Jamie Angus is the former director of the BBC World Service and the former editor of 'Today' and 'Newsnight' who now works in the Middle East. We discuss what the budget announcement means for funding of the World Service, why HardTalk makes the world 'a less stupid place', original journalism, the unintended consequences of commercialisation and US election and Middle East coverage. "The BBC is not protecting its essential news services enough when it comes to allocating the cuts. The case for ...
Oct 31, 2024•32 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Richard Sambrook, former Director of BBC News and the World Service, and now an Emeritus Professor of journalism at Cardiff University discusses the challenges the BBC faces in dealing with the rise of disinformation, the balance between free speech and responsibility, the BBC's 'follow the sun' strategy, World Service funding and the impact of budget cuts on BBC News. "I do have the concern that what sometimes gets lost in the mix is the depth and significance of BBC journalism, as opposed to s...
Oct 22, 2024•32 min•Season 7Ep. 8
In the same week that BBC Director General Tim Davie pitched for an increase in government funding for the BBC World Service, while simultaneously axing the global interview programme Hard Talk in another round of cuts, we speak with Gareth Benest, Director of Advocacy at the International Broadcasting Trust. We discuss the decline in international coverage by UK broadcasters, his analysis of the shrinking breadth of countries featured in news and current affairs programming, and the potential i...
Oct 17, 2024•29 min•Season 7Ep. 7
On our 100th episode anniversary we talk to another journalist who has started out on a new venture. The Guardian’s former media editor, Jim Waterson, has set up London Centric , a news outlet focused on in-depth coverage of London. We discuss his reasons for taking this step, the challenges traditional media faces, billionaires owning media outlets, the sale of The Observer, regulation, adapting to modern consumption habits and the merging of public service broadcasters. “I'm sure, Beeb Watch l...
Oct 09, 2024•33 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Mark Urban spent many years as the diplomatic and defence editor at BBC Newsnight before leaving in May, after 34 years at the corporation. Prior to joining the BBC, Mark was the defence correspondent for The Independent newspaper for four years. He is the author of several military books and served briefly in the British Army. He is now a writer for The Sunday Times . We discuss allegations of BBC bias against Israel in its Middle East coverage, the challenges and cultural biases in reporting c...
Oct 01, 2024•35 min•Season 7Ep. 5
The controversial Asserson Report sparked headlines in The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail for its critique of the BBC's Middle East coverage at the height of the Israel-Hamas war. The report has drawn both praise and sharp criticism. We’re joined by the report's author, British-Israeli lawyer Trevor Asserson, to discuss its origins, funding, methodology and its interpretation of impartiality. “I think the faults that we've demonstrated are probably found throughout the BBC’s coverage of othe...
Sep 27, 2024•40 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Journalist and broadcaster David Aaronovitch worked for the BBC in a senior capacity before becoming a columnist for The Times and the presenter of numerous radio programs, including Radio 4’s The Briefing Room . He now publishes longer articles on Substack under Notes from the Underground and contributes to Tortoise Media . In this episode, we discuss the fallout from the Jewish Chronicle scandal, where fabricated articles led David and other prominent writers to resign. We also explore accusat...
Sep 19, 2024•34 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Richard Ayre spent thirty-five years at the BBC, serving as the former controller of editorial policy, deputy chief executive of BBC News, and a BBC Trustee. Richard is also a former member of the OFCOM Content Board and is currently the chair of the UK's independent press regulator, Impress. We discuss BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC Chair Dr. Samir Shah’s appearance before the House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee, where they were scrutinised for their handling of t...
Sep 10, 2024•35 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Sir Trevor Phillips presents Sky TV’s Sunday Morning programme and is a columnist for The Times newspaper. He was previously a reporter on the Thames TV This Week , head of current affairs for London Weekend Television, Chair of the London Assembly, Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, and Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as well as having run several businesses. In the first episode of our seventh series we discuss why Trevor never became a BBC staffer, what the events...
Sep 04, 2024•37 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Sir Peter Bazalgette was until recently part of the previous Government’s committee to review how the BBC was funded. In his distinguished career he has been responsible for shows such as Big Brother, Changing Rooms and Ready Steady Cook, he’s also a former chair of Arts Council England and in September 2023 he stepped down as chair of ITV. He is now co-chair of the Creative Council. On this week’s programme we discussed the Media Act (was anything left out), BBC funding and the future of public...
Jul 17, 2024•27 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Academics from Loughborough University’s Centre for Research in Communication and Culture have conducted news audits for every General Election since 1992, and their audit for this election is out now. We talked to one of its authors, Professor Dominic Wring, about whether the public was well served by the media, whether legacy media still has a role when against social digital media, populism, media bias, media scholarship and devolution. "When we talk about people getting news from social medi...
Jul 12, 2024•36 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Dame Elan Closs Stephens was the acting chair of the BBC after the resignation of Richard Sharp in June last year until her retirement in March. She was a member of the BBC’s governing body since 2010, first serving as Member for Wales on the BBC Trust, until its dissolution in 2017, and then as the Welsh member of the BBC Board. On this week's episode we discussed what Dame Elan would like from a new Culture Secretary, her tenure as chair, impartiality, budget cuts and the decision making proce...
Jul 04, 2024•38 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Olivia O’Leary has been a television and radio broadcaster on both the BBC, ITV and RTÉ – the Irish public service broadcaster in her native Ireland. In 1985, Olivia became the first female presenter on BBC’s Newsnight. She later returned to Ireland, presenting once again ‘Today Tonight’ – RTÉ’s flagship current affairs programme. She has also presented BBC Radio 4’s ‘Between Ourselves’ and delivered a regular column on RTÉ Radio 1’s drive time. This week, we get an Irish perspective on the UK e...
