Latest news with #Birdwatch
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
BBC presenter & film producer left six-figure sum for his wife after death aged 95
A FORMER BBC presenter and film producer left a six-figure sum for his wife following his death last year, aged 95. Tony Soper, the former BBC wildlife presenter, died in September 2024 and left a £628k fortune to his family. 4 Wildlife presenter Tony Soper died last year, aged 95 Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 4 He left a £628k fortune to his family following his death Credit: Getty 4 Tony Soper Date: 19/06/69 Photo: Salmon Neg No: W6104 Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd Soper left instructions in his will for his estate to pass to his wife Hilary, who he had lived with in a home in Slapton, Devon. He was born in Southampton in 1929 and brought up in Plymouth. It was there that he began his long career at the BBC as a trainee engineer in 1947 before progressing onto radio and producing. His TV break came when he filled in as unofficial assistant floor manager for Wild Geese in Winter in 1954. Read more Showbiz news And his debut as a presenter was on Animal Magic with Johnny Morris in the 1960s. He was the co-founder of the BBC's Natural History Unit which began in 1957 in Bristol and has produced countless wildlife programmes around the globe. The unit has become world renowned and produced the Planet Earth series narrated by another wildlife icon, Sir David Attenborough. According to his , he started working as a freelancer in 1963 so he could live closer to the sea in Devon. Most read in Showbiz As well as a wildlife camera operator, Soper was also a film producer and went on to present a number of TV shows. His skill in front of the camera earned him the nickname 'One-take Tony'. BBC presenter Tony Soper introduces Birdwatch He presented Birdwatch, Birdspot, Discovering Birds, Discovering Animals, Beside the Sea, Wildtrack and Nature. Soper later pursued a career in leading wildlife cruises to the He also penned a string of books about wildlife in the UK and further afield. Following his sad passing last September, former colleagues flocked to social media to Lorraine Kelly said at the time: "On one of my very first shows presenting on TVam, this wonderful kind man came on to talk about his book on owls. "He was a joy and a delight." Wildlife presenter Stephen Moss said: "Very sad news - Tony Soper was a huge influence on generations of birders and broadcasters. "I had the huge privilege of working with Tony and getting to know him. "The last person who was there at the start of the BBC Natural History Unit - a lovely man." Soper is survived by his wife Hilary, his two sons Tim and Jack and his five grandchildren. 4 Soper began his career at the BBC as a trainee engineer in 1947 Credit: Collect
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
BBC presenter & film producer left six-figure sum for his wife after death aged 95
The wildlife icon passed away in September 2024 STAR'S ESTATE BBC presenter & film producer left six-figure sum for his wife after death aged 95 Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A FORMER BBC presenter and film producer left a six-figure sum for his wife following his death last year, aged 95. Tony Soper, the former BBC wildlife presenter, died in September 2024 and left a £628k fortune to his family. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 Wildlife presenter Tony Soper died last year, aged 95 Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 4 He left a £628k fortune to his family following his death Credit: Getty 4 Tony Soper Date: 19/06/69 Photo: Salmon Neg No: W6104 Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd Soper left instructions in his will for his estate to pass to his wife Hilary, who he had lived with in a home in Slapton, Devon. He was born in Southampton in 1929 and brought up in Plymouth. It was there that he began his long career at the BBC as a trainee engineer in 1947 before progressing onto radio and producing. His TV break came when he filled in as unofficial assistant floor manager for Wild Geese in Winter in 1954. And his debut as a presenter was on Animal Magic with Johnny Morris in the 1960s. He was the co-founder of the BBC's Natural History Unit which began in 1957 in Bristol and has produced countless wildlife programmes around the globe. The unit has become world renowned and produced the Planet Earth series narrated by another wildlife icon, Sir David Attenborough. According to his website, he started working as a freelancer in 1963 so he could live closer to the sea in Devon. As well as a wildlife camera operator, Soper was also a film producer and went on to present a number of TV shows. His skill in front of the camera earned him the nickname 'One-take Tony'. BBC presenter Tony Soper introduces Birdwatch He presented Birdwatch, Birdspot, Discovering Birds, Discovering Animals, Beside the Sea, Wildtrack and Nature. Soper later pursued a career in leading wildlife cruises to the Arctic and Antartica. He also penned a string of books about wildlife in the UK and further afield. Following his sad passing last September, former colleagues flocked to social media to pay their tributes. Lorraine Kelly said at the time: "On one of my very first shows presenting on TVam, this wonderful kind man came on to talk about his book on owls. "He was a joy and a delight." Wildlife presenter Stephen Moss said: "Very sad news - Tony Soper was a huge influence on generations of birders and broadcasters. "I had the huge privilege of working with Tony and getting to know him. "The last person who was there at the start of the BBC Natural History Unit - a lovely man." Soper is survived by his wife Hilary, his two sons Tim and Jack and his five grandchildren.
