Matt Russell
@mattrussell3.bsky.social
Deputy Head of Audio at The Observer.
Formerly: Newsnight and Radio 4
Email pitches/story ideas to matt.russell@tortoisemedia.com
Formerly: Newsnight and Radio 4
Email pitches/story ideas to matt.russell@tortoisemedia.com
Reposted by Matt Russell
I spent months on this investigation and gathered docs from the UK courts, Land Registry and a French local authority, to show that Raynor and Moth Winn's story is not as they claim. @tortoisemedia.bsky.social @observeruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
The real Salt Path: how the couple behind a bestseller le...
Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal it was far from the truth
observer.co.uk
July 6, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I spent months on this investigation and gathered docs from the UK courts, Land Registry and a French local authority, to show that Raynor and Moth Winn's story is not as they claim. @tortoisemedia.bsky.social @observeruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Reposted by Matt Russell
Penniless and homeless, Raynor and Moth Winn found fame with their story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. The Salt Path became a global bestseller and was adapted into a major film.
But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.
@chloehadj.bsky.social
Read more:
But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.
@chloehadj.bsky.social
Read more:
The real Salt Path: how the couple behind a bestseller le...
Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal it was far from the truth
observer.co.uk
July 6, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Penniless and homeless, Raynor and Moth Winn found fame with their story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. The Salt Path became a global bestseller and was adapted into a major film.
But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.
@chloehadj.bsky.social
Read more:
But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.
@chloehadj.bsky.social
Read more:
Reposted by Matt Russell
THE OBSERVER: The real Salt Path #TomorrowsPapersToday
July 5, 2025 at 8:37 PM
THE OBSERVER: The real Salt Path #TomorrowsPapersToday
Reposted by Matt Russell
I mean, this is just straight up censorship by the government and the BBC
![Police in Somerset say they are assessing comments made on stage by rap punk duo Bob Vylan and Irish-language rap group Kneecap at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday.
The government has "strongly condemned" chants from Bob Vylan who called for "death" to the Israeli military during their performance which was broadcast live on the BBC.
Rapper Bobby Vylan led chants of "free, free Palestine" and "death, death to the IDF [lsrael
Defense Forces]".
A BBC spokesperson said some of the comments were "deeply offensive", adding it had issued a warning on screen about "very strong and discriminatory language". The set will not be available to rewatch on BBC iPlayer.
The Israeli Embassy posted on the social media site X that it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric".](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:iybvm2uwpxfrwg7emykdx72b/bafkreia4byo2ujfe5eerk4mv2q2v7whgoepcbihzwornucfcvyetzmvrqu@jpeg)
June 29, 2025 at 7:15 AM
I mean, this is just straight up censorship by the government and the BBC
With so many ways to track us online, just how easy is it to vanish in the 21st century? Well, easier...and more common... than you might think.
Listen to Francisco Garcia's brilliant bit of storytelling on the two brothers who suddenly found themselves missing:
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...
Listen to Francisco Garcia's brilliant bit of storytelling on the two brothers who suddenly found themselves missing:
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...
How to disappear | The Observer
In the UK, a person is reported missing every 90 seconds. But how in a society of internet, phones and social media is it so easy to go missing? This is ...
observer.co.uk
June 25, 2025 at 12:24 PM
With so many ways to track us online, just how easy is it to vanish in the 21st century? Well, easier...and more common... than you might think.
Listen to Francisco Garcia's brilliant bit of storytelling on the two brothers who suddenly found themselves missing:
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...
Listen to Francisco Garcia's brilliant bit of storytelling on the two brothers who suddenly found themselves missing:
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...
Reposted by Matt Russell
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Gaza.
May 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Gaza.
Reposted by Matt Russell
I love the bit at the end where she says that is being done in the interests of kids learning "what it means to promote freedom and liberty" it's directly ripped from Orwell, censorship for freedom
after announcing that foreign students are being banned from Havard, Noem warns "this should be a warning to every other university to get your act together."
