Maxwell Modell
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maxwellmodell.bsky.social
Maxwell Modell
@maxwellmodell.bsky.social
94 followers 110 following 74 posts
Research Associate at Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Culture studying impartiality in UK political news.

Other research interests include all things podcasts, political interviews and broadcast talk

He/Him
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maxwellmodell.bsky.social
Over many pints I've pitched the idea of a book called 'Conservation Analysis for Screenwriters', merging my interest in social interaction with my love for film and theatre.

I was delighted to find out @spencerhazel.bsky.social has written something along those lines.

Perfect read to start 2026
February 10, 2026 at 1:13 PM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
It was a pleasure to speak at @ofcom.bsky.social's 'Making Sense of the Senedd Election' event yesterday. I discussed our upcoming @cujournmedcul.bsky.social study of impartiality in media coverage of the Senedd election campaign and our wider Enhancing Impartiality project.
February 4, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
eliothiggins.bsky.social
The events of the last 24 hours show why it's important to build functional verification structures in public and counterpublic spaces to resist the authoritarian erosion of our democratic systems, as described in this thread.
eliothiggins.bsky.social Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 19d
🧵 @jburnmurdoch.ft.com is spot on about the conditions in his FT piece. Liberal democracy held it together thanks to growth, good demographics, and the promise of a better future. Those days are gone, and that’s the "why" behind the erosion. However...
crookedfootball.bsky.social Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 19d
Democratic politicians have, though, pursued growth in GDP at the expense of other values. One response to @jburnmurdoch.ft.com pessimistic scenario is refocus on those values, combined with egalitarianism, sufficiency and quality of life. Not "it's the economy, stupid" but "it's the the society"
January 25, 2026 at 9:24 AM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
After the killing of Alex Pretti by federal ICE officers, BBC Verify has stepped up to invalidate false accounts of the events from Trump and his representatives. This should be front and centre of all BBC coverage and give them permission to call out blatant lies.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Unpicking the second Minneapolis shooting frame by frame
BBC Verify has analysed footage of the shooting from multiple angles, piecing together a detailed picture of what happened.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
perkinskeighley.bsky.social
With the new season of Question Time starting tonight, now's the perfect time to read the latest blog post from the Enhancing the Impartiality of News project...
January 22, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
perkinskeighley.bsky.social
A new blog from the Enhancing the Impartiality of News project takes a look at who appeared on Question Time throughout 2025 & what those guest choices reveal about how the programme interprets political balance.

🔗 bit.ly/4jLeYY2

🧵👇

#BBC #QuestionTime #impartiality #impartialityproject
The impartiality of Question Time: An analysis of panellists in 2025 — Researching the impartiality of political news
The BBC’s weekly debate political programme, Question Time , has long been a magnet for controversy. And 2025 has been no different, with critics regularly questioning its impartiality, most often be...
bit.ly
January 20, 2026 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
stephbrawn.bsky.social
EXCL: SNP appearances plummet and right-wing journos appear twice as often as left-wing...🤔

Some intriguing findings by media experts at @cardiffuni.bsky.social about Question Time in 2025👀

Thanks to @maxwellmodell.bsky.social for sharing insights!

www.thenational.scot/news/2577777...
SNP appearances on BBC Question Time plummet, new research shows
SNP appearances on Question Time have dramatically dropped in the last year compared to the previous decade, fresh research by experts has revealed.
www.thenational.scot
January 20, 2026 at 9:51 AM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
It was a pleasure to speak to @stephbrawn.bsky.social of @scotnational.bsky.social to discuss our latest analysis of Question Time guests in 2025.

Research team: @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social, @stephencushion.bsky.social, @perkinskeighley.bsky.social, and myself

www.thenational.scot/news/2577777...
January 19, 2026 at 5:25 PM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
With Question Time returning to our screens for 2026, we decided to look back at who appeared on the programme in 2025 to assess how producers interpreted impartiality when selecting panellists, updating @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social's study of panellists from 2014-2024.

tinyurl.com/yc77s5mp
The impartiality of Question Time: An analysis of panellists in 2025 — Researching the impartiality of political news
The BBC’s weekly debate political programme, Question Time , has long been a magnet for controversy. And 2025 has been no different, with critics regularly questioning its impartiality, most often be...
tinyurl.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
perkinskeighley.bsky.social
The first Senedd poll of 2026 puts Plaid Cymru in the lead just four months before voters go to the ballot box.

While one poll does not decide an election, the Senedd elected in May 2026 may look different from anything Wales has seen before.

🔗 tinyurl.com/mtp35nfz

🧵👇

#politics #Senedd
tinyurl.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
zoecrowther.bsky.social
NEW: Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act

Ofcom has a range of enforcement powers it could use against X if it is found to have broken the law, including:

- fines
- the removal of the service in the UK
- criminal prosecutions
Ofcom Launches Formal Investigation Into X Over Grok Sexualised Imagery
Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act after the platform's AI chatbot produced non-consensual sexualised ima...
www.politicshome.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:45 AM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
BBC Verify coverage of the US and Venezuela is the main item on the BBC News app.

The fact-checking service comes to the fore in moments of uncertainty where information is patchy and complex.

