deserves, wishing him accountability in the next life he evaded in this one.
Spencer Ackerman with the eulogy Dick Cheney deserves, wishing him accountability in the next life he evaded in this one.
www.thenation.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
"Cheney, 84, picked an appropriate time to die. His decades-long struggle to consolidate the unparalleled might of U.S. warmaking within the White House has succeeded."
Spencer Ackerman with the eulogy Dick Cheney deserves, wishing him accountability in the next life he evaded in this one.
Spencer Ackerman with the eulogy Dick Cheney deserves, wishing him accountability in the next life he evaded in this one.