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Linton Besser

@lintonbesser.bsky.social
4.6K followers 280 following 52 posts

Prize-winning reporter, writer, broadcaster. Host of ABC’s Media Watch. This is a personal account, opinions mine etc. Tips: lintonbesser@protonmail.com

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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Morten Morland:
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Shades of the eruptions inside The Sydney Morning Herald in 2012. A must read on the dismantling of the Washington Post: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
You Can’t Kill Swagger
My old corner of The Washington Post raised some of the best journalists in the business.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Morten Morland at his finest.
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Re-upping with this, by far the more read thing in my feed lately. By @adambonica.bsky.social
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Sobering essay worth the time … www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | When A.I. Took My Job, I Bought a Chain Saw
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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Ghislaine Maxwell lied about Trump never going to Epstein's house (directly contradicted by her email correspondence with Epstein), and she was rewarded for that lie with a transfer to a cushier prison. The coverup is happening in plain sight.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
On news of Matthew Carney stepping down at Four Corners, it’s worth reading his recent and stirring address on the 50th anniversary of the killing of the Balibo Five: www.abc.net.au/abc-internat...
abc.net.au
50 years on, the Balibo Five remembered for their courage and conviction - ABC International Development
Esteemed Australian journalist and foreign correspondent Matthew Carney reflects on journalism and urges reporters to 'seek truth' at a special event in Timor-Leste, marking the 50th anniversary of th...
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Advice to Sarkozy from a fellow traveller: www.thetimes.com/world/europe...
thetimes.com
My prison tips for Sarkozy: keep hush and let the sex jokes slide
The Tory ex-minister Jonathan Aitken was jailed for perjury in 1999 — whatever you do, he tells the former French president, don’t sing London’s Burning
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Politico @politico.com · 09/10/2025
REAKING: New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Trump foe, is indicted by Trump’s DOJ. She has been charged with one count of bank fraud by the same U.S. attorney who brought charges against James Comey.
politico.com
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Trump foe, is indicted by Trump’s DOJ
She has been charged with one count of bank fraud by the same U.S. attorney who brought charges against James Comey.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Fascinating piece on the rise of Christian fundamentalism in Trump’s America: www.spiegel.de/internationa...
spiegel.de
Trump's Crusaders: Christian Nationalists Are Gaining a Solid Foothold in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump has opened the doors of power to far-right Christian nationalists. Their goal: an American theocracy. The separation of church and state in America is at risk.
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Mike Forsythe 傅才德 @pekingmikenyt.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
What a grim lineup of headlines.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 23/09/2025
‘This Is Like Something Out Of A David Lynch Film,’ Says Man Driving Car With Headlights On
‘This Is Like Something Out Of A David Lynch Film,’ Says Man Driving Car With Headlights On
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Criminal justice another of the institutions of state wilting under Trump: ‘On Sept. 20, 2024, with hidden cameras recording the scene at a meeting spot in Texas, Homan accepted $50,000 in bills, according to an internal summary of the case and sources.’ www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...
msnbc.com
Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down.
The FBI and Justice officials closed the investigation, which a Justice Department appointee had called a “deep state” probe in early 2025.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
The most American essay so far this year: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Why Does Everybody Swear All The Time Now?
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Fascinating analysis on Canberra’s culture of drops here: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
abc.net.au
Australia's press gallery has a unique problem with its political coverage
The federal press gallery is ceding power to the Albanese government. It needs to take it back.
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
From cabinet secrecy to “factors against” access, Australia’s FOI amendment bill risks undoing gains won under earlier reforms www.themandarin.com.au/299152-foi-a...
themandarin.com.au
FOI amendment bill not what John Faulkner, Allan Hawke wanted
From cabinet secrecy to “factors against” access, the FOI amendment bill risks undoing gains won under earlier reforms.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Revealing, if true.
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Gay Alcorn @gayalcorn.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Well overdue for media to ban “drops” by political parties that insist no third party comment can be sought. Insidious, does not serve readers. (The Age banned them at a state level, or at the very least discloses that that was a condition for the story). Time for it to end in Canberra.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Rodney Bridge, a resident of Perth, Australia, whose 16-year-old son took a hallucinogen bought from Silk Road and then jumped off a hotel balcony in 2013, called Mr. Ulbricht’s comeback tour “a disgrace.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/t...
nytimes.com
The Spectacular Comeback Tour of a Crypto Convict
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/08/m...
crikey.com.au
Meanjin's 'financial' shutdown doesn't add up
Melbourne University reported a $273 million surplus in 2024 on an operating income of $3.2 billion. It is against these figures that the 'purely financial decision' to close Meanjin has raised eyebro...
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
See: every sector of the economy.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
I thought they were excellent, deeply thoughtful questions. Not rude, not one-eyed, but probing.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 01/08/2025
A century or so ago, it seems that no writers had this grammatical tic. Now it is everywhere.
newyorker.com
The Objectively Objectionable Grammatical Pet Peeve
A semi-attentive investigation into a confounding sentence type.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
This is worth the time
