User:LokiTheLiar/Times and Telegraph RFC prep

Research

 * https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17405904.2023.2291136 overview of British media coverage of the trans charity Mermaids
 * https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14680777.2022.2097727 overview of British media transphobia in general
 * https://www.google.com/books/edition/Contemporary_Critical_Discourse_Studies/g7pPBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA211&printsec=frontcover I'd like to get a better version of this but it seems to be another piece of research into transphobia in the British media in general

Secondary Coverage

 * Https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/02/13/brianna-ghey-trans-girl-killed-the-times/ secondary coverage of the times adding Brianna Ghey’s deadname and removing the world “girl” after it was discovered she was trans


 * https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/17/times-editor-defends-papers-coverage-of-transgender-issues quote regarding Times editor: “He acknowledged numerous times he could not substantiate many of the facts and details of some articles on trans issues and admitted he did not know the detailed legal differences between the Equalities Act and gender discrimination legislation.” Also mentions the article sourced to mumsnet


 * https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/11/04/puberty-blockers-trans-children-telegraph-glasgow-sandyford-clinic/ Picks through a Telegraph piece on the closure of a gender clinic for trans kids, including the Telegraph openly misrepresenting a study


 * https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/9/5/20840101/terfs-radical-feminists-gender-critical TERF ideology has become the de facto face of feminism in the UK, helped along by media leadership from Rupert Murdoch and the Times of London. Any vague opposition to gender-critical thought in the UK brings along accusations of “silencing women” and a splashy feature or op-ed in a British national newspaper.


 * https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/09/uk/uk-trans-rights-gender-critical-media-intl-gbr-cmd/index.html When it comes to trans rights “polling shows that the public isn’t necessarily as hostile as the media, but the media [continues] to lead the conversation,” Shon Faye, trans advocate and author of “The Transgender Issue,” told CNN. According to her analysis, in 2020 the Times and the Sunday Times published “over 300 articles, almost one a day, and they were all negative.” CNN has reached out to both newspapers for comment.
 * Also: In an essay for the Times decrying “wokeism” last November, Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips said: “The greatest tragedy in all of this is that the gurus of wokedom have persuaded thousands of idealistic young people who rightly want to change the world into supporting what is actually a deeply reactionary movement. The trans activists can only realize their aim of being able to enter spaces reserved for women by erasing the female sex.”


 * https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=08884-21 The Telegraph were reprimanded by a regulator for inaccurate statements about trans people once.


 * https://www.thepinknews.com/2019/01/11/daily-telegraph-transphobic-headline/
 * https://www.thepinknews.com/2018/04/26/british-newspapers-anti-transgender-moral-panic/

Section 28 / Equal Age of Consent

 * Glad to be Gay - Britains national gay anthem, written 1978, with the lines "Read how disgusting we are in the press; The Telegraph, People and Sunday Express"
 * '"New Right" or "Backlash"? Section 28, Moral Panic and "Promoting Homosexuality"' (2000) - paper on section 28 and the media response, calls out the telegraph
 * Denying equality: an analysis of arguments against lowering the age of consent for sex between men (2002) - Telegraph's opinions weren't great
 * The United Kingdom’s LGBT Movement and Interest Groups (2020) ACT UP! protested the telegraph ~1989-1990 to protest media misrepresentation of homosexuality
 * Childhood Sexuality and Education: The Case of Section 28 (2001) - details how the Telegraph was favorable to section 28 and hosted people to campaign for it

Multiple issues
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/27/nhs-to-limit-trans-ideology-with-new-constitution/ Long article basically calling trans women men and citing Maya Forstater as a reliable source on the issue
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/01/astrazeneca-training-material-biological-sex-not-binary/ Makes directly false claim that XXY or XYY "does not alter a man's biological sex". Also calls trans men "biological girls or women who want to present as men" and claims binding is significantly more dangerous than it actually is.
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/04/parent-daughter-changed-gender-name-pronouns-west-country/ egregious example of bias, misgendering an individual repetedly in article voice, misleading about breast binding
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/10/under-25s-trans-care-must-be-slower-says-cass-report/ - possible point of origin for the "Cass review advises restricting healthcare for trans adults under 25" interpretation/misunderstanding/misinformation/disinformation (for more information about this situation check Talk:Cass Review, article does not yet have this). Information about the report presented below "Under-25s must not be rushed into changing gender" appears to be intentionally distorted. Among other examples of bad journalism, the author pasted multiple quotes presenting basic information on brain development from Chapter 6 and made it seem as if the report used them to justify restricting transition for under-25s; everything about follow-through services is dozens of pages away from where these excerpts come from.
 * The Telegraph regularly has these sections about woke-ness where they just repeat unsourced claims from readers:
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/09/girl-school-identifies-cat/
 * [add more]

Trans women are men / trans men are women

 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/10/nhs-trans-row-men-get-access-womens-wards-identify-female/ Asserts that trans women are men in article voice
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/08/trans-identification-skew-crime-statistics/ repeatedly asserts that trans women are male in article voice, and in fact the entire premise of the objection here centers on the assertion that trans women are male
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/04/primary-schools-equality-trans-policies-government-guidance/ quote: "with some implementing rules such as letting boys use girls’ toilets and changing rooms if they say they are a girl."

