Hardeep Matharu
@hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
Journalist. Speaker. Writer. Interviewer
Curious explorer of the forces that shape us. Identities. Politics. Media. Culture
Editor-in-Chief of the independent UK publication Byline Times
[email protected] / hardeepmatharu.wordpress.com
Curious explorer of the forces that shape us. Identities. Politics. Media. Culture
Editor-in-Chief of the independent UK publication Byline Times
[email protected] / hardeepmatharu.wordpress.com
Pinned
I edited my first newspaper when I was 26 in 2014. 11 years on, a lovely surprise to be nominated for the 2025 Editors' Editor Award by The British Society of Magazine Editors for my work at Byline Times. A testament to the entire brilliant team @bylinetimes.bsky.social
www.bsme.com/editors-edit...
www.bsme.com/editors-edit...
"Have I ever tried to take it out on any individual on the basis of where they're from? No. I have never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody".
If the press is giving Farage such a platform it must, as ITV News has done, scrutinise. That this isn't being reported prominently is astonishing.
If the press is giving Farage such a platform it must, as ITV News has done, scrutinise. That this isn't being reported prominently is astonishing.
Nigel Farage responds to racism claims saying he never ‘tried to hurt anybody’
Reform leader denies racist or antisemitic behaviour ‘with intent’ at school, but says he can’t remember everything from 49 years ago
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:43 PM
"Have I ever tried to take it out on any individual on the basis of where they're from? No. I have never directly really tried to go and hurt anybody".
If the press is giving Farage such a platform it must, as ITV News has done, scrutinise. That this isn't being reported prominently is astonishing.
If the press is giving Farage such a platform it must, as ITV News has done, scrutinise. That this isn't being reported prominently is astonishing.
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Byline Times latest edition front page.
Always a good well balanced well researched read.
Always a good well balanced well researched read.
November 21, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Byline Times latest edition front page.
Always a good well balanced well researched read.
Always a good well balanced well researched read.
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
If you're still looking for good writing and journalism as the legacy newspapers continue their slide into the ooze, you could do a lot worse than sign up to Byline Times. This is just the most exceptionally good writing from @peterjukes.bsky.social ...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/80/f...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/80/f...
From Underground Man to Internet Man: Apocalyptic, Cleansing Violence – Byline Times Digital / Print Edition
In 1976, Peter Jukes wanted to be Travis Bickle. A decade later, he realised the Taxi Driver anti-hero was a psychopath. Now he suspects Bickle’s dangerous saviour complex underpins the architecture o...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:29 AM
If you're still looking for good writing and journalism as the legacy newspapers continue their slide into the ooze, you could do a lot worse than sign up to Byline Times. This is just the most exceptionally good writing from @peterjukes.bsky.social ...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/80/f...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/80/f...
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Revelling in the latest edition of @bylinetimes.bsky.social
From the BBC to migration, Islamophobia to disability, our editor in chief @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social has done an amazing job tying up the Carousel of Scapegoats with the co-morbidity of current politics ➡️ subscribe.bylinetimes.com
From the BBC to migration, Islamophobia to disability, our editor in chief @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social has done an amazing job tying up the Carousel of Scapegoats with the co-morbidity of current politics ➡️ subscribe.bylinetimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Revelling in the latest edition of @bylinetimes.bsky.social
From the BBC to migration, Islamophobia to disability, our editor in chief @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social has done an amazing job tying up the Carousel of Scapegoats with the co-morbidity of current politics ➡️ subscribe.bylinetimes.com
From the BBC to migration, Islamophobia to disability, our editor in chief @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social has done an amazing job tying up the Carousel of Scapegoats with the co-morbidity of current politics ➡️ subscribe.bylinetimes.com
When politics can provide no real solutions for people's lives, welcome to 'The Carousel of Scapegoats': distracting, psychological projection to make them feel 'better' – because the lives of 'others' can be made worse
New Byline Times print edition available in shops / subscribe.bylinetimes.com 👇
New Byline Times print edition available in shops / subscribe.bylinetimes.com 👇
November 14, 2025 at 12:11 PM
When politics can provide no real solutions for people's lives, welcome to 'The Carousel of Scapegoats': distracting, psychological projection to make them feel 'better' – because the lives of 'others' can be made worse
New Byline Times print edition available in shops / subscribe.bylinetimes.com 👇
New Byline Times print edition available in shops / subscribe.bylinetimes.com 👇
Outgoing BBC DG Tim Davie says the corporation needs to "fight for our journalism". It also needs to fight for its independence. The two are linked. Davie, a former Tory councillor candidate, has inadequately fought for reporting that actually scrutinises rather than simply 'reflects' back opinions.
