Former girlfriend of Micheal Gove and Oxford academic is awaiting trial. The case is virtually ignored in the media compared to Jason Arday
The contrast in the media coverage between Jason Arday, who was never charged with any offence, and Dr Lola Salem is stark. The combination of a woman being charged with the possession of child pornography images, an Oxford academic and former girlfriend of a prominent politician has all the makings of a sensational media story. Yet there is virtually nothing. Some reports briefly appeared online on the platforms of many news outlets only to rapidly disappear.
The bare bones of the case revolve around Dr Lola Salem. She is a lecturer in French and music at Oriel college Oxford. A spokesperson for Oriel college announced that it was “made aware of serious charges against an employee in June 2026” and that the employee was “suspended, pending the outcome of legal proceedings”.
She appeared at Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, June 16, and then at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday, July 23 2026 to enter her plea. Dr Salem pleaded not guilty to charges of possession of category B and C child pornography images. She is scheduled to stand trial in March 2028.
Dr Salem had been Michael Gove’s girlfriend for about 2 years. They shared a west London flat until recently. Gove announced they had split up earlier this month. Given his skills at stabbing people in the back and slithering away it is plausible that her arrest and charges were a contributing factor in the breakup.
Following the details of the the case breaking last week, articles were rushed online by the Daily Telegraph, Mail, GB News, LBC and others… only for them to be hastily removed. Currently the only mentions of the story are buried away on the Oxford local news section of the BBC news site, Oxford Mail, The National Scotland edition.and MSN.
The GB News post about Dr Salem was rapidly deleted from the site but is still visible in search engine results….
Similarly, LBC news were quick to remove their article linked from the ecosia search engine…
… but they have plenty on Jason Arday.
How the coverage compares with Jason Arday
Bearing in mind that Jason Arday was never charged with any offences and was never accused of anything as serious as child pornography offences, the contrast in the media coverage is staggering.
The Daily Mail has about 200 articles about Jason Arday and a solitary one about the Dr Salem charges. The Daily Telegraph is oblivious to this story with no reports at all even though she is one of their writers. Surely someone must have mentioned it around the office! The Telegraph was less circumspect when it came to Prof Arday who featured in 33 articles and news reports. The Express is completely unaware of the charges against Dr Salem, although to be fair they were also uninterested in Jason Arday.
The Times, which used to the bastion of British news is totally unaware of Dr Salem, but devoted many column inches to Jason Arday.
None of the news outlets that do have any articles on this story have included them in their social media postings including Facebook, although many independent news providers have noticed the deafening silence.