

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

Jan 12, 2017 • 28min
Sir David Clementi named for BBC Chair; Donald Trump: fake news and good journalism
The Edinburgh TV Festival and ITN have hosted a debate on Fake News and the Fallout, where Brian Stelter of CNN outlined his attempts to uphold journalism standards on his show Reliable Sources. And with President Elect Trump set for inauguration next week another argument has broken out over what he has called fake news and many media outlets were unhappy to publish. Steve Hewlett talks to Brian Stelter about the problem as he sees it in the US. And Ben de Pear, Editor of Channel 4 News and Jonathan Levy, Director of News-Gathering & Operations at Sky News discuss how UK media is dealing with the challenges presented by fake news. And, Sir David Clementi has been named as the government's preferred candidate to be Chair of the BBC's new unitary board. Former BBC Trustee, Richard Tait and Jane Martinson, Head of Media at the Guardian discuss what lies ahead for him.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Jan 5, 2017 • 28min
David Blunkett on press regulation; TV ratings and the battle for Saturday night
Steve Hewlett talks to David Blunkett, a victim of phone hacking about the future of press regulation. With the government currently consulting on whether to implement Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act and to start the second part of the Leveson inquiry we discuss the decisions the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport faces with Jodie Ginsburg, CEO of Index on Censorship and Steven Barnet, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster from the campaign group Hacked Off. Who won the Christmas television ratings war? And with the BBC's 'Let it Shine' and ITV's 'The Voice' starting this weekend, who will win the battle for Saturday Night? We talk TV ratings, scheduling and light entertainment formats with Stephen Price, consultant and columnist for Broadcast and former scheduler, and Mark Wells, independent producer and former Head of Entertainment at ITV studios. Producer: Ruth Watts.

Dec 29, 2016 • 28min
Scoops, scandals and sackings: Piers Morgan's life story - A Media Show Special
Scoops, scandals and sackings: Piers Morgan dishes the dirt on his childhood master plan to become Britain's most talked about journalist and his rapid rise to become editor of a national newspaper aged only 28. In this special Media Show interview, he talks to Steve Hewlett about the highs and lows of his life story, including the City Slickers share-tipping scandal, phone hacking and the photographs of British troops abusing Iraqis that his newspaper admitted were fake. This former editor of the News of the World, the Daily Mirror and the Sun's Bizarre showbiz column describes how it felt to be on the receiving end of press intrusion and the difference it made to how he ran his own tabloid.He also talks about the relationships, stolen stories and celebrity feuds and friendships that eventually led him to stardom in the United States as a judge on America's Got Talent, winner of Celebrity Apprentice and successor to Larry King. And Piers gives his insight into how to get a job on a national newspaper, what the future holds for the press and what's going on in the mind of his mate, US President-elect Donald Trump.Presenter: Steve Hewlett
Producer: Paul Waters.

Dec 29, 2016 • 28min
The bid for Sky; Christmas TV; BBC Monitoring
SKY takeover: Beyond the prominent arguments, what are legal and regulatory hurdles that the 20th Century Fox bid has to clear? And, how does the situation differ from last time, when Murdoch's NewsCorp made a bid in 2010? We speak to Jon Zeff, former Director of Media at the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Christmas TV Schedules: What can the TV schedules this Christmas tell us about the health of terrestrial channels as they compete with video on demand services like Netflix and Amazon? TV Critic Kevin O'Sullivan and Ben Preston, Editor of the Radio Times discuss. How important is BBC Monitoring? And who should be paying for a service that meets the needs of both the BBC and the Government? We hear from former BBC Monitoring employee and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, Keir Giles and from Stuart Seaman, the outgoing Father of the Chapel for the National Union of Journalists at BBC Monitoring at Caversham Park about the work the service does. Producer: Ruth Watts.

Dec 14, 2016 • 28min
Murdoch, Fox and Sky; Eve Pollard; Value of newspapers
Joining us to discuss 20th Century Fox's proposed takeover of Sky are Mathew Horsman, Director of Mediatique, David Elstein, former head of programming at Sky and Vince Cable, former Business Secretary.Reporters Sans Frontières supports journalists doing their job throughout the world. They've just opened an office in London and Chair of the UK board of advisors, Eve Pollard joins us to talk about their work. The News Media Association says that the British news publishing industry contributes £5.3bn to the economy. Its Chair, David Dinsmore joins us to discuss the strength of the industry and the challenges it faces.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Dec 7, 2016 • 29min
Trump and New York Times, the next Chair of the BBC board
Former Controller of Radio 4 and current BBC trustee Mark Damazer talks about the plans for the BBC's new unitary board, the appointments process for the new chair and the pitfalls that could lie ahead.Damian Collins MP, Chair of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport and Lis Howell, Director of Broadcasting at City University look at what lies ahead for the BBC's new unitary board.And, Mark Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of The New York Times Company discusses the paper's relationship with US President Elect, Donald Trump.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Dec 1, 2016 • 28min
Diversity at the BBC, Yousra Elbagir, Hugo Rifkind
What's the BBC doing to retain BAME employee and improve diversity at the most senior levels? Marcus Ryder, discusses why he recently left the BBC. And Steve is joined by David Lammy MP and Joe Godwin, Director of the BBC Academy and Director of BBC Midlands who is the Chair of the BBC's Diversity and Inclusion Committee.Yousra Elbagir, the winner of the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Prize talks about her work as a journalist in Sudan. And, Times columnist Hugo Rifkind on how his tweet inadvertently spread "fake" news far and wide.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Nov 23, 2016 • 28min
Tom Mangold, Channel 4, Luxury magazines
Andrea Catherwood looks at why some luxury magazines appear to be in good health despite the troubles faced by the wider print market. Farrah Storr, Editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and Chris Sutcliffe, media analyst for Media Briefing discuss what's going on.We ask if we are we any closer to a decision on the appointment of new directors at Channel 4 and the widely debated future of the public service broadcaster. Maggie Brown, journalist and author joins us.And Steve Hewlett has been speaking to Tom Mangold, former reporter on Panorama about his journalistic memoirs, Splashed.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Nov 16, 2016 • 29min
The Grand Tour, US journalism, BBC World Service expansion
Steve Hewlett is joined by Andy Wilman, Executive Producer of 'The Grand Tour' to discuss Clarkson, Hammond and May and the new show for Amazon Prime.The BBC has outlined its expansion plans for the government's £289m investment in the BBC World Service. Director of the World Service Fran Unsworth explains what the plans mean for the BBC.And, following the election result that much of the mainstream print media in the USA did not think possible, David Folkenflik, Media Correspondent for National Public Radio joins us to assess where next for political journalism.Producer: Ruth Watts'The Grand Tour' is available on Amazon Prime from Friday 18th November 2016.

Nov 9, 2016 • 28min
How the media reported on Trump, TV advertising, Sound Women
Paddy O'Connell looks at Trump's victory in the US presidential election - one that much of the mainstream media failed to predict. Emily Bell and James Delingpole discuss how old and new media covered the campaign and where we go from here. Mathew Horsman joins us to analyse the state of TV advertising. And, Sound Women - the group set up to raise the profile of women in radio and to get more of their voices on air is closing. Paddy talks to Jane Garvey and Fi Glover about what it achieved.Producer: Ruth Watts.