November 11, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Outgoing BBC DG Tim Davie says the corporation needs to "fight for our journalism". It also needs to fight for its independence. The two are linked. Davie, a former Tory councillor candidate, has inadequately fought for reporting that actually scrutinises rather than simply 'reflects' back opinions.
The thing about the moment we are in is we have been here before. During the Brexit Referendum campaign, the Johnson years, and now with Farage's ascent. Our established press has played a role in why we have got to this point in British politics. What's happening at the BBC now was an inevitability
November 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
The thing about the moment we are in is we have been here before. During the Brexit Referendum campaign, the Johnson years, and now with Farage's ascent. Our established press has played a role in why we have got to this point in British politics. What's happening at the BBC now was an inevitability
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
TONIGHT at The Cockpit! Byline Times is deep diving into the gnarly Lure of Class - conscious and otherwise. Ripe for discussion with all the public schoolboy shenanigans at the Beeb currently @bylinetimes.bsky.social
www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lur...
www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lur...
November 10, 2025 at 11:10 AM
TONIGHT at The Cockpit! Byline Times is deep diving into the gnarly Lure of Class - conscious and otherwise. Ripe for discussion with all the public schoolboy shenanigans at the Beeb currently @bylinetimes.bsky.social
www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lur...
www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/the_lur...
A key victory in Trump's road to power in America was successfully branding the majority of its established press as "fake news". Now, he is bringing this across the pond to the BBC – where these same tactics are favoured by prominent politicians and media outlets on the right. A dangerous moment.
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
A key victory in Trump's road to power in America was successfully branding the majority of its established press as "fake news". Now, he is bringing this across the pond to the BBC – where these same tactics are favoured by prominent politicians and media outlets on the right. A dangerous moment.
As always, the story is how and why the media – particularly prominent broadcasters such as the BBC – are making certain choices as to which individuals, ideas, and views are platformed and how these are framed to the public.
The path ahead will be shaped by such decisions. The water we swim in...
The path ahead will be shaped by such decisions. The water we swim in...
So why does the BBC label the academic and economist Faiza Shaheen an "activist" but refuse to do the same for the former academic, turned anti-migrant activist Matt Goodwin?
October 30, 2025 at 2:11 PM
As always, the story is how and why the media – particularly prominent broadcasters such as the BBC – are making certain choices as to which individuals, ideas, and views are platformed and how these are framed to the public.
The path ahead will be shaped by such decisions. The water we swim in...
The path ahead will be shaped by such decisions. The water we swim in...
"Needless to say, copies of the Byline Times special issue have been circulating widely this week among the ranks of anti-Reform parties in the corridors of Westminster. The Gill case was also the main thrust of Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey's PMQs questions"
Having an impact – outside of the system 👇
Having an impact – outside of the system 👇
With a little help from Bob Dylan…
Why does Bob Dylan’s masterpiece, ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’, keep playing in Paul Connew’s head as he tries to review the state of Britain’s political, media and public opinion landscape?
www.inpublishing.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 11:28 AM
"Needless to say, copies of the Byline Times special issue have been circulating widely this week among the ranks of anti-Reform parties in the corridors of Westminster. The Gill case was also the main thrust of Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey's PMQs questions"
Having an impact – outside of the system 👇
Having an impact – outside of the system 👇
Independent investigative journalism that truly sits outside of the established system allows the media-political class itself to be scrutinised. How can we understand the world we live in if we won't ask difficult questions of those framing it?
