The Slow Newscast

Smear: cartels and conspiracies in Oldham

A year ago, journalist Joshi Herrmann got an anonymous tip. It sent him to a website claiming to have evidence of serious corruption, grooming gangs and “cartels” operating in Oldham. From there, Joshi stumbled across a remarkable story about how online conspiracies are poisoning local politics, spilling out from paranoid corners of the internet all the way to the ballot box. And at the heart of it all is on one rather angry man, who calls himself “the recusant”... Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

The Slow Newscast from Tortoise takes the news slowly. We investigate, and every week we focus on stories that really matter in the UK and around the world. From the war in Ukraine, the downfall of Boris Johnson, to true crime and injustice and real life mysteries, The Slow Newscast team is devoted to narrative investigations. From a startup newsroom with a different approach to journalism. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists,  <a href="https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">download the free Tortoise audio app</a>. For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts. If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at <a href="http://tortoisemedia.com/support-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tortoisemedia.com/support-us</a>. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable. Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.