The Media Show

There’s a balance of risk and reward for any politician taking part in a TV debate but what's at stake for the presenters? Julie Etchingham and Krishnan Guru-Murthy both grilled the Conservatives candidates for PM over the weekend. They tell us about the negotiating, the cajoling and the hard graft that makes these live TV events happen, and whether you can ever predict what will make candidates get personal. Sky News announced this week that Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss had declined to take part in their planned third debate, effectively cancelling it. Their head of newsgathering Jonathan Levy tells us what he wants to do to take this power out of the politicians hands in future.

What role does the press play in choosing the next Conservative leader? How do you cover an election campaign that most of the public doesn’t have a say in? And what might all of this mean for Channel 4’s planned privatisation – next week’s Media Bill, which would have included details of the sale, has now been delayed.Guests: Fraser Nelson, Editor, The Spectator, Paul Mason, journalist and campaigner, Rosamund Urwin, Media Editor, The Sunday Times , Hardeep Matharu, Editor, Byline Times and Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director, Savanta ComResPresenter: Katie RazzallProducer: Helen Fitzhenry

These are perilous moments for Boris Johnson. As we witness a stream of resignations from his government we look at the role the media has played in this latest scandal. From disastrous broadcast media rounds to increasingly hostile editorials, we’ve seen how politics, power and the press intertwine.With Michael Crick political journalist and author, Jane Martinson Columnist and Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism at City, Joey Jones spokesman for Theresa May when she was Home Secretary and former deputy political editor at Sky News, James Ball, who writes for the New Statesman, Eleanor Langford, lobby journalist at Politics Home and Kate McCann, political Editor at Talk TV.Presenter: Ros AtkinsProducer: Helen Fitzhenry

QAnon is the conspiracy theory that claims Donald Trump has been waging war on a cabal of satanic paedophiles who stole the 2020 US election. Supporters of the baseless theory were among the mob that stormed the US Capitol in January 2021. After nearly two years of silence, the anonymous message board user who signed off as "Q", has posted again. Also in the programme, why Bristol’s mayor is facing a boycott of his press briefings by journalists.Guests: Gabriel Gatehouse, International Editor, BBC Newsnight and presenter of The Coming Storm, Irene Pasquetto, Assistant Professor of Information, University of Michigan, Martin Booth, Editor, Bristol 24/7, Charlotte Green, Local Democracy Reporter, Manchester Evening News, Shirish Kulkarni, journalist, and Keren Haynes, Co-founder, Shout! CommunicationsPresenter: Katie RazzallStudio engineer: Duncan HannantProducer: Helen Fitzhenry

The media regulator Ofcom has released a review of how the BBC operates. It's considered how the BBC deals with complaints, how it approaches impartiality, and how it decides which services to provide. Across all three, Ofcom wants an improvement.Guests: Kevin Bakhurst, Group Director, Ofcom; Owen Meredith, Chief Executive, News Media Association; Roger Mosey, former Head of TV News, BBC; and Alice Enders, Head of Research, Enders AnalysisProducer: Steven WilliamsPresenter: Ros Atkins

Carole Cadwalladr gives her first interview after Brexit campaigner Arron Bank loses his libel case against her. Mr Banks, the founder of the pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU, sued the investigative journalist for defamation over comments she made about his relationship with the Russian state.Guests: Carole Cadwalladr, investigative journalist, and Sarah Palin, barrister, Doughty Street ChambersPresenter: Katie RazzallProducer: Helen FitzhenryClarification:It has been drawn to our attention by Mr Banks’ lawyers since this was broadcast that while the Judge states Ms Cadwalladr had found being subjected to cross examination very stressful, she also expressly noted that the cross examination was undertaken properly and professionally by Mr Banks’ Leading Counsel.Furthermore, during the course of the trial Ms Cadwalladr accepted that the tweet that was put to her did not actually accuse her of sleeping with a fellow journalist.Mr Banks’ lawyers say that he did not sue TED Talks because it is based in the United States (which does not allow enforcement of English libel judgments); nor could he have sued the Observer because Ms Cadwalladr was not acting on behalf of the newspaper but rather as an individual. They also make the point that the allegations previously published by Ms Cadwalladr in the Observer were different to those made in the TED talk.

GB News launched one year ago this week. It promised to disrupt - to hear people, places and issues that other media outlets weren’t paying attention to. The show’s design was certainly different. The opening monologue came from a studio that was almost entirely black. Viewers were noting this, they were noting sound issues too – the start of a range of technical issues for the network as a whole. Within weeks Andrew Neil was on holiday never to return. Within months, Nigel Farage had taken over a primetime show of his own. GB News Chief Executive, Angelos Frangopoulos talks to The Media Show about where the channel has come from and where it goes next.Presenter: Ros AtkinsProducer: Helen Fitzhenry

Dan Walker has quit BBC Breakfast for a job presenting Channel 5’s flagship news show - what made him go? Also in the programme, as the media prepares for days of Jubilee coverage, are journalists who report on the Royal family capable of ever being truly critical?Guests: Dan Walker, Presenter, 5 News, Jonny Dymond, Royal correspondent, BBC News, Chris Ship, Royal editor, ITV News, and Dr Laura Clancy, Lecturer, Lancaster UniversityPresenter: Katie RazzallProducer: Helen Fitzhenry

Sue Gray’s report into what went on in Downing Steet during lockdown has finally been published. We now know that staff broke covid rules with the approval of their bosses. Excessive drinking, with people being sick, abuse of cleaning and security staff – events, Sue Gray says, that “should not have been allowed to happen”. Details of some of the events she investigated only became known to her because of reporting in the media. Ros Atkins asks what role the media has played in the whole saga. Also in the programme, Anneka Rice talks about the return of Challenge Anneka for Channel 5.Guests: Stephen Glover, columnist at the Daily Mail, David Yelland, former editor of The Sun and now director of the communications firm Kitchen Table Partners, Tim Montgomerie, founder of the Conservative Home website and former Boris Johnson advisor, Ayesha Hazarika, broadcaster and former Labour politician adviser, and Anneka Rice, presenter of Challenge Anneka Presenter: Ros AtkinsSound engineer: Tim HefferProducer: Helen Fitzhenry

This week we discuss the Wagatha Christie trial and what it told us about celebrity journalism. Simon Boyle, Executive Showbiz Editor at The Sun, tells us how the newspaper managed to keep their journalists out of court. John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg, on new UK expansion plans and who Britain's libel laws are really serving. Also in the programme: Jim Waterson, Media Editor at The Guardian and Pandora Sykes, co-host of Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV.