Media Storm

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This episode contains discussion of suicide and self-harm. If you are struggling you can call the Samaritans for free, any time, on 116 123.

ADHD is recognised as an established neurodevelopmental condition by the world’s most respected medical and health organisations. But as diagnoses have risen, a narrative has formed: that people with ADHD are simply lazy, not trying hard enough, addicted to social media, or just want benefits. Or even – that ADHD is just not real.

These narratives about neurodiversity play perfectly into binary culture war clickbait, amplified so often by our right-wing media. This is possibly why there has been an even greater backlash to a recent ‘documentary’ released on Channel 4 – a broadcaster usually committed to diversity and balance. ‘The Great ADHD Myth?’ claimed it was a “science-led” documentary, seeking to determine whether ADHD was a “genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”. Yet the documentary plays more as an opinion piece, in which every anecdote, interviewee and quote is cherry-picked to suit the presenter’s original hypothesis. The presenter, as it turns out, writes ADHD-sceptic columns for The Daily Mail and The Spectator.

There is only one person who actually has ADHD featured in the entire programme – a 10-year-old boy who takes part in an absurdly unscientific “experiment” concerning his medication. The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of GPs have criticised the programme, and one scientist has said publicly that her interview was “truncated and presented out of context”.

The programme sums up the state of our media when it comes to reporting on ADHD – oversimplifying complex neuroscience, debating clinical consensus, panicking about rising diagnoses, leaning into the worst stereotypes and scapegoating social media. How do we change the narrative?

Joining us on this episode is journalist and author of ‘It’s Not a Bloody Trend’, Kat Brown, and the founder of ADHD Works, Leanne Maskell.

Buy AuDHD: Blooming Differently here.

Buy ADHD: An A to Z here.

Buy It's Not A Bloody Trend here or find Kat’s books as part of the Reading Well programme in libraries around the UK.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

It was edited by⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Christy Callaway-Gale⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Care about independent and ethical news (and Mathilda’s baby)? Support Media Storm on⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

This month, the UN released a new report about climate change: the planet is soon poised to breach the safe temperature limit, reaching at least 1.8C under even the most optimistic future. The report is clear: “There are no good outcomes above 1.5C”. Every fraction of a degree will cost lives, destroy livelihoods, deepen inequality and push ecosystems closer to irreversible damage.

Pretty huge news right? Not according to the mainstream media, who dedicated a mere two articles to this report.

This summer, rolling heatwaves hit the northern hemisphere with an intensity not ever seen before. Droughts have ruined Europe’s harvests. A collapsing glacier led to a flash flood that swept away over a thousand people in Nepal and Tibet. A ‘godzilla’ El Niño is brewing in the Pacific that scientists say will be the strongest in 1000 years. And the media? They’re dedicating time to callers who think trees spontaneously combust and telling the public to just ‘embrace a Mediterranean lifestyle’. (By the way, Sunday Telegraph editor, that Mediterranean lifestyle you speak of now includes wildfires, displacement and death).

Scientists have repeatedly proved that the best hope for humanity is to stick to a goal of net zero emissions by 2050 - cutting down major pollution sources like oil and gas, and using natural absorbers to help take the remaining gases out of the air.

In 2019 Theresa May signed the UK’s Net Zero target into law. “Standing by is not an option,” she said. The landmark pledge reflected a rare cross-party consensus. But last year, the UK’s right-wing parties began openly questioning long-settled climate science. The Tories u-turned on their pledge, and Net Zero became increasingly politically contentious.

Negative articles and editorials about net zero skyrocketed. Nearly 100 UK newspaper editorials opposed climate action in 2025. There were more than two editorials a week attacking Ed Miliband, the then Labour energy secretary. It marked the first time that editorials opposing climate action overtook those supporting it. Where did they come from?

Who is funding fossil fuel interests? Why has climate denial taken root in the right-wing? And what can we do when faced with climate doom?

To help us answer those questions and shine a light on the fossil fuel interests that run our news cycle, we’re joined by DeSmog investigative journalist Sam Bright and climate journalist and writer Diyora Shadijanova.

