Uploaded November 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Rather than reaching for a paper or turning on the television, a recent study found that YouTube reaches more people aged 18 to 49 than all linear TV networks combined. Some suggest that this trend goes beyond style, pointing to bigger questions about censorship and bias in the so-called ‘mainstream media’. Rows about failures of objectivity, started among those in both Left and Right camps, have become the norm.
How long will the YouTube boom last? With a focus on misinformation and calls for regulation now a key feature of the modern news landscape, can a truly independent media survive? Could the snobbishness around sites like YouTube be challenged by a new and exciting mode of political engagement? Or is this all just a storm in an online teacup?
This panel discussion was filmed by Worldwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.
The speakers are:
Callum Breese - Freelance writer
Baroness Stowell - Chair, Communications & Digital Select Committee
Mahyar Tousi - Political YouTuber, MT Media
The Chair is Oli Foster - Broadcast journalist, GB News
Rather than reaching for a paper or turning on the television, a recent study found that YouTube reaches more people aged 18 to 49 than all linear TV networks combined. Some suggest that this trend goes beyond style, pointing to bigger questions about censorship and bias in the so-called ‘mainstream media’. Rows about failures of objectivity, started among those in both Left and Right camps, have become the norm.
How long will the YouTube boom last? With a focus on misinformation and calls for regulation now a key feature of the modern news landscape, can a truly independent media survive? Could the snobbishness around sites like YouTube be challenged by a new and exciting mode of political engagement? Or is this all just a storm in an online teacup?
This panel discussion was filmed by Worldwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.
The speakers are:
Callum Breese - Freelance writer
Baroness Stowell - Chair, Communications & Digital Select Committee
Mahyar Tousi - Political YouTuber, MT Media
The Chair is Oli Foster - Broadcast journalist, GB News
