Welcome to the latest Ferret Underground email. We have finished backslapping* after our award-winning week, and are back at the coal face of investigative news.
This week we have stories about benefits sanctions, fracking, and Scotland's drugs, alcohol and mental health crises.
We also have a new FFS Show podcast for you to dive into.
There are a lot of exciting things brewing at The Ferret at the moment. New partnerships and investigations are coming to fruition. So stay tuned.
(*There is some minor backslapping in the podcast, sorry.)
Yours, Ali from The Ferret
Story of the week
An in-depth look at a Ferret investigation
The number of people who have had their benefits sanctioned in Scotland has doubled over the last three years, an investigation by The Ferret has found.
A round up of our investigations in the last seven days
Commission calls for urgent action on ‘Scotland’s crisis’ with drugs, alcohol and mental health People with both mental health and drug and alcohol problems
are being “abandoned by a broken system” meant to help them, according to a report.
UK Government told to overrule Holyrood’s fracking ban A lobby
group has urged Westminster to overrule the Scottish Government and allow the exploitation of underground gas at two sites north of the border.
The FFS Show
Our misinformation and fact-checking podcast
The FFS Show 39: Why do people believe in flat earth theory?
Ali is joined by Ferret journalist Jamie Mann for episode 39 of the FFS Show.
This week we look at flat earth theory. Ali interviews marketing expert Dr Carlos Diaz Ruiz from Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki.
He explains how promoters of the flat earth conspiracy use marketing techniques to spread the theory, and how such techniques are present in other grand conspiracies such as QAnon.
Investigations we've enjoyed from around the world
Republican official supported murder charges for women who get abortions The Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor once said that if women violated an
abortion ban, they should be charged with murder. (Vice News)
Revealed: 5,000 empty ‘ghost flights’ in UK since 2019 A further 35,000 flights have operated almost empty, with climate campaigners calling the revelations ‘shocking’. (Guardian)
Liz Truss wrong to claim ‘no household’ will pay more than £2,500 on energy bills The Prime Minister incorrectly claimed that “no household” would have to pay more than £2,500 in energy bills under the Energy Price Guarantee. (FullFact)
