Trump Bump, Free Speech, Pull of News - a podcast by BBC World Service

from 2017-08-24T08:55

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How accurate are President Trump’s claims to have created a booming economy in America? We take a look at the numbers relating to employment, wages and the stock market.

Following the violent clashes in Charlottesville in the US, internet giants have quelled the voice of one notorious neo-Nazi website. We talk to one person who campaigned to have the website shut down, and another who wrote for it. And, a classified ads site accused of facilitating sex trafficking has prompted action for a change in US law. Critics say if the law goes through, it could result in an attack on free speech on the internet.

News has a powerful pull. We spend so much of our time checking it, absorbing it and talking about it. And some of us even claim to be addicted to it. But why, asks David Baker, do we need news in the first place?

(photo: US President Donald Trump speaks to auto workers in Michigan. Credit: Getty Images.)

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