Medical claims

 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/06/transwomen-hormones-95-pc-more-likely-suffer-heart-disease/ states trans women take testosterone?
 * Believe the study referred to is this one, gonna dig through it to fact check the article. Loki (talk) 19:51, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Quick update: I can't get past the paywall. From the abstract, it does seem like the article accurately reports on the data in the study. However, this study appears to be an outlier, at least in its effect size: see here for a broader overview of the research on hormones and heart disease. Loki (talk) 20:00, 16 April 2024 (UTC)


 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/04/12/ioc-accused-new-low-funding-study-transgender-women/ This whole article is about activists whining that a study is bad
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/18/trans-womens-milk-as-good-as-breast-milk-says-nhs-trust/ The article is very skeptical about what is clearly strong medical consensus
 * "For a person born male to breastfeed, they must develop milk-producing glands by taking the hormone progestin." -> everyone has the glands, you need the hormone for them to actually produce milk
 * The article itself avoids saying anything directly medically inaccurate but it does quote several people saying things that are directly medically inaccurate, such as that trans women cannot breastfeed or that it's worse for trans women to breastfeed than cis women (despite the article literally quoting all the evidence to the contrary)
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/13/belgium-netherlands-puberty-blocker-restrictions/ The headline is obviously wrong, because both of those countries allow puberty blockers and are not changing this. But the depths of how wrong they are is pretty significant here, because the article specifically mentions a clinic at Amsterdam UMC as about to call for restrictions on puberty blockers, and they didn't. This is one of the best cases I can find of the Telegraph saying something that is very clearly not true about trans healthcare.

James Esses / Thoughtful Therapists
The Telegraph sometimes quotes James Esses, founder of the anti-trans group Thoughtful Therapists, to give some quote from anti-trans therapists. This would not be too problematic except that by his own admission James Esses is not and has never been a therapist. He was expelled from his program for saying anti-trans junk.

I also note that they never ask anyone else for comment from Thoughtful Therapists but James Esses. There are other anti-trans figures who claim to be founders, like Stella O'Malley, but nobody else ever gets asked for comment on behalf of the organization. I suspect he may be the only active member.


 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/2023/03/04/masturbation-lessons-100-genders-what-children-taught-school/ "James Esse, co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of counsellors, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists who have banded together over their concern over what is being taught to children" didn't even spell his name right
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/05/therapists-could-criminalised-treating-gender-dysphoria-new/ "It is our duty as therapists to explore feelings of gender dysphoria, including any underlying causes, especially when medical transitioning may be irreversible," said Mr Esses, a children’s counsellor and trainee psychotherapist.
 * Note that this may have been before he was expelled
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/13/questioned-children-encouraged-transition-cost-dream-career/ They did a whole article on his case so they 100% know he's not a therapist as of May 13th 2022.
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/31/costa-boycott-cartoon-trans-man/ James Esses, a co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of counsellors and psychologists concerned with impact of gender ideology on young people, addressed Costa directly on Twitter
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/21/boarding-schools-trans-pupils-dorms/ James Esses, co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of psychotherapists concerned about the impact of gender identity ideology on children, said

TACTT

 * The article in question is https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/01/uk-council-for-psychotherapy-row-conversion-therapy-cass/. Note how it describes Therapists Against Conversion Therapy and Transphobia as "trans activists". They are a group of therapists with an agenda, quite similar to Thoughtful Therapists, but the Telegraph describes TACTT as "trans activists" when it has consistently described TT as "a group of therapists concerned with/about X".
 * Also, TACTT released this response letter, where:
 * They say they were not contacted by the Telegraph at all before the article.
 * They dispute the characterization of the UKCP vote as a "coup" rather than a vote of no confidence.
 * They dispute that the vote of no confidence was initiated by them.
 * They dispute that calling for a vote of no confidence in accordance with established procedure is "bullying".
 * They dispute that they don't care about children.
 * They say that the Cass Review is not in fact a "report on the dangers of gender ideology" but a systematic review of trans healthcare.
 * They say that the UKCP is not a regulatory body, just a membership organization, as membership in it is entirely voluntary.