May 22, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I love the bit at the end where she says that is being done in the interests of kids learning "what it means to promote freedom and liberty" it's directly ripped from Orwell, censorship for freedom
Thought this was a really beautiful piece on the Sycamore Gap tree. Amid the mass of coverage it's gathered, this is the piece that has stuck with me the most
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
‘It was as if someone had been murdered’: the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree | The Observer
I set out to answer the question a whole nation has been asking: what made two men cut down the Sycamore Gap tree?
observer.co.uk
May 16, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Thought this was a really beautiful piece on the Sycamore Gap tree. Amid the mass of coverage it's gathered, this is the piece that has stuck with me the most
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
The UK is locking up protesters for up to four years. Has the government's crackdown on climate activism led to the end of Just Stop Oil?
Listen to @geordiedav.bsky.social as he tries to find out: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j...
Listen to @geordiedav.bsky.social as he tries to find out: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j...
Just Stop TurmOil
Podcast Episode · The Slow Newscast · 13/05/2025 · 43m
podcasts.apple.com
May 14, 2025 at 10:01 AM
The UK is locking up protesters for up to four years. Has the government's crackdown on climate activism led to the end of Just Stop Oil?
Listen to @geordiedav.bsky.social as he tries to find out: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j...
Listen to @geordiedav.bsky.social as he tries to find out: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j...
Reposted by Matt Russell
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...
Listen: The space for non-violent protest has shrunk, the UK state is jailing people for years whilst the rest of Europe measures sentences in days.
Where does the climate activism movement go next - and why is Labour defending Tory laws?
New pod for The Observer
Listen: The space for non-violent protest has shrunk, the UK state is jailing people for years whilst the rest of Europe measures sentences in days.
Where does the climate activism movement go next - and why is Labour defending Tory laws?
New pod for The Observer
Just Stop Turmoil | The Observer
The radical climate protest group Just Stop Oil delighted supporters and infuriated opponents in equal measure. But then the government began to crack down on them. So where are they now?
observer.co.uk
May 13, 2025 at 8:51 AM
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...
Listen: The space for non-violent protest has shrunk, the UK state is jailing people for years whilst the rest of Europe measures sentences in days.
Where does the climate activism movement go next - and why is Labour defending Tory laws?
New pod for The Observer
Listen: The space for non-violent protest has shrunk, the UK state is jailing people for years whilst the rest of Europe measures sentences in days.
Where does the climate activism movement go next - and why is Labour defending Tory laws?
New pod for The Observer
Beyond anything else, Labour's inability to learn a lesson from Canada and Australia's recent elections is baffling.
bsky.app/profile/chad...
bsky.app/profile/chad...
More on Labour’s Reform-chasing swing to the Right via the FT: International Development Minister Baroness Chapman says the days of the UK being “a global charity are over”.
She’s looking at slashing aid for education projects and feminist organisations.
Quote could have come from MAGA.
She’s looking at slashing aid for education projects and feminist organisations.
Quote could have come from MAGA.
May 13, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Beyond anything else, Labour's inability to learn a lesson from Canada and Australia's recent elections is baffling.
bsky.app/profile/chad...
bsky.app/profile/chad...
Reposted by Matt Russell
Surreal to have written this week's @theobserveruk.bsky.social cover story about the Trump family’s conflicts of interest.
It builds on my reporting with @barneymac.bsky.social on the launch of Trump's memecoin and the dogged work of so many US journalists. There is still so much more to say.
It builds on my reporting with @barneymac.bsky.social on the launch of Trump's memecoin and the dogged work of so many US journalists. There is still so much more to say.
The full Observer article which systematically outlines the scale of Trump’s corruption.
This is the most important story written this year.
This is the most important story written this year.
How the US president and his clan ushered in a new golden age of corruption | The Observer
The presidency and personal gain now go hand in hand – and no one has been able to do anything about it
observer.co.uk
May 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Surreal to have written this week's @theobserveruk.bsky.social cover story about the Trump family’s conflicts of interest.
