‘This is dark s***’: inside the political smear campaign to discredit journalists

Labour Together, the think tank which helped Sir Keir Starmer become prime minister, has been accused of paying a PR firm to investigate Sunday Times journalists. The subsequent report contained personal information and false claims about Whitehall editor Gabriel Pogrund’s faith and family background, including the incorrect suggestion he was part of a Russian conspiracy to bring down Starmer. So why did a political organisation pay for a smear campaign against journalists?

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Guests:

• Emanuele Midolo, investigations reporter, The Sunday Times.
• Ben Clatworthy, Whitehall editor, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producers: Julia Webster, Micaela Arneson.

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Read more: Labour activists paid for smear campaign against journalists

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