Read DeSmog’s investigation into The Telegraph’s record of climate falsehoods here. Join Diyora’s climate book club here.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Angry? Find out how to help at The Care Workers Charity ‘Get Involved’ page.

Adult social care in England is one of the hardest, lowest-paid jobs in the country, holding up a system that governments of both main parties call "broken" – yet keep declining to fix. The average care worker is paid close to the legal minimum, and the sector's vacancy rate is three times the national average.

Into that vacancy vacuum, the post-Brexit Tory government opened the Skilled Worker visa route. Arrivals surged. Care workers became the single biggest group on the visa, and the UK suddenly hit RECORD NET MIGRATION! Over 900,000 in 2023.

The headlines went wild. That peak became a political weapon.

The state's response was not to fix pay or funding in the care sector. It was to squeeze the very workforce it had just imported. Care workers lost the right to bring family over. Sponsor licenses were sweepingly revoked, and thousands of workers were left stranded, often laden with recruitment debt, given no recourse to public funds.

The media ignored the human costs of the cull they cheered on.

In this episode, Mathilda and Helena are joined by two carers - Clementina Odih Okozi and Georgia Edwards - to find out the real causes of the "crisis" in care.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

It was edited by⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Christy Callaway-Gale⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

This episode deals with themes of suicide. If you are struggling, Samaritans are available free, day and night, on 116 123.

This episode is about Jason Arday. Never has a story encapsulated the words ‘media storm’ so well.

It is not intended to add to the storm, but to critically analyse how an accusation of plagiarism against Arday made by Nathan Cofnas, a man with extremely racist views (though no mainstream media outlet described them as such) managed to make so many front pages.

Jason Arday was a 41-year-old academic, and the youngest ever Black professor at Cambridge University. He was found dead on Friday 14th August at his home in London, following weeks of intense media scrutiny of many aspects of his qualifications and personal life by the majority of the UK press establishment – both on the Right and the Left.

In media articles about Jason Arday’s life, and his death, you’ll read that the professor “found himself at the centre of a plagiarism row”. But the story is far deeper than this. It’s a story about who gets a voice in our national press, a media intent on villainization, and a racist narrative about diversity allowed to run wild.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

It was edited by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Christy Callaway-Gale⁠⁠⁠⁠

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Care about independent and ethical news? Support Media Storm on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

64 years ago, national news journalist and editor Francis Williams lamented the decline of the local press in the UK. “Once the battle for freedom of news and opinion found its daily reflection in competing morning and evening newspapers with deep roots in local interests and loyalties. The position has so altered that [the public] must content themselves with what is offered to them by one evening paper only.”

In 1958, Williams was outraged by the close of 225 newspapers in 40 years. Yet fast forward, and in just 10 years (2009-2019) more than 320 local titles closed.

Why is this happening?

The decline is multifaceted: a huge shift to online advertising means stretched publications push to get clicks on the company website at any cost. Local news stories fade away while celebrity gossip grows. Time-poor journalists replace court reporting with write-ups of press releases, and duplicated clickbait becomes the bread and butter of ‘zombie’ papers.

Why does it matter?

Well, bad journalism is bad for democracy, bad for community – and good for disinformation. Multiple studies have concluded that people who live in areas with poor local news coverage are less likely to vote. Plus, with less information on local health or education services and a lack of understanding of your local area, communities become more insular and isolated.

To talk through all this and more are two journalists who live and love local news. Before becoming head of news at both HuffPost UK and openDemocracy, Ramzy Alwakeel edited the Islington Gazette and Hackney Gazette, and worked at the Barking & Dagenham Post and the Romford Recorder. Joshi Herrmann is the founder of Mill Media – launched during the Covid-19 lockdown as a newsletter in Manchester, the local news company has since grown across seven cities.

This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mathildamall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) and Helena Wadia (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@helenawadia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

It was edited by ⁠⁠⁠Christy Callaway-Gale⁠⁠⁠

The music is by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @soundofsamfire⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@mediastormpod⁠⁠⁠⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices