Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 05/02/2026So Team Starmer couldn’t ’possibly have known’ Mandelson was lying about his relationship with a convicted paedophile. Despite mountains of publicly available evidence. Yet they spent £30,000 on private investigators trying to dig dirt on journalists who asked them troublesome questions? 🤔 415879
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 11/12/2025OMG we only went and bloody won!! 🎉🎉 In barely two years Democracy for Sale has gone from nothing to winning a British journalism award Am absolutely blown away!! Thanks to everyone who reads D4S and supports us. Couldn’t do it without you all 😊 661313193
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 09/12/2025Now 20k views on our video and counting 18244
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 27/09/2025VERY excited about this ❤️💪🔥 pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...pressgazette.co.ukFormer Observer big-hitters launch new title with redundancy payoutsFive former Observer journalists including Carole Cadwalladr have launched their own culture publication using their redundancy money. 020
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 19/08/2025Democracy for Sale has been working w/ @38degrees.bsky.social on a campaign to cap political donations in the UK. Our petition is now at over 49,700 signatures!! 🎉 Can we get it to 50k and send a really strong message? Please share! Ta you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ta...you.38degrees.org.ukTake Big Money Out of Our PoliticsBritish politics is awash with money from super rich donors. In 2023, two-thirds of all private donations came from just 19 people. These so-called ‘mega donors’ enjoy privileged access to political p... 410482
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 12/05/2025A comprehensive comms success. 731556433
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025Excited to be back in gorgeous Perugia for #ijf25 Come hear how creative media leaders are growing high-impact businesses despite the odds… in places with hostile governments & and where most foreign funding is banned 🔥 www.journalismfestival.com/programme/20...journalismfestival.comHow to grow thriving media businesses in the toughest circumstancesMaking enough money to grow and sustain good journalism is tough everywhere. But in places where governments and their proxies come after you for what you publish, where most foreign grant funding is ... 041
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldBen Wikler @benwikler.bsky.social · 01/04/2025The Department of Government Efficiency, for example 925399358318
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 06/03/2025🚨 A secretive policing unit has been instructing forces across the UK withhold information, track journalists, and rescind previously approved FOI responses. @jennacorderoy.bsky.social 's debut on Democracy for Sale - and it's a banger democracyforsale.substack.com/p/democracy-...democracyforsale.substack.comDemocracy for Sale journalists targeted by secretive police unitA little-known policing unit is instructing forces to withhold information, track journalists, and rescind previously approved FOI responses. 4266175
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 05/03/2025As AI upends everything, do we want journalism delivered by Elon Musk (or Melon Tusk, as my 8 year old calls him)? Or, can we do better? Me & Dave Caswell on why the BBC & others must step up. We need a public service revolution now. Before it's too late www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...prospectmagazine.co.ukAI is the media's chance to reinvent itselfAI threatens today’s news industry—and with it, our shared reality. But it could also radically transform journalism for the better 1226
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldHenry Porter @henrycporter.bsky.social · 16/02/2025We're raising cash for 100 Palestinian families for @shelterbox.bsky.social. It's a minuscule amount but better than ignoring Gaza. Join us. Fund us Repost. I need your help to get to £44k target. Thanks! www.eventbookings.com/b/event/the-... @claraandersson.bsky.social @doctoroxford.bsky.socialeventbookings.comThe Convention - An evening for Gaza In aid of Shelter BoxJoin us for an evening of music and readings in aid of the nearly two million Palestinians who have lost their homes in the war in Gaza. The humanitarian need is unprecedented. With a ceasefire now in... 11510
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 10/02/2025SO proud to have supported @financialtimes.com's Democracy 2024 series, produced by the brilliant @julietriddell.bsky.social, now nominated for the RTS Journalism Award ❤️ Comes on the back of a slew of other nominations & awards for these beautiful films from women around the world: osf.to/3Q60KDeosf.toLetter from the editor: a testing year for democracyAs record numbers go to the polls in 2024, the FT launches a debate on what’s at stake with short films by four renowned artists 0114
