Ian Burrell

England, London

Columnist @theipaper Feature Writer Bloomberg Media @ReutersPlus @MarketingWeekEd @NUJOfficial Speech coach @OneYoungWorld Book Rodigan, My Life In Reggae

Articles

Landmark deals are being made - but newsrooms are under grave threat

4 days ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing at such a pace that it behoves us to contemplate the day when robots decide what is news. The nightmare future would involve AI bots breaking stories based on information scraped from social media, or producing analysis based on corporate PR releases, partisan disinformation sites and what is left of state-supported media. All with negligible human oversight.
Barry Fantoni obituary

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Ian Burrell

It was the freezing winter of 1963 and snow was lying thick on the ground in London when Barry Fantoni, who has died aged 85 of a heart attack, came to fame by unveiling the Duke of Edinburgh in his underpants at the Woodstock gallery. The near lifesize image of Prince Philip in his smalls, surrounded by a kilt, a polo stick and items of naval uniform, in the style of a child’s cut-out doll, caused a sensation after the show was reviewed by the art critic of the Daily Express.
Five years on from BLM, where's the era of inclusivity we were promised?

2 weeks ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

For a brief period in 2020, the story of the death of George Floyd dominated the news media, eclipsing even the global catastrophe of Covid-19. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) hashtag demonstrated the global mobilising power of social media, as irrefutable video evidence of a police murder brought huge crowds on to the streets worldwide. “I had never experienced anything like that,” recalls the film director Kwabena Oppong.
The Murdoch empire could soon be in serious trouble

3 weeks ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

Donald Trump’s relentless and multi-pronged assault on the news industry will have lasting consequences for American society and could decide the future of Rupert Murdoch’s empire. US media and entertainment firms are being upended by Trump’s radical agenda. Last week on Wall Street, stocks of Paramount, Warner Bros Discovery, Amazon and Netflix all fell after Trump’s threat to impose 100 per cent tariffs on film content made overseas. This, in turn, piles pressure on the news sector.
Forty years on, we're still learning the lessons of the Bradford City fire

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

It was a time before rolling news channels and mobile phones, but the horror of the Bradford City fire of 1985 was allowed to unfold in front of a live television audience. Cameras were only sent to Valley Parade to record the joyful finale to Bradford’s championship-winning season in the Third Division. But as flames ripped through the wooden main stand and fans poured on to the pitch, ITV went on air for the nation to watch a catastrophe that claimed 56 lives.
The Greens need to learn from Nigel Farage - and fast

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

It was a moment of classic Nigel Farage media opportunism. The Reform UK leader stood outside British Steel in Scunthorpe and stated “there has to be an immediate nationalisation of this plant”. Speaking ahead of elections for mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Farage saw a chance to grab the attention of local voters and announce “our plan”, while rival politicians railed that Reform had previously shown little interest in the facility but had, once again, stolen the headlines.
The Observer needs to succeed - for the sake of British journalism

1 month ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

After 234 years of continuous publication in paper and ink, The Observer will finally have its first bespoke website from this Friday. But Tortoise Media, the digital start-up which controversially acquired the venerable title in December, is aiming to surprise the UK news industry by reinvigorating interest in the age-old format of the printed newspaper. It’s a bold plan but many are unconvinced it will succeed, not least the large number of Observer staff who have preferred to take redundancy.
Russian and Chinese state media is filling a vacuum created by Trump

2 months ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

Deploying a mixture of stealth and opportunism, Russia and China are making strategic advances in vulnerable territories while the rest of the world looks on. I am not talking here about gains made on the front lines in Ukraine or displays of military strength made off the coast of Taiwan. Moscow and Beijing are pouring resources into another struggle, a global information war, and right now they are in the ascendancy.
The US media isn't up for the fight with Trump this time around

2 months ago | inews.co.uk | Ian Burrell

When I spoke with executives of the New York Times and The Atlantic, soon after Donald Trump’s first election victory in 2016,they were clearly excited by the prospect of reporting on the new, colourful and controversial President. “It’s a much more dynamic story than it would have been if Hillary Clinton had been elected,” said then president of The Atlantic Bob Cohn, following Trump’s shock victory.
The Marketing Week Podcast: Does marketing have an early talent problem?

Mar 3, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Molly Innes |Ian Burrell |Josh Stephenson |Lucy Tesseras

This week on The Marketing Week Podcast we’re tackling marketing’s early talent problem. With fewer routes into the industry and a lack of support for apprenticeships, are aspiring marketers being shut out before they even get started? Marketing Week’s 2025 Career & Salary Survey revealed just 15.9% of companies operate a marketing apprenticeship, citing the level of resource required and a lack of senior buy-in as key barriers.