It builds on my reporting with @barneymac.bsky.social on the launch of Trump's memecoin and the dogged work of so many US journalists. There is still so much more to say.
It builds on my reporting with @barneymac.bsky.social on the launch of Trump's memecoin and the dogged work of so many US journalists. There is still so much more to say.
Reposted by Matt Russell
The Firm: Trump Inc. and the new age of corruption.
Buy your copy of The Observer, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
Get the newspaper delivered to your door every Sunday: bit.ly/4jFwQCW
Buy your copy of The Observer, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
Get the newspaper delivered to your door every Sunday: bit.ly/4jFwQCW
May 10, 2025 at 8:35 PM
The Firm: Trump Inc. and the new age of corruption.
Buy your copy of The Observer, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
Get the newspaper delivered to your door every Sunday: bit.ly/4jFwQCW
Buy your copy of The Observer, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
Get the newspaper delivered to your door every Sunday: bit.ly/4jFwQCW
Reposted by Matt Russell
The new Observer has gone to press.
Buy your copy, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
observer.co.uk/print
Buy your copy, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
observer.co.uk/print
April 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
The new Observer has gone to press.
Buy your copy, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
observer.co.uk/print
Buy your copy, available across the country, tomorrow morning.
observer.co.uk/print
Reposted by Matt Russell
Tristan Tate is far less well known than his notorious elder sibling, Andrew.
But today Tristan’s central role in the brothers’ alleged criminality can be revealed for the first time.
Alexi Mostrous | Andrei Popoviciu | Phoebe Davis
Read more: bit.ly/4cYs6FZ
But today Tristan’s central role in the brothers’ alleged criminality can be revealed for the first time.
Alexi Mostrous | Andrei Popoviciu | Phoebe Davis
Read more: bit.ly/4cYs6FZ
The other Tate brother
Tristan Tate is far less well known than his notorious elder sibling, Andrew. But new evidence suggests he holds a central role in their alleged criminality
bit.ly
April 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Tristan Tate is far less well known than his notorious elder sibling, Andrew.
But today Tristan’s central role in the brothers’ alleged criminality can be revealed for the first time.
Alexi Mostrous | Andrei Popoviciu | Phoebe Davis
Read more: bit.ly/4cYs6FZ
But today Tristan’s central role in the brothers’ alleged criminality can be revealed for the first time.
Alexi Mostrous | Andrei Popoviciu | Phoebe Davis
Read more: bit.ly/4cYs6FZ
This is a story about growth, net-zero and the kind of country we want the UK to be. And it is the story of an ordinary man who the Prime Minister believes is costing the country its future.
www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/the-s...
www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/the-s...
Nimby Nation
Earlier this year the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, wrote about a group of people he called zealots. And he identified one man in particular who the Prime Minister claimed was costing the country its ...
www.tortoisemedia.com
April 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM
This is a story about growth, net-zero and the kind of country we want the UK to be. And it is the story of an ordinary man who the Prime Minister believes is costing the country its future.
www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/the-s...
www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/the-s...
Reposted by Matt Russell
None of the fake reasons she gives for hating trans people applies to also mocking asexual people but the “horrendous human being” theory holds up
JK Umbridge is going after other queer folks now too.
Such a mean person
Such a mean person
April 6, 2025 at 9:10 PM
None of the fake reasons she gives for hating trans people applies to also mocking asexual people but the “horrendous human being” theory holds up
Reposted by Matt Russell
Come work @tortoisemedia.bsky.social where we have some exciting opportunities in our audio team with an Assistant Producer and Producer roles open.
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Search
www.tortoisemedia.com
March 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Come work @tortoisemedia.bsky.social where we have some exciting opportunities in our audio team with an Assistant Producer and Producer roles open.
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Come work @tortoisemedia.bsky.social where we have some exciting opportunities in our audio team with an Assistant Producer and Producer roles open.
