All posts tagged: Telegraph Media Group

Axel Springer promises ‘AI-powered transformation’ as it completes Telegraph deal

Axel Springer promises ‘AI-powered transformation’ as it completes Telegraph deal

Published by Sam Flores

Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner. Picture: Robert Downs/INMA Axel Springer’s acquisition of The Telegraph will complete today (Tuesday 30 June), ending “three difficult years” without an owner for the UK national newspaper. The £575m deal was announced in March and has now received all the required regulatory approvals in the UK, Ireland and Austria. Axel Springer pledged to “further strengthen” The Telegraph’s commercial and subscription businesses and expand its events and premium offerings. It added that it would preserve The Telegraph’s “editorial independence and integrity” and British identity. Telegraph editor-in-chief Chris Evans said: “These are exciting times for The Telegraph. Axel Springer and we have much in common. We share the same values. We also share the same vision and the same ambition. “We believe there are many opportunities to grow The Telegraph, both in the UK and overseas. After three difficult years without owners, we look forward to stoking up the engines and setting forth on a new voyage.” Evans led a newsroom revolt earlier in the sales process when The Telegraph look set …

Travel journalist Simon Calder leaving Independent to join Telegraph

Travel journalist Simon Calder leaving Independent to join Telegraph

Published by Sam Flores

Artwork for Simon Calder’s new Telegraph podcast Travel journalist Simon Calder is leaving The Independent after 32 years to join The Telegraph. Calder will become travel correspondent at The Telegraph hosting new weekly podcast The Travel Expert, producing videos for social media, and leading The Telegraph’s travel newsletter which already has almost 200,000 subscribers. He will start the new role on 1 June and the podcast promises “a combination of consumer travel advice, inspirational travel destinations, expert interviews and a discussion of world travel news”. Calder has been The Independent‘s travel correspondent since 1994 and is well known for his regular appearances explaining travel stories on TV and radio. Calder won the travel journalism prize at Press Gazette’s British Journalism Awards in 2022, with the judges praising him for being a “fantastic consumer champion”. He was also named the top travel journalist in the UK by other travel journalists in a Press Gazette survey back in 2010. Telegraph head of travel Ben Ross said: “It’s brilliant news that Simon has agreed to join Telegraph Travel …

Thai police in drag is AI-generated fake

Thai police in drag is AI-generated fake

Published by Sam Flores

UK and US news outlets have fallen victim to an AI-generated hoax after publishing reports that Thai police dressed in drag to arrest a drug dealer. The story originated on the Facebook page of Tha Luang police station in Thailand and was picked up by the New York Post and UK titles including the Telegraph, Sun, Mirror, GB News and Express. The story appeared on the front page of the Daily Star print edition. The Sun said: “Undercover cops have caught a drug dealer by dressing in drag and pretending to be in a glitzy dance troupe. “The burly crew of five men and one woman slipped into skin tight sequins and feathers for the covert mission in Thailand.” The Sun has since updated its story with no admission of the earlier mistake. The Telegraph similarly reported the story as fact stating: “Police caught the suspect, Mekha Fa-wap-wap, with more than 53 pills of methamphetamine.” The other outlets caught out similarly reported the story and most have, at the time of writing, not amended or …

Misan Harriman complaints AI generated says IPSO

Misan Harriman complaints AI generated says IPSO

Published by Sam Flores

Telegraph article which started furore Press regulator IPSO says it has received nearly 25,000 accuracy complaints relating to coverage in multiple newspapers of comments made by Misan Harriman about an incident where two Jewish men were attacked with a knife in Golders Green, London. IPSO raised concerns that many of the complaints may have been generated using artificial intelligence. As a result the watchdog has alerted the Information Commissioner and sought guidance. A platform called Newscord says more than 100,000 complaints have been generated using a service whereby it generates detailed complaint letters on behalf of users at the click of a button. Press Gazette understands the suspicion is that AI was used to file multiple complaints from fake people using this platform. It highlighted news reports and leader columns in the Telegraph, Times, GB News, Mail, Express and Evening Standard about Harriman, a filmmaker and chairman of the Southbank Centre. Harriman has also complained to IPSO. The initial Telegraph story which started the furore was headlined: “Arts Council-funded venue chief shares Golders Green ‘conspiracy’.” …

Telegraph recorded most Editors’ Code breaches in 2025

Telegraph recorded most Editors’ Code breaches in 2025

Published by Sam Flores

Telegraph front page on 23 January 2025 with splash headline: “One in 12 in London is illegal migrant” The Telegraph was the UK newsbrand with the most breaches of the Editors’ Code upheld by regulator IPSO in 2025, according to its annual report for the year. The Telegraph was found to have breached the code 12 times last year across website and print, with eleven complaints partially upheld and one fully upheld (seven on the Daily Telegraph, four on Telegraph.co.uk and one for the Sunday Telegraph). The Express was found to have breached the Editors’ Code six times last year, but had the most complaints fully upheld by IPSO at three. Last year Press Gazette found the title had 12 breaches of the Editors’ Code upheld by IPSO in 2025 (going by date of published adjudications, as opposed to IPSO’s annual report which is based on when complaints are entered into its computer system). IPSO’s data reported dailymail.co.uk (previously Mail Online), Daily Mail, The National and mirror.co.uk with two breaches each. Two fully upheld complaints …

