1/. In March, @Telegraph ran a piece warning that: “Those questioning the govt’s #coronavirus strategy are not only wrong, they’re a danger to the rest of us.”

Its intent seemed to be to shut down scrutiny of decisions made the govt.

But is part of a deeply disturbing trend.

2/. A week earlier, the same paper claimed we’re leading the fight against #coronavirus because “UK is empirically the most capable country in Europe at dealing with an epidemic.”

A week later, when the govt appeared to pivot away from #HerdImmunity, they questioned govt policy.

3/. For the last 9 days we’ve been subjected to undignified & somewhat insulting spectacle of our govt trying to convince us black is white

Then on Wednesday, an MP said something that should send a chill down the spine of everyone who values a free press

4/. The MP will claim he was just using everyday idioms. But language matters

When he talks about “throwing Cummings to the wolves” & fighting “the monster”, the “wolves” are the media. The “monster” is the media

And this “media mob” narrative is being pushed from the top down.

5/. As well as the baying media mob the narrative has another strand: that #DominicCummings gave a “full & detailed account of what happened & we should all now move on.”

The only trouble is his account revealed that he had clearly broken lockdown rules!

6/. The interview with the MP, @ABridgen, was on @BBCNewsnight done by @maitlis who’d begun the programme with a powerful & opinionated - but entirely factual - monologue.

The next day, the BBC issued an apology.

I imagine ministers will boycott her like they have @piersmorgan.

7/. Ministers have refused to go on @GMB for 33 days

In February, journalists walked out of a PM’s press conference after their colleagues from 4 publications weren’t let in

Some publications - incldg Sunday Times on 26/4 - have been barred from asking questions at conferences.

8/. It’s been 3 weeks since anyone from govt has appeared on @Channel4News, & their journalists haven’t been able to ask a question at the briefing for a week

@pritipatel bristled when @InigoGilmore asked if she was sorry as did @MattHancock when @alextomo asked about care homes

9/. White House correspondents have come together to challenge #Trump’s attempts to intimidate them or “play favourites”.

In the UK, journalists facing bans & boycotts, need to do the same.

Govt haven’t appeared on @GMB for 43 days & #C4News for 27 days.
https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1260088208567742464?s=21 https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1260088208567742464

10/. The @SZ reports that "the Dutch govt are still apparently pursing a policy of #HerdImmunity" & their media have "followed the line given by RIVM [the Dutch SAGE] more or less uncritically."

"Without a critical media, the backbone of society is missing," warns @jaapstronks.

11/. In a 19/3 interview, the editor of the Dutch newspaper, @volkskrant, was asked: “Isn’t it a journalistic duty to ask questions rather than take ministers at their word?”

“No...We all need to get behind the govt, not amplify opposing points of view.”

At times of national crisis, it is vital that false or misleading information isn't disseminated.

But not scrutinizing govt strategy at all would not only be a dereliction, but could mean that important, even life-saving, information might go unreported. https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1271715583978090497

12/. The govt is PAYING newspapers & websites run positive stories about their handling of the #coronavirus crisis.

It is sometimes hard to spot which stories are advertorials paid for by the taxpayer. See @guardian @standardnews @DailyMailUK SHARE MORE http://bit.ly/3dc7fiI 

13/. These advertorials were paid for from the £35m the govt set aside for newspapers to run a public an “information campaign”.

No money went to independent publishers. It went to the national & regional corporations – like Newsquest, News Corps & DMG. https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/95-percent-of-uk-independent-publishers-have-received-zero-support-from-government-in-lockdown

The Guardian says paid-for content is: "used to describe advertisement features that are paid for & controlled by the advertiser...This content is produced by commercial departments and does not involve [Guardian] staff journalists."

In May, they ran 5 of these, all by @laurz_m.

. @BrianCathcart believes the campaign is
an abuse of public funds & a form of political corruption.
At @Telegraph staff were rprtdly told that one of the missions of 'All In, All Together’ is to “ensure our country remains united during the emergency”.
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/06/05/why-is-the-guardian-accepting-a-dodgy-subsidy-from-this-dodgy-government/

It appears that Guardian Labs, the paper's branded content agency, is commissioning freelance journalists to write about human-interest stories.

They seem to be almost exclusively good news stories about how people are coping with #COVID19 & subtly reinforcing govt messaging.