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Search
www.tortoisemedia.com
March 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Come work @tortoisemedia.bsky.social where we have some exciting opportunities in our audio team with an Assistant Producer and Producer roles open.
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Info on roles and how to apply are here: www.tortoisemedia.com/search?tags=...
But do get in touch if you have any questions
Reposted by Matt Russell
Come work with us! The Observer is looking for a chief international correspondent and a slate of new contributors across the world. It's a fantastic chance to join a revamped international team and play a role in shaping global coverage in the new Observer. www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/03/13/c...
Chief International Correspondent, The Observer
www.tortoisemedia.com
March 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Come work with us! The Observer is looking for a chief international correspondent and a slate of new contributors across the world. It's a fantastic chance to join a revamped international team and play a role in shaping global coverage in the new Observer. www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/03/13/c...
At Tortoise we're not ones to shun the big questions facing us. So thanks to @gwhittell.bsky.social for trying to answer the biggest one there is...are we alone?
And the story that might give us the answer.
Listen on Spotify: shorturl.at/ykeVY
Or Apple: shorturl.at/yu8CD
And the story that might give us the answer.
Listen on Spotify: shorturl.at/ykeVY
Or Apple: shorturl.at/yu8CD
Are we alone?
The Slow Newscast · Episode
shorturl.at
March 13, 2025 at 2:35 PM
At Tortoise we're not ones to shun the big questions facing us. So thanks to @gwhittell.bsky.social for trying to answer the biggest one there is...are we alone?
And the story that might give us the answer.
Listen on Spotify: shorturl.at/ykeVY
Or Apple: shorturl.at/yu8CD
And the story that might give us the answer.
Listen on Spotify: shorturl.at/ykeVY
Or Apple: shorturl.at/yu8CD
Reposted by Matt Russell
This is a beautiful piece of writing and such a touching, galvanising story, I'm so glad Sam Dick shared it
A moment that changed me: I was 16, gay and bullied for it. Then my father wrote to the Guardian …
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A moment that changed me: I was 16, gay and bullied for it. Then my father wrote to the Guardian …
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A moment that changed me: I was 16, gay and bullied for it. Then my father wrote to the Guardian …
Britain in the 90s seemed to see homosexuality as something shameful. My father told the world how proud he was of me
www.theguardian.com
March 5, 2025 at 11:53 AM
This is a beautiful piece of writing and such a touching, galvanising story, I'm so glad Sam Dick shared it
A moment that changed me: I was 16, gay and bullied for it. Then my father wrote to the Guardian …
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A moment that changed me: I was 16, gay and bullied for it. Then my father wrote to the Guardian …
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Reposted by Matt Russell
Through the "Voices of Gaza" series I attempt to center the lives of people who have become a political symbol, but who themselves are increasingly abandoned as they put together the pieces of worlds destroyed by genocide & occupation.
I'm consolidating the links here.
I'm consolidating the links here.
February 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Through the "Voices of Gaza" series I attempt to center the lives of people who have become a political symbol, but who themselves are increasingly abandoned as they put together the pieces of worlds destroyed by genocide & occupation.
I'm consolidating the links here.
I'm consolidating the links here.
Reposted by Matt Russell
I spent countless childhood evenings listening to BBC Radio 5 Live in my mum’s car, so it’s a dream to have written this series for 5 Live about Man City. All four eps out on BBC Sounds and on the radio soon. Produced with @mrabutler.bsky.social & hosted by Clive Myrie.
@tortoisemedia.bsky.social
@tortoisemedia.bsky.social
BBC Sounds - Football on Trial: The Manchester City Charges - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of Football on Trial: The Manchester City Charges on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 20, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I spent countless childhood evenings listening to BBC Radio 5 Live in my mum’s car, so it’s a dream to have written this series for 5 Live about Man City. All four eps out on BBC Sounds and on the radio soon. Produced with @mrabutler.bsky.social & hosted by Clive Myrie.
@tortoisemedia.bsky.social
@tortoisemedia.bsky.social