

The Media Show
BBC Radio 4
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 15, 2017 • 37min
Russia and the information wars
Vladimir Putin has been accused by the UK government of weaponising information to sow discord in the West. Amol Rajan is joined by Dmitry Linnik, former London bureau chief of Voice of Russia, James Nixey, head of Russia programme at Chatham House and Carole Cadwalladr of The Guardian.Jeremy Thompson was one of Sky News' biggest stars until his retirement last year. Now he's written his memoir, Breaking News.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper.

Nov 8, 2017 • 28min
Scoops from Paradise
The Paradise Papers are 13.4 million leaked financial documents. A German newspaper got hold of them and then farmed out the legwork to a global network of almost 100 publishers to investigate. Is scoop by collective the future for journalism? Gerard Ryle is the director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and James Oliver is a producer for BBC Panorama. George Trefgarne is a former Economics Editor at The Daily Telegraph and now runs a financial PR company.A group of female journalists have set up The Second Source in response to the problem of sexual harassment in the media industry. Ros Urwin is a co-founder and also a senior feature writer at The Evening Standard.IMPRESS is the UK's official press regulator and Jonathan Heawood is its chief executive.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper.

Nov 2, 2017 • 28min
How BuzzFeed exposed Kevin Spacey
Netflix have suspended filming of their hit TV series House of Cards. The decision follows allegations now engulfing the show's lead actor Kevin Spacey. Marisa Carrol is BuzzFeed's deputy national editor. Matthew Garrahan is the FT's global media editor.Refinery29 is a digital publisher targeting millennial women and has been valued at $500m. Kate Ward is the executive responsible for Refinery29's expansion into Europe.If the allegations of impropriety by members of parliament now filling the front pages really were an open secret, did Westminster's journalists turn a blind eye? How effective is the Lobby at holding power to account? Heather Brooke was the investigative reporter who exposed the expenses scandal, Paul Staines blogs as Guido Fawkes, and Michael White is The Guardian's former political editor.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Richard Hooper.

Oct 25, 2017 • 28min
How to save regional newspapers
Johnston Press is one of the UK's largest publishers, whose titles include The Scotsman, Yorkshire Post and the i. Chief executive Ashley Highfield discusses his strategy with Amol Rajan.As part of what it calls an experiment, Facebook has changed what type of story appears in the News Feed for some of its users. Publishers have complained that the only way of now reaching users' main feed is by paying for the privilege. Filip Struharik is an editor at the Slovakian publication Dennik N and Lynsey Barber is City A.M.'s tech editor.For the first time the ASA has upheld a complaint against an advert that appeared on Snapchat. The ruling comes at a difficult time for Snap with the company struggling to sell its much hyped smart Spectacles and missing advertising targets. What's the future for the company once valued at $25bn? Tim Armoo is CEO of Fanbytes and Lucy Rohr is The Economist's Snapchat editor.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper.

Oct 18, 2017 • 28min
Malta journalist murdered: Daphne Caruana Galizia
Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated by a car bomb this week. She was renowned for challenging corruption on the island. We hear about her work and the risks faced by investigative journalists in Malta and elsewhere - and the impact this attack may have on other reporters. We hear from people who knew Daphne - Frederik Obermaier of the worldwide Panama Papers investigation into corruption and Saviour Balzan of Malta Today.Which? magazine is celebrating 60 years of consumer journalism, but how relevant is it today, as free-to-access reviews by ordinary consumers have become such a feature of online shopping? Richard Headland, Editor in Chief of Which? and Katie Morley, the Telegraph's Consumer Affairs Editor, both join us.Crimewatch axed: Did you see it? Do you know someone who has an axe and has been behaving suspiciously?
After 33 years, the BBC's long-running crimebusting evening TV series is no more, so how are police communicating and engaging with the public in the post-Crimewatch era. Nick Cloke of Dorset Police tells us.Tinder journalism: The use of online dating sites like Tinder to gather information for journalistic purposes.
We hear from pioneering Tinder journalist Kevin McElwee on the ethics of engineering online encounters when you're really only after one thing - and it's not a date.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Paul Waters.

Oct 11, 2017 • 28min
Could the media have exposed Harvey Weinstein earlier?
The Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein stands accused of years of sexual misconduct. Weinstein denies all allegations of non-consensual sex. But could he have been exposed earlier? Was the media complicit in protecting him? Gabriel Sherman is a Vanity Fair special correspondent, Meirion Jones is from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Alan Collins is a partner at the law firm Hugh James.A local TV channel for every city was the grand plan of the former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. Four years since the first of them came on air, is anyone watching? Jamie Conway is the CEO of Made Television and media analyst Ray Snoddy is a long term follower of the project.Shortlist is the magazine handed out for no charge in city centres and railway stations up and down the country. It was launched 10 years ago this month and has expanded into a range of other titles. Ella Dolphin is CEO of Shortlist Media.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper.

Oct 5, 2017 • 28min
Celebrities and interview copy control
Clare Balding has denied claims that she demanded approval of a Saga Magazine interview.

Sep 28, 2017 • 28min
What's wrong with the BBC?
In the inaugural Steve Hewlett Lecture at the Royal Television Society, Nick Robinson argues how the BBC should respond to the popularity of hyper-partisan news sources. Anoosh Chakelian is a senior writer at the New Statesman and Alex Wickham blogs as Media Guido.Twitter has announced that it is increasing the number of characters allowed in a Tweet. It used to be 140 - in line with old fashioned SMS text messages - but now it is going to experiment with 280 characters. Piers Morgan thinks it is a bad move whilst technology journalist Kate Bevan explains the business rationale.BT Sport has become a serious rival to Sky in the market for live sport. Amol visits its giant studio in East London and meets Simon Green, Head of BT Sport.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper
Assistant Producer: Amy Irvine.

Sep 20, 2017 • 24min
Is Twitter turning journalists into vultures?
Theresa May has called for tech firms to do more to tackle online extremism. Meanwhile in Germany new legislation is due to come into force next month that will mean the likes of Google and Facebook facing huge fines of up to 50m euros if they fail to remove extremist content. Markus Beckedahl is a prominent free speech campaigner and founder of the Netzpolitik blog.Sam Baker edited some of Britain's biggest magazines - Just Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and Red - but then in 2015 jumped ship. She co-founded The Pool, an entirely digital publication, which today is experiencing steady growth.The incident at Parsons Green prompted accusations that some journalists were behaving like "vultures". Members of the public who had posted photos and video from the scene soon found themselves swamped with requests from journalists. Steve Jones is the Press Association's Social Media Editor and Kaya Burgess is a reporter at The Times.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper.

Sep 13, 2017 • 28min
RTS Cambridge Convention special
How does the UK retain its position as one of the world's leading producers of TV? A special edition of The Media Show recorded at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention. Amol Rajan is joined by Sophie Turner Laing, CEO of Endemol Shine, Wayne Garvie, Chief Creative Officer, International Production at Sony Pictures, Theresa Wise, RTS Chief Executive and Katherine Rushton, Media and Technology Editor at the Daily Mail.Presenter: Amol Rajan
Producer: Richard Hooper
Assistant Producer: Tim Allen.