I'm currently writing an article about the moments the BBC put fact-checking front and centre of coverage
January 7, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
perkinskeighley.bsky.social
This article pulls together more than a year’s worth of polling since Labour’s 2024 landslide & finds we’re no longer in a “two-party” era.

Instead, we’re in a multi-party landscape—& that creates significant knock-on effects.

🔗 tinyurl.com/mprjccme

🧵👇

#impartiality #impartialityproject #polsky
What the year in polls tells us about Reform’s growth – and Labour and Tory losses
However you cut it, the big parties have lost significant ground to Reform.
tinyurl.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:31 PM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
You might have missed this if, like me, you took a break for socials over Christmas, but @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social has published his excellent analysis examining 10 years of panellists on BBC Question Time since 2014. It's a great read.

We'll post an update soon with the 2025 numbers.
January 5, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
llantwit.bsky.social
Some really (and qualifiedly) good news from Cardiff UCU @cardiffucu.bsky.social :
No redundancies next year, no downgrading of professional services staff.
And all without the need for disruptive industrial action, which nobody at all wants.

nation.cymru/news/cardiff...
Cardiff University agrees to no compulsory redundancies in 2026
Martin Shipton Union members at Cardiff University have welcomed “major concessions” from management including no compulsory redundancies in 2026 in an ongoing dispute about job cuts and working condi...
nation.cymru
December 19, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
stephencushion.bsky.social
Rise of Reform's coverage in TV coverage through 2025 well illustrated in our new @cujournmedcul.bsky.social study 👇
gerryhassan.bsky.social Gerry Hassan @gerryhassan.bsky.social · Dec 13
How the BBC & ITV give disproportionate coverage to Farage & Reform: hard evidence from a serious study. BBC & ITV now give Reform more coverage than the Conservatives, more than the Lib Dems & nine times the Greens. Superb research from Stephen Cushion.
www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog/broadca...
December 18, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
robinince.bsky.social
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
Detailed summary of our latest report on opposition party coverage in broadcast news 👇
December 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
rmcunliffe.bsky.social
Exclusive: Reform overtook the Tories as the most referenced opposition party on both the BBC and ITV.

“Reform UK was the dominant party in more than twice as many stories as the Conservatives and just under four times more stories than the Liberal Democrats."

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
Exclusive: Reform overtakes the Conservatives in media mentions
New research from Cardiff University finds Reform is now treated as the opposition party on mainstream news shows
www.newstatesman.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:42 PM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
Nuanced and engaging write up of our latest impartiality study in @newstatesman1913.bsky.social by @rmcunliffe.bsky.social

Empirical evidence of how broadcasters actually cover opposition parties and how successfully they reflect an emerging multi-party system.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
Exclusive: Reform overtakes the Conservatives in media mentions
New research from Cardiff University finds Reform is now treated as the opposition party on mainstream news shows
www.newstatesman.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:11 PM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
Awesome talk from Dr Patricia Jimenez at the EMCA Doctoral Network. Patricia did an amazing job at penetrating the question of why we do membership categorisation analysis and how it can help us understand members' situated sense-making practices.

Great data on classrooms and lay definitions of AI
robinjsmith.bsky.social Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · Dec 4
Dr Patricia Jimenez presenting on the uses and troubles with MCA across her projects on members’ sense-making practices. Questions of producing adequate descriptions of occasioned patternings of categorial orders.

#EMCA
#MCA
Image of Patricia sat at a table, presenting in front of a PowerPoint screen.
December 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
perkinskeighley.bsky.social
New Office of National Statistics figures show net migration dropped to just over 200,000 in the year ending June.

While the government will point to this as progress on a key pledge, the wider picture is much more complex.

🔗 tinyurl.com/2yaxnmtk

🧵👇

#impartiality #impartialityproject #migration
Net migration has dropped to pre-Brexit levels – why it may not be enough to satisfy voters
The public may not be aware that numbers have fallen, and those who are aware may not consider 200,000 to be particularly low.
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Maxwell Modell
lewisgoodall.com
🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨

We’re looking for a brilliant producer to lead my @LBC Sunday show

Come and help make news, provide the best insight, digital content and prove Sunday political shows aren’t boring

Link below. Any Qs get in touch 👇

careers.global.com/jobs/R0009023
Producer
Find your next move. Join our talented and passionate Globallers doing the best work of their career.
careers.global.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:15 PM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
I started my day with some light ethnomethodological reading of @cathtam.bsky.social & @robinjsmith.bsky.social's engaging introduction to their new special issue on social asymmetries in action, arguing for the efficacy of EM/CA approaches to studying "big" sociological concerns in local contexts
November 27, 2025 at 10:10 AM
maxwellmodell.bsky.social
Excellent talk from Dr Natalie-Anne Hall
perkinskeighley.bsky.social Dr Keighley Perkins @perkinskeighley.bsky.social · Nov 26
I’ve just attended a fascinating talk exploring how the online reactionary right mobilises, constructs identity, & frames its relationship to knowledge in the digital landscape.

🧵👇

Thanks to @maxwellmodell.bsky.social for organising it!

#radicalright #reactionaryright #politicaldiscourse #Brexit
November 26, 2025 at 8:20 PM