Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at 15, she signed her first record deal.
Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008.
Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", it became the US' best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.
BBC World Service Journalists Accuse Broadcaster Of Endangering Vietnamese Staff With Plans To Move Them To Thailand
deadline.comFollowing the announcement of huge cuts to the BBC World Service, with many staff being asked to relocate overseas, journalists have said plans to move the Vietnamese service to Thailand will pose dangers to press freedom.
The Guardian reports several reporters raising concerns that there is history of the Vietnamese state abducting journalists from Thailand – and that the BBC had not recognised that Vietnamese people do not automatically feel at home in Thailand, despite both being south-east Asian countries.
One World Service employee told the Guardian: “Being a critic of the Vietnamese government, even when you’re in Thailand, is not safe.” Most of the BBC’s Vietnamese-language staff have previously operated out of London, due to the oppression of press freedom in Vietnam.
A BBC spokesperson told the Guardian: “The safety and security of our journalists is paramount. We are not proposing to open any new operations in Bangkok – for a number of years the Vietnamese service has been split between Bangkok and London, with half of the journalists based in Bangkok and half in London, all producing excellent and impartial journalism.” This anxiety comes after the BBC announced the move – first published on Deadline – as part of a £30M ($32.7M) World Service savings drive, will see seven more language services moving to digital only, the closure of BBC Arabic radio and BBC Persian radio and the ending of some TV and radio programs.
Read more on deadline.com