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gina rushton @ginarush.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Amazing graph from Semafor -- China now forecast to account for almost 60% of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030
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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 03/07/2025
I hereby formally propose a new term (unless someone already has): AE standing for Automated Enshittification
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 29/06/2025
Revealed: spies for hire used ‘Big Brother’ tactics on salmon farm activists
theguardian.com
Revealed: spies for hire used ‘Big Brother’ tactics on salmon farm activists
Guardian investigation sheds light on private intelligence industry that runs covert surveillance operations * Is surveillance by private operators legal in the UK? Wildlife activists who exposed horrific conditions at Scottish salmon farms were subjected to “Big Brother” surveillance by spies for hire working for an elite British army veteran. One of the activists believes he was with his young daughter on at least one of the occasions when he was followed and photographed by the former paratrooper Damian Ozenbrook’s operatives. Continue reading...
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Keith Fitzgerald @keithfitzgerald.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Worth a watch: Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 24/06/2025
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ bsky.app/profile/yash...
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A must-read item:
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
via Benedicto.Uribe on TikTok
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Jo Dyer @instanterudite.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Watching the chaos unfold in America reminds me of the poignant take on Paul Simon's classic AMERICA featured in the last ever Wharf Revue. 😢 www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH5e...
youtube.com
America
YouTube video by Jo Dyer
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Edward Luce @edwardluce.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
"Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has $185bn for ICE, which is more than the annual military budgets of the UK and France combined. Wherever ICE raids trigger protests, Trump can send in the troops." My column. www.ft.com/content/3d6c...
ft.com
Trump is coming for the ‘enemy within’
Sending the National Guard into LA is the administration’s clearest step yet towards authoritarianism
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Ariel Bogle @arielbogle.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
The first stories from our five-month investigation: Scouring coronial findings from 248 deaths, we found a staggering 57 Australians have killed themselves in the past two decades using hanging points in prisons that authorities knew about but failed to remove www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
‘Astounding’ negligence revealed: governments turn blind eye to staggering prison death toll
Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds 57 inmates across Australia killed themselves using ligature points that authorities knew about but failed to remove
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
The early warning that put a price on fixing the state’s psychiatrists crisis www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
smh.com.au
The early warning that put a price on fixing the state’s psychiatrists crisis
The public was told giving psychiatrists a pay rise will cost $700 million. Internal government documents suggest it would cost a lot less.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
The dystopia is upon us.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
A hidden measure in the Republican budget bill would crown Trump king www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2…
theguardian.com
A hidden measure in the Republican budget bill would crown Trump king | Robert Reich
The bill could stop federal courts from enforcing their rulings, eliminating any restraint on Trump
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Read this on Miller’s (Trump’s?) lust for power: www.stevevladeck.com/p/148-suspen...
stevevladeck.com
148. Suspending Habeas Corpus
In response to adverse rulings in numerous immigration cases, Stephen Miller is raising the specter of suspending habeas. His argument is factually and legally nuts, but it's worth explaining *why.*
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
‘The hate media’? Huh?
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Jose Pagliery @josepagliery.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
"We cannot give everyone a trial," says the president of these United States.
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Matt Johansen @mattjay.com · 18/04/2025
🧵 THREAD: A federal whistleblower just dropped one of the most disturbing cybersecurity disclosures I’ve ever read. He's saying DOGE came in, data went out, and Russians started attempting logins with new valid DOGE passwords Media's coverage wasn't detailed enough so I dug into his testimony:
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Ilaria Maria Sala @ilariamariasala.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
I was at HKU yesterday and this is what the “democracy wall” looks like now. It has the same name. And cameras though. But nothing else
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
8/ This is a watershed moment, as Trump thumbs his nose at a Supreme Court ruling, gaslighting the public by pretending his won 9-0 when he lost 9-0. If we normalize this, there's no end. He can lock up or remove anyone. We will no longer exist in a democracy.
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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
How New Washington works: Companies have been bilking the govts out of billions for "skin bandages" that don't do much Biden moved to crack down Then a company donated $2M to Trump super-PAC After that, Trump publicly praised the product, and froze the crackdown www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/h...
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Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 02/03/2025
Today on my LBC Sunday show I interviewed a former Trump adviser. She claimed that Putin wasn’t morally responsible for the war. I challenged her on that claim. She told me she didn’t like me and hung up. And they say the left are snowflakes. Watch the full interview here. youtu.be/tSsV7xyDyfY?...
youtu.be
Lewis Goodall gets hung up on twice in 7 minutes after Ukraine row | LBC
YouTube video by LBC
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Fascinating
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
I believe this is a world first: An intra-day tariff chart.
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Linton Besser @lintonbesser.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Jiminy Cricket. USA as haven
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