The Media Show

The start of this summer witnessed some of the most significant political events in recent history, with media headlines about Brexit dominating every news bulletin. However, the news agenda quickly switched to the Olympics and the dominance of the British team. So was this switch justified, or does it highlight an imbalance in news coverage? Joining Paddy O'Connell to discuss is Rod Liddle, Associate Editor of the Spectator and Peter Hitchens columnist for the Mail on Sunday.The issue of diversity in broadcasting has received much focus this year. Today finally sees the launch of 'Diamond'; an industry wide monitoring project backed by the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Sky, and Channel 5. Amanda Ariss, Executive Director of Creative Diversity Network which has set it up explains how this new system will work and what they hope it will achieve.Gawker.com, the flagship site for Gawker Media, closed on Monday after 14 years. Gawker Media was pushed into bankruptcy after losing a lawsuit filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan. Max Read former editor of Gawker, and now senior editor at New York magazine, shares his concern about how the case threatens press freedom.A new Channel 5 two part series claims to offer 'unprecedented access to London's street gang culture'. In 'Gangland', subjects are free to tell stories of drug dealing and violence, unchallenged, in their own words. But the method used to achieve this - namely, "camera dropping", where subjects pick up equipment and film their own material - raises questions about the credibility of sources. Steve Hewlett talks to producer Paul Blake about the ethical questions he asked when making this filmProducer: Katy Takatsuki.

New York Times media columnist, Jim Rutenberg, has described how journalists who disagree with Donald Trump now face a dilemma in terms of their impartiality. "The American press has all but abandoned impartiality when it comes to the Republican's wildest claims", he writes. It's a similar problem to the one that faced broadcasters in the UK, especially the BBC, who were accused of 'false balance' during coverage of the EU referendum. Steve Hewlett speaks to Jim Rutenberg, and Emily Bell from Columbia Journalism school, about the challenge of covering Trump's campaign.The media company, Vice, famed for its youth-oriented outlook, is launching a new TV channel in the UK. It will be available on Sky and Now TV, and - it says - will feature all new and original content. The company launched the US version in February this year. But how successful a venture will a linear TV channel be for a young audience? Steve Hewlett speaks to Tom Harrington, analyst at Enders Analysis. BBC Comedy is reviving some much-loved sitcoms including Goodnight Sweetheart and Are You Being Served?. It's part of a season to mark 60 years since Hancock's Half Hour - considered to be the start of British situation comedy as we know it - started on BBC Television. But can this genre, which relies on innuendo, smut and difficult themes like race and sexism, exist in a modern world? Steve Hewlett speaks to Shane Allen, Controller, BBC Comedy Commissioning; writer Derren Litten who has written a new version of 'Are You Being Served', and legendary writers Lawrence Marks and Maurice Gran, famous for 'Goodnight Sweetheart' and 'Birds of a Feather'. Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

The BBC Trust has published an independent impartiality review looking at the BBC's reporting of statistics in its news and current affairs. It's found that the BBC needs to do more to challenge conventional wisdom and misleading claims, help audiences understand the weight of evidence, and be braver in interpreting and explaining rival statistics. We speak to independent author of the report and former UK National Statistician Dame Jil Matheson. Plus, FT columnist Tim Harford and investigative journalist Heather Brooke discuss the rise of data journalism and the skills journalists now need to make sense of stats. The New European, a pop up 'Remain' newspaper, has extended its publication run. Initially published for four weeks following the Brexit decision, the £2 weekly will continue for at least another 4 weeks. Distributed in London, the south of England, Manchester and Liverpool, it's seeing a circulation around the 30,000s, and will be published in Northern Ireland from Friday. Steve Hewlett speaks to Matt Kelly, Chief content officer for Archant and launch editor of the paper about how and why it's selling, when some other papers are failing after a matter of weeks.As of September 1st, the BBC will require those viewers watching BBC iPlayer programmes on catch-up to have a TV licence. Newspaper reports this week suggested the BBC could deploy a new generation of Wi-Fi detection vans to identify people illicitly watching its programmes online. Steve Hewlett speaks to former Editor in Chief of MacUser Magazine Adam Banks about whether technology exists to actually do this, and whether privacy laws would ever allow such detection. Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

