“They get incredible bang for their buck these [Tufton St] think tanks. According to the IEA’s accounts last year, they got over 4,500 media hits the previous year. Which means they were on radio, TV, or print something like twelve times a day.” @petergeoghegan.bsky.social @pimlicat.bsky.social - ThreadSky

sturdyalex.bsky.social • 73 days ago

“They get incredible bang for their buck these [Tufton St] think tanks. According to the IEA’s accounts last year, they got over 4,500 media hits the previous year. Which means they were on radio, TV, or print something like twelve times a day.” @petergeoghegan.bsky.social @pimlicat.bsky.social

Reposted from Quiet Riot

💰NEW: Mo Money Mo Problems💰

@pimlicat.bsky.social & @sturdyalex.bsky.social + guest @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the corrosive effect of dark money in politics & Musk buying, not just influence, but a whole administration.

🏮 open.spotify.com/episode/6FEx...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...

Comments

kesalisbury.bsky.social•73 days ago

@georgemonbiot.bsky.social calls them "junktanks", which puts me in mind of the saying "where there's muck, there's brass".

paul-e24.bsky.social•73 days ago

Bunch of twats

wendycp.bsky.social•73 days ago

One of the females on Iain Dale last night , wouldn’t stop talking over people & shouting . Hope you get an invite to cross question , would you go ?

rav-in-da-house.bsky.social•73 days ago

Must be Reem Ibrahim.

wendycp.bsky.social•73 days ago

That’s her name

jacquij.bsky.social•73 days ago

Scotland doesn’t need this right wing think tank distorting our democracy. With independence we can say goodbye to them

digitasmedia.bsky.social•72 days ago

The BBC are terribly precious about the behaviour of the in house talent and yet this think tank nonsense goes on unquestioned.

pickomeister.bsky.social•73 days ago

Can’t imagine they get all this coverage for free?

connolly-lg.bsky.social•73 days ago

The problem is that there is near limitless airtime to fill but a very finite number of useful/worthwhile people to fill it.

The quality of public discourse runs in inverse proportion to the amount of if!

sturdyalex.bsky.social•73 days ago

And yet, I rarely see people with left-leaning politics on them.

connolly-lg.bsky.social•73 days ago

Funny that!

Do you think that's the institutional bias in the media organisations or that the right are much better at flooding the space (and of course, have more money behind them).

Or is it a bit of both?

james.fieldleveltech.org•73 days ago

Why is the BBC giving a subsidy to billionaire backed charities Alex? Surely this is Woke gone mad. The BBC shouldn't be supporting charities. 🤣

robertebrighton.bsky.social•73 days ago

I read that as Tufton stink tanks. It tracks.

thinkitthrough.bsky.social•73 days ago

Too much

ruralsuffolk.bsky.social•73 days ago

Did their accounts happen to include where they get their funding from or is that still shrouded in mystery?

rvee4.bsky.social•73 days ago

Yes and the BBC is responsible for a lot of those appearances and mentions.

rav-in-da-house.bsky.social•73 days ago

Good old BBC eh. It’s the only place I’ve seen them appear.

quietriotpod.bsky.social•73 days ago

That's not true. They have COTS in the GBeebies and Times Radio stations. A x

rav-in-da-house.bsky.social•73 days ago

Yep, I’m not a viewer/listener of them but checked after I said it, not before 🤦‍♂️

alherix.bsky.social•73 days ago

Also Sky

rvee4.bsky.social•73 days ago

No it’s not the only place but maybe we can expect our national broadcaster to be more open and transparent about why they have chosen to give these people so many platforms on influential programmes e.g. Today, BBC QT.

rav-in-da-house.bsky.social•73 days ago

You’re right, I did a search afterwards, also on Sky and Ch4.

I’m not expecting much and have chosen to stop funding them. They’ve been disappointing since Brexit and that’s too long for me.

rvee4.bsky.social•73 days ago

I do think the BBC produces a lot of good (non-news) content and they have great foreign correspondents. I don’t want to lose it but their news section and their board need sorting out. Oh, and as grandparent CBeebies is amazing for young children!

riverlorien.bsky.social•73 days ago

Exactly

riverlorien.bsky.social•73 days ago

They crowd out the voices of the most vulnerable. Who even mentions bedroom tax any more? It causes severe hardship and two thirds of those affected have disabilities

johndaledalton.bsky.social•73 days ago

Disappointed the new gov't hasn't done anything about the iniquitous bedroom tax.

alanpx.bsky.social•73 days ago

The Times always has TPA’s mad little “but taxes! abolish everything!” rant against some mild form of public good in their For/Against features in its Saturday personal finance pages. An irresistible offer of Free Column Inches, presumably.

lullulham.bsky.social•73 days ago

I'm so grateful for all the work that @quietriotpod.bsky.social does, and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social was, and is, an absolute star. I'm sorry I can't pledge more on a monthly basis (although I have a promotion next month and I'm going to double it from Feb onwards)

sturdyalex.bsky.social•73 days ago

That is so kind. xx

tramowl.bsky.social•73 days ago

Excellent podcast once again. Surely the bigger question is Why does (in particular) BBC Politics Live give airtime to these people, when their policies have failed eg Truss?? Also their charity status needs reviewing. A constant canker on UK political discourse over the past decade.

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