Mediahuis joins UK news giants as founder member of SPUR

Mediahuis joins UK news giants as founder member of SPUR

Published by Sam Flores

Gert Ysebaert, CEO of Mediahuis Group, speaks at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Copenhagen on 28 May 2024. Picture: WAN-IFRA Mediahuis has joined the SPUR coalition of major news organisations aiming to develop shared AI licensing standards for the industry. Mediahuis joins SPUR (Standards for Publisher Usage Rights) alongside the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, the BBC and Sky News who were attached when the initiative went public in February. The intention is for SPUR to help shape rules and infrastructure around how news content is used in AI models, creating common standards around permission and payment. Mediahuis chief executive Gert Ysebaert said: “The SPUR coalition addresses one of the key challenges facing our industry today: ensuring that quality journalism is used responsibly in the development of AI. “Shared technical standards, licensing frameworks and reliable measurement tools are essential to secure a fair and transparent value exchange for our content. “I believe this is a defining moment for European publishers as well, to join forces so that together we can actively shape …

Ex-BBC content chief loses Telegraph complaint over Gaza doc criticism

Ex-BBC content chief loses Telegraph complaint over Gaza doc criticism

Published by Sam Flores

Charlotte Moore, pictured giving a speech on 5 March 2025. Picture: David Parry Media Assignments/PA Wire The BBC’s former chief content officer has had a complaint against The Telegraph rejected by IPSO over an article linking her OBE to a Gaza documentary that broke broadcasting rules. Charlotte Moore complained that a Telegraph article headlined: “BBC boss handed OBE despite being blamed for discredited Gaza film” was inaccurate. The piece, published on 30 December 2025, reported that she “bore much of the blame for the Gaza documentary” in reference to the corporation’s film that broke broadcasting rules. The documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was pulled from iPlayer in 2025 after it emerged that its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official in Gaza. The BBC was found to be in “serious breach” of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code. The article appeared in print and online with the subheading: “Charlotte Moore’s award among several in Honours List that could be accused of rewarding failure”. It added that a group of 45 prominent Jewish journalists and …

Police statements about Allison Pearson were defamatory – judge

Police statements about Allison Pearson were defamatory – judge

Published by Sam Flores

Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson’s libel case against Essex Police is likely to go to trial after a judge said statements about her had been defamatory in meaning. Pearson sued Essex Police over press statements published in November 2024 about an investigation into a tweet posted by Pearson, saying she had been invited for a voluntary interview. She was not named in the statements but Pearson herself wrote about being visited by police over an alleged public order offence. Pearson also sued Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, over an article he wrote for Conservative Home and an interview he gave on LBC about the case. The investigation into Pearson was dropped with no charges brought eight days after the press statement was posted online. High Court judge Mr Justice Chamberlain said the press statements meant that there were grounds to investigate a woman at an address in Essex for an alleged offence of inciting racial hatred via a post on social media, and that this was defamatory in common law to …

Axel Springer given UK govt approval for Telegraph takeover

Axel Springer given UK govt approval for Telegraph takeover

Published by Sam Flores

Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner. Picture: Robert Downs/INMA Axel Springer’s planned £575m takeover of Telegraph Media Group has been approved by the UK Government. It is still awaiting regulatory approval in Ireland and Austria (due to there being a lower threshold for competition concerns in those countries although there is no expectation of any impact there). The publisher said it expects the deal to completed by the end of June. Axel Springer chief executive Mathias Döpfner said: “We are pleased to have received UK government approval to proceed with this acquisition. “After a long period of uncertainty, we can confirm that we will invest significantly in The Telegraph’s editorial excellence and international growth.” Axel Springer added that The Telegraph will keep “its distinct editorial voice and British identity”. Axel Springer owns Politico and Business Insider, which both have journalists in the UK, as well as German newspapers Bild and Die Welt. The Telegraph reported that the news was “greeted with relief” in its newsroom after almost three years of being in ownership limbo or, as …

Daily newsletter is Telegraph’s ‘biggest source of subscribers’ one year after launch

Daily newsletter is Telegraph’s ‘biggest source of subscribers’ one year after launch

Published by Sam Flores

Picture: The Telegraph Flagship Telegraph newsletter From the Editor has become its “biggest source” of new paying subscribers one year after launch. From the Editor promises news, comment, analysis “hand-picked” by Telegraph editor Chris Evans. The newsletter, sent at 7.30am each morning, also includes reader comments, puzzles, cartoons and an exclusive column. Everyone who registers for free to The Telegraph’s website (giving them limited access behind the paywall) is automatically opted in to receive the newsletter. The publisher claims From the Editor is read by more than 850,000 people every day. Deputy editor Catherine Bentley-Gouldstone told Press Gazette in December it had a total audience list of more than two million. [Read more: The projects publishers were most proud of in 2025, including From the Editor] Telegraph executive editor Christopher Williams, whose role includes accelerating the newsletter strategy, told Press Gazette: “We have an intelligent paywall that takes you on a journey from being just somebody who’s flown in from Google to giving us your email address to subscribing,” adding that this method has helped …