The Tribunal of Truth

BYLINE TIMES JOINS PRESS REGULATOR

Peter Jukes, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Byline Times, explains why joining Impress – the independent press regulator – is the best way to uphold accuracy and trust as investigative journalism enters a difficult new era of change

Journalism is in a profound crisis. Legacy media and publishing have been starved of advertising income as billions of dollars have been siphoned off by tech giants such as Alphabet and Meta. Meanwhile, those same digital monopolies have reneged on their commitments to news and truth, instead focusing on clickbait and attention-harvesting as their business models.

Look at X. The original Twitter – the world’s ‘town square’ where Byline Times built its original audience and commissioned so many of its contributors – has been turned by the world’s richest man into a political weapon and a vortex of hate. By gaming the algorithm, twisting the verification systems, and rewarding viral lies, Elon Musk actively spread the kind of disinformation that fuelled Britain’s biggest ever post-war riots last summer.

Musk has declared (along with the far-right convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – known as ‘Tommy Robinson’) that ‘we are the media now’ – and the terrifying thing is he’s right.