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 07/02/2025'Putin has been trying to kill independent media for God knows how many years now. Ironically the country that has this free speech is now about to give [it] the death blow' www.ft.com/content/10b6...ft.comStrongmen celebrate as Trump aid freeze hits mediaIndependent outlets in former Soviet Union are poised to be hurt by temporary shut down at key US agency 0298
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 31/01/2025Money for public-interest journalism! Are you a media outlet based in Hungary, Poland, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia - or do you know others who are? Please spread this call widely… 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 civitates-eu.org/funding-oppo...civitates-eu.orgCall for Proposals: Strengthening independent public interest journalism in Europe - CivitatesOpen call to support independent public-interest media outlets in Europe. 1127
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 28/01/2025'But he seemed like such a nice chap...'? BREAKING on Democracy for Sale today: How Putin's mercenary chief made a mockery of Britain's legal system. And how it will happen again, and again, and again until Keir Starmer's government acts on #SLAPPS democracyforsale.substack.com/p/uk-law-fir...democracyforsale.substack.comUK law firm that acted for Putin’s warlord Prigozhin 'broke no rules'Exclusive: Taking cash from a sanctioned Russian mercenary chief to enable him to sue a British journalist is not an abuse of our legal system, solicitors' regulator finds 0117
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 10/01/2025Zuckerberg claims he's canning Meta's factchecking program to stop politicised censorship (ie. to make friendly with Trump). But what's really driving this move? Clue: It's all about the money, money, money... www.niemanlab.org/2025/01/zuck...niemanlab.orgLet’s fact-check Mark Zuckerberg’s fact-checking announcementZuckerberg didn’t mention that a big chunk of the content fact-checkers have been flagging is not political speech, but the low-quality spammy clickbait that Meta platforms have commodified. 000
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldMartha Dark @marthadark.bsky.social · 19/12/2024ALL 144 Facebook content moderators assessed by a psychiatrist in Kenya have PTSD because of their work moderating content for Facebook. Let that sink in. www.theguardian.com/media/2024/d...theguardian.comMore than 140 Kenya Facebook moderators diagnosed with severe PTSDExclusive: Diagnoses part of lawsuit being brought against parent company Meta and outsourcer Samasource Kenya 085
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 18/12/2024Beyond parody. Guess where? 🙄 apple.news/AfR70lKoLQDC...apple.newsThe European golden visa hotspot where inheritance tax bills don’t exist — The TelegraphWith its warm weather and various tax perks, more Britons are flocking to this archipelago 000
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldThe Bureau of Investigative Journalism @tbij.bsky.social · 17/12/2024🚨 We're hiring! TBIJ is looking for a diligent and detail-oriented fact-checker to join our team next year Contract: 12-month fixed term (with the possibility of an extension) Salary: £37,000–£40,000 Location: London office/hybrid working Deadline: 3 January 2025 Apply 👇thebureauinvestigates.comWe’re hiring! Apply to be our Fact-Checker 12414
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldThe Bureau of Investigative Journalism @tbij.bsky.social · 16/12/2024BREAKING: TBIJ and the Guardian are unmasking a Briton who helped manage hundreds of millions of pounds allegedly looted from the Syrian people The Briton worked on behalf of Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Bashar and a man known as the “butcher of Hama”thebureauinvestigates.com‘Butcher of Hama’: Assad’s uncle used Guernsey fund manager to stash…Ginette Blondel worked without a licence or oversight for alleged war criminal Rifaat al-Assad 22712
Mary Fitzgerald @maryftz.bsky.social · 13/12/2024So pleased to see @tbij.bsky.social's & @theguardian.com excellent reporting on the Abramovich empire win @pressgazette.co.uk award. Hugely deserved 👏 www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023...thebureauinvestigates.comHow Roman Abramovich became the face of Russian wealthFormer Chelsea owner went from humble beginnings to a life of superyachts, sprawling mansions … and then sanctions 020
Reposted by Mary FitzgeraldPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024Worried about #ElonMusk buying his way into UK politics? Think we need to take money out of our democracy? Help #DemocracyForSale's people-powered plan to #SafeguardDemocracy by taking this short survey: democracyforsale.co.uk/safeguard Please share. Thanks!democracyforsale.co.ukDemocracy For SaleA survey into people's attitudes to the health of British politics from leading investigative journalists who write about lobbying and dark money 12417281211