Following the recent spate of terrorist attacks in France and Germany, and widespread reporting on these atrocities, some media outlets, including the French daily newspaper Le Monde, have decided to not publish the names or pictures of perpetrators. One of the organisations choosing to not publish details is French networked Europe1 Radio. Andrea Catherwood speaks to managing editor Nicolas Escoulan to hear why they've made that decision. Plus Jo Groebel, an academic and media consultant in Germany, who has been advising media there on this issue, explains why he thinks self-censorship is ineffective. Channel 4's new 'dating' show 'Naked Attraction' has certainly sparked controversy, with around 123 complaints already to regulator Ofcom. The programme sees a single man and woman choose a date from a selection of six people standing naked before them. Some viewers have been left shocked by close ups of genitalia and full frontals, but ratings suggest it's pulling in a big audience - particularly the young. Andrea Catherwood is joined by presenter Anna Richardson, plus critics Kevin O'Sullivan and Rachel Cooke.Latest results from Facebook show the company now has 1.71 billion monthly users, a surge from 1.65 billion in the previous quarter. Strikingly, the results also showed that revenue from advertising has grown 63 per cent in a year, to over $6.2 billion, with mobile ad revenue accounting for 84 per cent of this. Andrea Catherwood talks to ad expert Martin Bowley about the significance of these figures; what this tells us about ad spend, the impact on traditional media, and whether Facebook profits still have space to grow. Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with over 27 million customers worldwide. It's also the owner of Virgin Media, the largest cable company in the UK and Ireland, with 5.6 million customers. On a recent visit to London, its CEO Mike Fries spoke to Steve Hewlett about the strength of the business in the UK market, the impact of Brexit and whether they'd ever consider buying ITV.Guardian Media Group (GMG), the owner of The Guardian and Observer newspapers, has reported a greater-than-expected full-year operating loss of £69 million. GMG has put the losses in part down to restructuring charges and a fall in print advertising revenues, with some reports saying that disagreements over who should take the blame led to the Guardian's Editor in Chief Alan Rusbridger resigning in May. Steve Hewlett talks to media analyst from Enders Douglas McCabe about the scale of the problem and what, if anything, can be done about it.Roger Ailes who co-founded Fox News with Rupert Murdoch in 1996, is to depart the news channel. Over two decades, Ailes has led Fox News to becoming one of America's most watched news channels with profits dwarfing its cable news rival's. Ailes has been the driving force behind forming the unique Fox brand with his attention-grabbing style. Its blend of modern production values and partisan news commentary aimed at the moderate and conservative right counterbalanced what Ailes saw as the liberal bias of competitor news channels. We hear from author Kerwin Swint, and NPR's David Folkenflik about the rise and fall of this huge figure in US media.Prod: Katy Takatsuki.

Yavuz Baydar, writer for the Arab Weekly, discusses the media crackdown in Turkey post-coup with implications for journalism. Ed Vaizey reflects on his legacy as Minister of State for Culture and Digital Economy. The evolution of live streaming and its impact on news coverage is examined, along with challenges in the arts and media sectors.

BBC's new Deputy Director General Anne Bulford discusses cost-saving strategies and Top Gear. Controversy arises over filming a police raid at Cliff Richard's home. Legal experts debate on protecting the anonymity of suspects. True crime TV shows and ethical considerations surrounding criminal case reporting are explored.

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The EU referendum has been a defining political moment in the UK's history. For top political journalists, it's presented its own set of challenges - balancing claims, giving parity to arguments, and staying across the latest lines from all parties has been key for reporters on TV and radio. Steve Hewlett talks to three broadcast journalists who've been on the coal face during this campaign; Allegra Stratton, National Editor for ITV News, Faisal Islam, Political Editor for Sky News, and Channel 4 News Political Editor Gary Gibbon. News of Brexit has created uncertainty in the media industry. The financial repercussions began immediately after Thursday's vote, with stocks in the media sector falling further than the wider market on Friday. Analysts predict that advertising and marketing budgets will undoubtedly be cut if there's an economic slowdown. There's also concern that changing current EU broadcasting regulations, which experts say makes doing business easier, will no longer apply. To discuss, Steve Hewlett is joined by John Enser, partner specialising in media issues at law firm Olswang.An influential inquiry into the future of broadcasting in the UK is published today. Led by film-maker and Labour peer Lord Puttnam, The Future for Public Service Television Inquiry suggests that ITV should increase its commitment to current affairs programming, Channel 4 should not be privatised, and a fund should be established to pay for public service content. Steve Hewlett talks to Lord Puttnam as he concludes his eight month inquiry, and asks him what happens now Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

The Mirror backs Remain in EU referendum, while The Sun supports Leave. The debate on the influence of newspaper editorials. The challenges faced by journalists in Afghanistan post-Taliban. The evolution and future of TV talent shows in the UK.