Support Byline Times: subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Support Byline Times: subscribe.bylinetimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Independent investigative journalism that truly sits outside of the established system allows the media-political class itself to be scrutinised. How can we understand the world we live in if we won't ask difficult questions of those framing it?
Support Byline Times: subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Support Byline Times: subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Superb piece by @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social in this month's @bylinetimes.bsky.social mag: "Britain's Media Has Let Nigel Farage Reshape Political Journalism - Why?" This article alone was worth my annual sub to one of the very few news outlets still doing proper journalism
October 25, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Superb piece by @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social in this month's @bylinetimes.bsky.social mag: "Britain's Media Has Let Nigel Farage Reshape Political Journalism - Why?" This article alone was worth my annual sub to one of the very few news outlets still doing proper journalism
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Worth a read
Bottom line we all need a sense of community
Doesn’t necessarily has to be rooted in hate of others
“Immigrants are the scapegoats they need. Everyone else just needs some humanity and help. Otherwise, we will remain strangers in a strange land -foreign to ourselves and to each other.”
Bottom line we all need a sense of community
Doesn’t necessarily has to be rooted in hate of others
“Immigrants are the scapegoats they need. Everyone else just needs some humanity and help. Otherwise, we will remain strangers in a strange land -foreign to ourselves and to each other.”
🔴 How Our Politicians Created an 'Island of Strangers' So They Don't Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
"By vowing to tackle our 'island of strangers' through immigration, Starmer keeps us trapped on it – by not offering solutions to the real reasons for our estrangement" @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
"By vowing to tackle our 'island of strangers' through immigration, Starmer keeps us trapped on it – by not offering solutions to the real reasons for our estrangement" @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
How Our Politicians Created an ‘Island of Strangers’ So They Don’t Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
By presenting tougher immigration as a solution to people’s discontent, Keir Starmer and others sidestep the real reasons why people feel estranged in their lives – it’s a cynical and simplistic polit...
bylinetimes.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Worth a read
Bottom line we all need a sense of community
Doesn’t necessarily has to be rooted in hate of others
“Immigrants are the scapegoats they need. Everyone else just needs some humanity and help. Otherwise, we will remain strangers in a strange land -foreign to ourselves and to each other.”
Bottom line we all need a sense of community
Doesn’t necessarily has to be rooted in hate of others
“Immigrants are the scapegoats they need. Everyone else just needs some humanity and help. Otherwise, we will remain strangers in a strange land -foreign to ourselves and to each other.”
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Congratulations to the hugely talented @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social - shortlisted for the Editors’ Editor 2025 Award by the British Society of Magazine Editors - and prized guest @bylinepodcast.bsky.social
Subscribe here to @bylinetimes.bsky.social
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Subscribe here to @bylinetimes.bsky.social
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Byline Times Shop
We are an independent journalism platform which reports without fear or favour. Be a part of the movement that is holding the Establishment to account.
