Weekend Round-up: BBC Insiders Hit Out at Gary Lineker (EXCLUSIVE), YouTube's 20th Birthday


Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. This is a weekend round-up of the stories I've covered over the last few days.

If you have a premium subscription, thank you! If not, please consider upgrading to a premium subscription. It means you get even more content AND the satisfaction of supporting the growth of independent media! [Some links may help generate a commission that also supports The Addition.]

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Insiders Hit Out at Gary Lineker Over Gaza Documentary Comments

BBC insiders have reacted with horror to comments made by Gary Lineker in an interview with Amol Rajan that dropped today. The former footballer and outgoing Match of the Day host’s statements about a Gaza documentary pulled from BBC iPlayer triggered the backlash.

The 13-year-old narrator of Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone has been revealed to be the son of the deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government in Gaza. Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK. Following an investigation, the BBC said that the independent production company behind the film knew about the connection, but the corporation was not told, nor did it find out for itself before airing the documentary.

YouTube Celebrates a Very Happy 20th Birthday

YouTube turned 20 on Wednesday. That first video, Me at the Zoo, is a low-quality clip about elephants. It did not suggest that it was to spawn a behemoth. However, two decades on, that is exactly what the now Google-owned video platform is.

The first thing to note is that it is a quite staggering achievement to have kept a digital platform not just running but growing over two decades. Consider the various products that have evaporated during that time. It really underlines the point. Meanwhile, there is no indication that YouTube is becoming uncool or unappealing to younger users. Quite the opposite.


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Charlotte Henry is a journalist and broadcaster who creates and runs The Addition newsletter and podcast; an award-winning publication looking at the crossover between media and technology.

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Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. This is a weekend round-up of the stories I've covered over the last few days. If you have a premium subscription, thank you! If not, please consider upgrading to a premium subscription. I'm offering 30% off right now. It means you get even more content AND the satisfaction of supporting the growth of independent media! [Some links may help generate a commission that also supports The Addition.]...

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. This is a weekend round-up of the stories I've covered over the last few days. If you have a premium subscription, thank you! If not, why not upgrade now?! It means you get even more content AND the satisfaction of supporting the growth of independent media! [Some links may help generate a commission that also supports The Addition.] Late last night I realised, to my shame, that I'd missed my own birthday....

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. This is a weekend round-up of the stories I've covered over the last few days. If you have a premium subscription, thank you! If not, please consider upgrading to a premium subscription. It means you get even more content AND the satisfaction of supporting the growth of independent media! [Some links may help generate a commission that also supports The Addition.] Megyn Kelly Enters a Brave New World I have...