Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Karin is one of The Ferret’s co-editors, and her reporting is largely about people, the planet and power imbalances. She’s worked for the Sunday Times, Sunday Herald and the Sunday National and contributed to outlets including The Guardian, Vice, iNews and the London Review of Books. She was a reporter on a documentary, co-produced by The Ferret and BBC Scotland’s Disclosure, and has worked on radio and film projects. Audio and long reads are her favourite mediums. Karin is the co-founder of our Community Newsroom and is particularly interested in participatory journalism.
Billy is a founder and co-editor of The Ferret with a passion for long-form reportage and photography. A former staffer with The Herald, he’s covered human rights in places such as Gaza, Haiti, Pakistan, Russia and Syria, and freelanced for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Politico, and BBC, among others. He covers far right extremism, environmental issues, animal welfare, illicit finance, and the arms trade, and has won awards from Amnesty International, Scottish Press Awards, and the EU, among others. His reporting from Iraq featured in Routledge’s book – Journalism, Power and Investigation.
Alastair leads our fact-checking arm, Ferret Fact Service (FFS), and writes on issues relating to disinformation and conspiracy theories. He also delivers regular training across Scotland on social media verification, spotting disinformation and media literacy. Before joining The Ferret, Alastair worked for STV News, ITV Border and BBC Scotland across features, news and politics.
Iris leads our social media and production. She is a freelance journalist and certified sex educator with extensive experience in storytelling, editorial production, and community-centered media. Her work has appeared in The Independent, Positive News magazine, and BBC The Social, among others.
Jamie is an investigative journalist who mostly focuses on illicit finance, dark money, political influence, land ownership, nature, the environment and far right extremism. He wrote his first article for The Ferret in 2015 as part of our debut investigation series, which focused on fracking, and became a full time reporter in 2022. His work has also been featured in outlets including The Herald, Herald on Sunday, Sunday Post, Sunday National, Daily Record, BBC, ITV and Ian Fraser’s book, Shredded: Inside RBS, the Bank that Broke Britain.
He is also part of The Ferret‘s board as a journalist director.
Paul has written for The Ferret since 2020 with a particular focus on issues like the environment, energy and climate change. His work has been featured on Channel 4 News, The Guardian, The Herald and the Sunday Mirror.
He is also on The Ferret‘s board as a journalist director, and helps to run events across Scotland.
Rob Edwards has more than 40 years’ experience specialising in reporting on environmental issues.
He worked as environment editor of the Sunday Herald and as a correspondent for The Guardian. He has co-authored three books about nuclear power, produced radio and television programmes, and won awards. He likes muckraking.
Craig looks after our financial management and reporting. He was previously the CEO of Social Investment Scotland, Homeless World Cup and Falkirk FC/Falkirk Foundation. Before that, he was the head of charity and community banking at the Bank of Scotland. Over the past 6 years, he has worked on a consultancy basis, helping non-profit organisations grow and develop.
Rebecca is our business manager, and leads on funding. She previously worked at Citizen's Advice Scotland.
Angela Catlin is a photo-journalist based in Glasgow who’s worked in places such as Rwanda, Gaza, Guatemala, Haiti and Columbia. Her focus is mostly human rights but she's also known for two books of portraits made thirty years apart, Natural Light (1985) and Natural Light II (2015), which highlighted Scotland’s best known writers. Angela also documented life during the pandemic, resulting in a book Still Life and an exhibition. She’s worked with The Ferret for 10 years on various stories, including an award-winning project in Iraq, and a major neo-Nazi trial in Greece.
Halina Rifai is an award-winning podcast and audio producer specialising in mental health, social justice and investigative storytelling. Her work includes The Ferret's "Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry" and Empire Café's "Who Owns the Clyde?", creating audio that amplifies underrepresented voices and examines systemic inequalities. She is Communications Manager for We Are Here Scotland, where she co-leads the Creative Balance research project exploring mental health and wellbeing for Black and People of Colour in Scotland's creative industries, and co-curates AMPLIFI, an award-winning music series creating pathways for emerging talent.