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October 24, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Congratulations to the hugely talented @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social - shortlisted for the Editors’ Editor 2025 Award by the British Society of Magazine Editors - and prized guest @bylinepodcast.bsky.social
Subscribe here to @bylinetimes.bsky.social
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Subscribe here to @bylinetimes.bsky.social
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
“Journalism: far from being a neutral arbiter of information, it has the … power to craft the ideas we think with, not just the ideas we think about”
@hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in this months @bylinetimes.bsky.social
@peterjukes.bsky.social
@adambienkov.bsky.social @josiah.writes.news
@hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in this months @bylinetimes.bsky.social
@peterjukes.bsky.social
@adambienkov.bsky.social @josiah.writes.news
October 25, 2025 at 9:54 AM
“Journalism: far from being a neutral arbiter of information, it has the … power to craft the ideas we think with, not just the ideas we think about”
@hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in this months @bylinetimes.bsky.social
@peterjukes.bsky.social
@adambienkov.bsky.social @josiah.writes.news
@hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in this months @bylinetimes.bsky.social
@peterjukes.bsky.social
@adambienkov.bsky.social @josiah.writes.news
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Show us you’re listening @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social by responding to this from @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in this months @bylinetimes.bsky.social
Guessing you won’t …
@adambienkov.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social @hopenothate.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social
Guessing you won’t …
@adambienkov.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social @hopenothate.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social
October 25, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Show us you’re listening @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social by responding to this from @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in this months @bylinetimes.bsky.social
Guessing you won’t …
@adambienkov.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social @hopenothate.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social
Guessing you won’t …
@adambienkov.bsky.social @mrjamesob.bsky.social @hopenothate.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social
I edited my first newspaper when I was 26 in 2014. 11 years on, a lovely surprise to be nominated for the 2025 Editors' Editor Award by The British Society of Magazine Editors for my work at Byline Times. A testament to the entire brilliant team @bylinetimes.bsky.social
www.bsme.com/editors-edit...
www.bsme.com/editors-edit...
October 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I edited my first newspaper when I was 26 in 2014. 11 years on, a lovely surprise to be nominated for the 2025 Editors' Editor Award by The British Society of Magazine Editors for my work at Byline Times. A testament to the entire brilliant team @bylinetimes.bsky.social
www.bsme.com/editors-edit...
www.bsme.com/editors-edit...
The press continues to elevate Farage & not properly scrutinise Reform. Meanwhile, the temperature of the water we swim gets hotter... Small boats, asylum, protests – what about those, for the first time, thinking of themselves & others in terms of race?
I discuss this with @peterjukes.bsky.social👇
I discuss this with @peterjukes.bsky.social👇
Byline Podcast: Nigel Farage's Putin Problem
Adrian Goldberg discusses 'Nigel Farage's Putin Problem' - the headline story in the new Byline Times newspaper. He's joined by Byline Times executive editor Hardeep Matharu and executive editor Pe...
podfollow.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:46 PM
The press continues to elevate Farage & not properly scrutinise Reform. Meanwhile, the temperature of the water we swim gets hotter... Small boats, asylum, protests – what about those, for the first time, thinking of themselves & others in terms of race?
I discuss this with @peterjukes.bsky.social👇
I discuss this with @peterjukes.bsky.social👇
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
Given how much the China spy case has dominated headlines, it really does beg the question: why is our political-media class so uninterested in Nathan Gill, his Russian bribes, his once close associate Nigel Farage, and Reform UK?
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
October 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Given how much the China spy case has dominated headlines, it really does beg the question: why is our political-media class so uninterested in Nathan Gill, his Russian bribes, his once close associate Nigel Farage, and Reform UK?
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
Given how much the China spy case has dominated headlines, it really does beg the question: why is our political-media class so uninterested in Nathan Gill, his Russian bribes, his once close associate Nigel Farage, and Reform UK?
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
October 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Given how much the China spy case has dominated headlines, it really does beg the question: why is our political-media class so uninterested in Nathan Gill, his Russian bribes, his once close associate Nigel Farage, and Reform UK?
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
Our new Byline Times edition investigates what the media won't 👇
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
"By vowing to tackle our “island of strangers” through tougher immigration, Keir Starmer is keeping us all trapped on it – by not offering any solutions to the real reasons that explain our estrangement."