Axios
05-06-2025
- Axios
Exclusive: X piloting new program to elevate content users agree on
Elon Musk's X is piloting a new program to use its Community Notes feature to highlight posts where people of typically differing opinions actually agree with each other, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The goal is to build momentum around opinions that are widely shared, which could help make conversations on and off X less polarizing. How it works: Currently, Community Notes are used for content that has been marked as potentially misleading. Those notes are only featured in users' feeds when a note's content is deemed helpful by X users who typically disagree. As a part of X's small pilot program, it will test Community Notes on posts that are not necessarily deemed as potentially misleading, as a way to foster more public conversations around issues where X believes people tend to have more common ground than is understood. The pilot will start with a very small handful of Community Notes users in the U.S. before gradually expanding, said X's VP of product Keith Coleman. Those selected to be part of the pilot will not be notified directly that they have been selected, but will start to see callouts in their main feeds to add context to everyday posts. (See image above.) The callouts will be added to posts based on early and limited "like" engagement signals from those posts. Select contributors will be asked to rate and provide more feedback about each post, such as whether they think the content helps to unify a polarizing opinion or if it's funny. That feedback will be used to help develop an open source algorithm to identifies posts liked by people from different perspectives, per Coleman. Between the lines: X is using data from its existing Community Notes participants to help identify users with a range of viewpoints who will be a part of the pilot, Coleman said. The rest will be selected at random. Those selected to participate will have a separate feed in their timelines that will guide them to more posts to add context. Of note: For now, only selected participants from the pilot will be able to post Notes and see them in their feeds, Coleman said. Eventually, all X users will be able to add Notes and see the posts with additional context in their feeds once X gathers enough data from its pilot. Zoom out: Coleman joined Twitter in 2016 and was part of the team that helped build the original Community Notes program. He said the rollout of X's new feature will mirror the way Twitter rolled out Birdwatch, now called Community Notes, in 2021. The first cohort of people who were selected to pilot what is today Community Notes was just 1,000 people, Coleman notes. The big picture: Once seen as a bold effort to replace fact-checking, X's Community Notes feature is now being adopted by other internet giants as a preferred way of moderating internet content. Most notably, Meta eliminated fact-checkers in the U.S. in January, arguing they were too politically biased. It began testing community notes as a replacement, using open-source technology from X shortly thereafter. The bottom line: Contrary to what the public may think about social media conversations, X's data shows that "there's actually quite a lot of agreement, even on controversial issues," Coleman said. The pilot, he believes, has the potential to build momentum and energy around opinions that are widely shared, which could reshape social discourse and how we think about governing. "It has potential to change the world," he said.
Wales Online
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
BBC Springwatch's Chris Packham's relationship issues and how he once 'loathed' himself
BBC Springwatch's Chris Packham's relationship issues and how he once 'loathed' himself Chris Packham has been a mainstay of the BBC's nature coverage for more than a decade, but his life has been far from plain sailing Chris Packham is back on Springwatch (Image: PA ) Chris Packham, the renowned naturalist and familiar face of BBC's nature programmes, has been a staple on Springwatch and Winterwatch for over a decade. In addition to his television work, Chris is also an accomplished author and has contributed to several other TV shows, including The Really Wild Show and Birdwatch. He is currently back on screens on BBC Two for the 2025 series of Springwatch. The 64-year-old has also raised awareness for autism, which he was diagnosed with later in life and has recently reacted to comments from a Trump ally who claims to be able to "uncover the root cause of autism". Discussing US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's comments, on ITV's Good Morning Britain, the presenter said he had "mixed feelings" about RFK Jr looking for a cause to what he described as an "autism epidemic". He said: "Firstly, there's no epidemic. What we have done is we've created a wider awareness of this condition (autism) and therefore more people are able, hopefully, to access help. And that has to be seen as a very, very positive thing. "Because people are learning about these conditions on social media, which we all use every day, that's not a bad thing. That's opening our eyes to the fact that these conditions are real and they need addressing and support. "The second thing, as a scientist, I would love to know what has made me an autistic person. My curiosity is in that direction." For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter . Article continues below It wasn't until 2005 when, aged 44, Chris Packham sought therapy, which led to his Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis, which is a form of autism. Drawn from his personal diaries, it's apparent Chris recognised signs of autism long before receiving his formal diagnosis, one that proved transformative for him. In conversation with ITV's Good Morning Britain, he reflected: "I grew up in the sixties and seventies when the condition wasn't widely known, certainly by my parents and teachers. "So, by the time I'd got to the beginning of my teens, and certainly into the early part of my 20s, my mental health issues were quite considerable. "I loathed myself, I thought that I was broken. Clearly, I was in a lesser cohort than most other people, so I blamed myself for everything that was going wrong." Chris has spoken openly about his autism diagnosis (Image: Getty Images ) Chris discussed his struggles in the 2017 documentary film, Aspergers And Me, and he later spearheaded a BBC series titled Inside Our Autistic Minds. In this series, Chris assisted a group of autistic individuals in making short films to communicate with their loved ones how they truly feel and what is occurring within their autistic minds. Born