Dubious sourcing

 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/30/ons-female-employees-disciplinary-object-trans-toilets/ Fact check this, it seems extremely dodgy
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/02/sex-is-binary-majority-of-scientists-polled-agree/ The Telegraph is pushing a dubious poll and promoting a dubious "expert"
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/06/kemi-badenoch-strong-evidence-gay-young-people-trans/ very suspicious
 * https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/transgender-row-on-caledonian-sleeper-0nbd9wmqc Times story about the possibility of “predatory men gaining access to women’s cabins by identifying as female” that sources the claim to a post on mumsnet.

The Telegraph asking anti-trans activist groups for comment
Making a whole section for this because the Telegraph does this all the time. Usually it is specifically the group Sex Matters that they contact. They very rarely contact pro-trans activist groups like Mermaids or Stonewall.


 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/22/nhs-prescribe-cross-sex-hormones-teenagers-gender-clinics/ About hormones, no similar trans-rights activists asked for comment
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/04/12/ioc-accused-new-low-funding-study-transgender-women/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/09/trans-plans-world-health-organisaiton-risk-united-nations/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12/25/bbc-hides-gender-critical-tweets-doctor-who-trans-character/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/30/ons-female-employees-disciplinary-object-trans-toilets/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/18/trans-womens-milk-as-good-as-breast-milk-says-nhs-trust/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/05/hr-body-attacked-self-id-policy-womens-toilets/ Literally just Maya's opinion

Miscellaneous

 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/15/the-evil-trans-ideology-is-in-retreat-at-last/ It's an opinion article, but whoa nelly claiming that Mengele did trans surgery is a real chonker
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/15/nhs-hospital-banner-featuring-21-genders-sexualities-woke/ No false facts here but really obviously biased
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/12/un-accused-of-promoting-rape-culture-trans-women-lesbians/ Says in article voice "women’s rights across the world have come under threat by the growth of gender ideology". Quotes an "expert" saying that a tweet supportive of trans lesbians violates the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which seems obviously absurd.
 * https://archive.is/aWkq3 Times story about an ONS survey which says that experts at the ONS refused to admit that they may have overestimated the transgender population of the UK and strong implies that the survey overestimated the true population. The numbers the ONS got say that 0.5% of the UK population is trans, which matches well with other data internationally. (For instance, here are numbers from the US, which also say that 0.5% of adults are trans.) The Times and Telegraph have both done multiple articles on this, see here for a previous article.
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/22/jk-rowling-police-scotland-gender-trans/ Entire article is weird as it's clear the example is meant to be of people who do in fact go around university campuses (think signboard guy or any number of others). Specifically they say "the story validates unfounded conspiracy theories that such women[gender critical campaigners] ... have links to the far right" demonstrably false, on gender critical feminism there's an entire bit on links to the far right. Also odd that they imply gender critical compaigners are only women (something I see quite a bit.)

Identifying as a cat
The Telegraph ran five stories, none of which have been retracted, about a school that allegedly let students "identify as a cat" (or other animals). The school was named as Rye College in East Sussex.


 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/18/pupil-teacher-despicable-identifying-cat-transgender/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/19/school-children-identifying-as-animals-furries/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/20/rye-college-children-neo-pronouns-cats-moons-rishi-sunak/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/06/21/keir-starmer-children-self-identifying-as-cats/
 * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/22/rye-college-cat-gender-row-asks-for-parents-views/

The dates on the stories say they each ran on successive days, for what it's worth.

Naturally, this is not actually true. See:


 * https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/13/school-in-cat-pupil-controversy-given-ofsted-all-clear-after-snap-inspection
 * https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/14/cat-gender-school-row-investigation/
 * https://schoolsweek.co.uk/gender-row-school-none-of-our-pupils-identify-as-a-cat/
 * https://bylinetimes.com/2023/06/20/fake-cats-and-the-legitimisation-of-hate/
 * https://bylinetimes.com/2023/06/22/dead-cats-and-transphobic-lies/
 * https://twitter.com/Sarah_Woolley/status/1673223635803295744

TL;DR: The school explicitly denies that anyone at the school identifies as a cat. The story was based on a recording of a teacher chewing out a transphobic student. The student in the course of the argument compared identifying as trans to identifying as a cat for rhetorical purposes.

We in fact have a whole article on the litter boxes in schools hoax, as we call it.

There is also some evidence that journalists are being asked explicitly to collect this type of story.