An excellent article on the futility of blaming immigration, by @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
An excellent article on the futility of blaming immigration, by @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
🔴 How Our Politicians Created an 'Island of Strangers' So They Don't Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
"By vowing to tackle our 'island of strangers' through immigration, Starmer keeps us trapped on it – by not offering solutions to the real reasons for our estrangement" @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
"By vowing to tackle our 'island of strangers' through immigration, Starmer keeps us trapped on it – by not offering solutions to the real reasons for our estrangement" @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
How Our Politicians Created an ‘Island of Strangers’ So They Don’t Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
By presenting tougher immigration as a solution to people’s discontent, Keir Starmer and others sidestep the real reasons why people feel estranged in their lives – it’s a cynical and simplistic polit...
bylinetimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 3:29 AM
"By vowing to tackle our “island of strangers” through tougher immigration, Keir Starmer is keeping us all trapped on it – by not offering any solutions to the real reasons that explain our estrangement."
An excellent article on the futility of blaming immigration, by @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
An excellent article on the futility of blaming immigration, by @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
There's an excellent discussion of exactly this problem in the UK by @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in @bylinetimes.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/byli...
bsky.app/profile/byli...
🔴 How Our Politicians Created an 'Island of Strangers' So They Don't Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
"By vowing to tackle our 'island of strangers' through immigration, Starmer keeps us trapped on it – by not offering solutions to the real reasons for our estrangement" @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
"By vowing to tackle our 'island of strangers' through immigration, Starmer keeps us trapped on it – by not offering solutions to the real reasons for our estrangement" @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social
How Our Politicians Created an ‘Island of Strangers’ So They Don’t Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
By presenting tougher immigration as a solution to people’s discontent, Keir Starmer and others sidestep the real reasons why people feel estranged in their lives – it’s a cynical and simplistic polit...
bylinetimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 9:26 AM
There's an excellent discussion of exactly this problem in the UK by @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social in @bylinetimes.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/byli...
bsky.app/profile/byli...
"What goes in the basket is constantly changing and can reflect different parts of your life, experience, aspiration, your choice. Identity is not just about ethnicity"
I spoke to Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti about flags and fixed identity, and why she thinks comparisons to the 1930s are valid 👇
I spoke to Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti about flags and fixed identity, and why she thinks comparisons to the 1930s are valid 👇
Shami Chakrabarti: ‘We Need a Popular Front Broad Enough to Go From the Left of the Left to Liberal Conservatives’
The Labour peer, lawyer and human rights activist speaks to Byline Times’ Editor-in-Chief Hardeep Matharu about why her new podcast – Shami’s Speakeasy – focuses on having human conversations with tho...
bylinetimes.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:59 AM
"What goes in the basket is constantly changing and can reflect different parts of your life, experience, aspiration, your choice. Identity is not just about ethnicity"
I spoke to Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti about flags and fixed identity, and why she thinks comparisons to the 1930s are valid 👇
I spoke to Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti about flags and fixed identity, and why she thinks comparisons to the 1930s are valid 👇
Reposted by Hardeep Matharu
'What If?' Brighton Summit
- What's In A name?
- What if journalism is not about truth?
- What if there were no journalists?
3 of the speakers...
Sheela Banerjee, @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social and Clive Myrie BBC
@sussexbylines.co.uk
www.brightonsummit.com
- What's In A name?
- What if journalism is not about truth?
- What if there were no journalists?
3 of the speakers...
Sheela Banerjee, @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social and Clive Myrie BBC
@sussexbylines.co.uk
www.brightonsummit.com
Brighton Summit 2025 – a business conference by Brighton Chamber
Brighton Summit is an annual conference that brings together our city’s diverse business community for a day of networking, ideas and action. And when a community like ours comes together, great thing...
www.brightonsummit.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:20 AM
'What If?' Brighton Summit
- What's In A name?
- What if journalism is not about truth?
- What if there were no journalists?
3 of the speakers...
Sheela Banerjee, @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social and Clive Myrie BBC
@sussexbylines.co.uk
www.brightonsummit.com
- What's In A name?
- What if journalism is not about truth?
- What if there were no journalists?
3 of the speakers...
Sheela Banerjee, @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social and Clive Myrie BBC
@sussexbylines.co.uk
www.brightonsummit.com