on May 4, 1961, Chris spent his childhood in Southampton. He attended Bitterne Park Secondary School and Taunton's College before pursuing a zoology degree at the University of Southampton. After university, Chris embarked on a career as a wildlife cameraman, which eventually led to his transition into presenting in the 80s. His first major role was on the children's wildlife programme, The Really Wild Show, in 1986. The star landed a BBC presenting gig for Springwatch in 2009 and has since fronted a variety of documentaries, including Chris Packham: Is It Time to Break the Law?, Dogs in the Wild: Meet the Family, and Chris Packham: A Walk That Made Me. Something that might be news to many is that his sibling is among the UK's most prominent designers, with quite the portfolio of celebrity clientele. Jenny Packham, celebrating over three decades with her own brand, has seen her designs grace the silver screen in James Bond features Die Another Day and Casino Royale, as well as being showcased on hit series like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl. Her creations have been donned by the Duchess of Cambridge, not least the dazzling golden dress at the No Time To Die premiere. Stars such as Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Aniston, and Keira Knightley have also chosen Jenny's designs for their wardrobe. Chris has found love with Charlotte Corney, who owns and operates Wildheart Animal Sanctuary. The pair have openly expressed that they have no intention to marry or live together. Chris with his partner Charlotte Corney (Image: Daily Mirror ) On The Different Minds podcast, when queried about potential marriage plans, Chris responded: "I would say no. It's all about animals at the moment, we have to concentrate on them. Her tigers are old, my dog Scratchy is old. It's not about us, we have to get through this period basically of aged animals." In conversation with The Guardian regarding how his autism diagnosis in his 40s impacted his relationship, Chris shared insights into why his partnership with Charlotte remained strong, distinguishing it from past relationships that typically ended after five to seven years. He remarked: "They all reached their full term because, as much as I was dealing socially with my neurodiversity, I wasn't dealing with it at home. I couldn't let my guard down and that was always very challenging for my partners. "I have slightly better control of my obsessive personality now. That means I don't totally expose Charlotte to my obsessions and force her to be part of them, which is what I did in past relationships – while at the same time being pretty unforgiving when partners wanted me to do anything they valued and I didn't." Chris Packham, who was previously married to NHS nurse Jo McCubbin, remains close with Megan McCubbin, Jo's daughter from a previous relationship. Meg often joins Chris on his TV shows, including Springwatch. While Chris's precise residence in the New Forest is a well-guarded secret, he is thought to dwell in a quaint cottage accompanied by his two beloved dogs, Sid and Nancy. Article continues below In October, 2021, the wildlife expert disclosed that his Land Rover had been maliciously blown up right outside his Hampshire abode gate. He has also been subjected to death threats in the past, received human faeces mailed to his house, and found dead crows affixed to his New Forest home's fence.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is about to take a page from Elon Musk's X
Meta (META) is rolling out community notes on March 18, taking a page from the playbook of Elon Musk's X. The incoming feature will ask users to fact-check or clarify claims in popular posts, marking a departure from Meta's former fact-checking system, which relied on fact-checking experts. 'We won't be reinventing the wheel. Initially we will use X's open-source algorithm as the basis of our rating system,' Meta said in a press release on Thursday. Twitter introduced community notes under the name Birdwatch in 2021, well before Musk bought the service and rebranded it as X. Users on X already rank other users' notes, and the most popular response appears directly below posts. Meta said it will launch its similar feature on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, but only within the United States for now. The company eventually intends to roll out the new system globally. Meta added that user-submitted notes won't actually appear beneath posts until it thinks its system is working properly. Meta first announced that it would retire its third-party fact-checking program in January. At the time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company would replace it with community notes, similar to X, without giving much detail. Meta's third-party fact-checking program started in 2016, shortly after President Donald Trump won his first election. At the time, Facebook faced criticism for failing to catch election-related misinformation on the platform, including disinformation campaigns led by foreign governments. 'We expect Community Notes to be less biased than the third party fact checking program it replaces, and to operate at a greater scale when it is fully up and running,' the company said in the press release, saying the experts in the earlier fact-checking program had political biases that affected their judgement. 'Community Notes allow more people with more perspectives to add context to more types of content, and because publishing a note requires agreement between different people, we believe it will be less prone to bias,' Meta said. Separately, Zuckerberg has said the change could also mean that Meta is 'going to catch less bad stuff,' per ABC. Meta's community notes also won't have penalties associated with them. Under the earlier system, posts that received third-party fact-checking intervention were shown less often on people's feeds, due to them potentially harboring false and harmful information. That won't be the case with posts that receive community notes. But X's crowd-sourced fact-checking has also been deemed ill-equipped for handling misinformation. Reports have found that accurate notes on misleading posts were not displayed 100% of the time, and even when they were, the original post got significantly more views than the correcting note. Meta shared that around 200,000 users have signed up to become Community Notes contributors so far across all three apps, and the waitlist is still open for those who wish to take part. The feature will be available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Portuguese to start before expanding to other languages with time. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
