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This has all the hallmarks of someone buying their way into good PR. This guy basically ran a crypto pump and dump and he’s now trying to buy his way into good public image over the complaints of the people he scammed.

Unfortunately some naïve journalist fell for the “crypto millionaire donates to food banks” hook and published a puff piece, at least until someone higher up noticed and pulled it.

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The journalist prob. didn't "fell" into it, it is how media works these days: "publish first for eye balls, verify later". This strategy is described in the book Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

But what benefit does that serve the BBC? Outside of the world service, it's funding doesn't depend on views.

If it it fails to succeed by the standards of commercial media then the government can say that it is not competitive, not a good use of tax-payer money and kill it as they repeatedly threaten to do. It is an incredibly narrow slice of the UK political spectrum that both sincerely believes in the BBC's mission to do public interest journalism and realistically expects it to be a success in that mission.

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