Jun 27, 2024•33 min•Season 6Ep. 10
Veteran journalist Adam Boulton spent more than thirty years at Sky News, twenty-five of those as political editor. He has been host for General and US elections coverage, invigilated the first leaders’ debate in 2010 and has the distinction of having interviewed every UK Prime Minister since Sir Alec Douglas-Home. He continues to write for Sky but is also now broadcasting on Times Radio, where he co-hosts the weekend flagship politics show Sunday Morning. This week we discussed general election...
Jun 19, 2024•34 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Peter Snow is a former BBC Newsnight presenter (1980–1997), ITN Diplomatic and Defence Correspondent (1966–1979), documentary maker, and historian. Known for his iconic "swingometer" on election night, we discuss the drama of election night, the current election campaign, Newsnight, and being called a 'traitor'. “I think this election campaign is the worst I've ever seen for sort of fake bribery. Honestly, it's a disgrace the way it's going on." To support our journalism and receive a weekly blo...
Jun 12, 2024•30 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Catherine Johnson is the professor of Media and Communications at the University of Leeds, author of the book Online TV, and a member of the Department of Culture, Media and Sports College of experts. With parliament now dissolved, we discuss what happened to the Media Bill and in what form did it survive - what was left in and out? Also, we examine Ofcom’s role in regulating media and resource allocation, what a Labour government might entail for public service media, BBC Charter renewal and fu...
May 30, 2024•30 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Jane Martinson, author of ‘You May Never See Us Again: The Barclay Dynasty: A Story of Survival, Secrecy and Succession’ is the former media editor at the Guardian and now Marjorie Deane Professor of Financial Journalism at City University. In the week the general election is called we discussed the potential takeover of The Telegraph by Sir Paul Marshall and its implications for the Conservative Party, his beliefs, media impartiality, the influence that media owners wield, the dominance of righ...
May 23, 2024•32 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Matt Deegan is the co-founder of the award-winning Fun Kids, a digital radio station for families and children, which has just won the bronze award in the Radio Academy’s UK Station of the Year category. Given that the gold award went to BBC Asian Network and the silver to Talksport, this is a considerable achievement for a small independent network. Matt is also the co-founder of Folder Media and the British Podcast Awards and is one of the most respected commentators on all things audio. In th...
May 16, 2024•31 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Jamie Angus is the former director of the BBC World Service and the former editor of 'Today' and 'Newsnight' who now works in the Middle East. We discuss Ofcom's oversight of broadcasters, the consequences of previous World Service cuts, and the impact of new ones. We also explore long-term solutions to the issue of its funding, which is under review by a parliamentary committee. “I think it's clear that GB News are operating under a slightly different model to public broadcasters.” “Al Arabiya ...
May 09, 2024•33 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Stewart Purvis, former content regulator at Ofcom and former Editor of Channel 4 News and ITN Chief Executive, discusses Ofcom’s guidance on general election coverage published last week. Stewart delves into the research on which Ofcom based its guidelines, spells out what the guidance means in practice, and reflects on Ofcom as an organisation. “Ofcom was pretty much claiming that what the audience had told it justified the position it had taken. But then when you got down into the detail, it d...
May 02, 2024•32 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis took their bow from BBC Radio 4’s satirical news programme ‘The Now Show’ last Friday after 25 years. Steve Punt discusses the last programme, the development and success of this long-running radio comedy show, the impact of our changing news consumption, political bias, radio comedy’s evolution and the new podcast format and his plans for the future. “There was a little BBC drinks do afterwards. And as Hugh pointed out, it was literally just crisps. Someone had gone t...
Apr 23, 2024•34 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Max Cotton is a former BBC political reporter who has spent a year finding out if he can grow and produce 100% of his food on his smallholding near Glastonbury. We discuss his BBC Radio 4 documentary series on the experiment 'Growing Solo', as well as exploring food and farming literacy, food security and self sufficiency in the UK. "As a group of people, BBC journalists, they could tell you everything you possibly want to know about Labour education policy, and they don't know what the differen...
Apr 15, 2024•27 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Rory Cellan-Jones, former BBC Technology and Business Correspondent examines Tim Davie’s, the BBC’s Director General speech on the BBC’s future priorities. He also explores life after the BBC, discussing his, ‘Movers and Shakers’ Parkinson’s podcast, his family memoir ‘Ruskin Park’ and his forthcoming book on #SophieFromRomania - his beloved rescue dog turned internet sensation. “We are all being given a personalised experience and an experience that is personalised is not necessarily much of a ...
Mar 27, 2024•28 min•Season 5Ep. 12
In the week that Ofcom finds GB News in breach of its code five times but will face no sanction, we talk to Chris Banatvala, Ofcom’s founding Director of Standards, and Content Board member, who was responsible for drafting and enforcing its codes. He is now an independent member of the Sky News Board, Channel 4’s online independent complaint reviewer and advises broadcasters and international regulators. We discuss GB News, Ofcom, impartiality and the chairing of public bodies. “I think it’s th...
Mar 20, 2024•29 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Magnus Brooke is Group Director of Strategy, Policy and Regulation at ITV where profits are down by 60%. The digital revolution is changing broadcasting fundamentally and destroying former business models. So does ITV have a future as a Public Service Broadcaster? We also discuss the Media Bill and the added responsibility on Ofcom's shoulders - and whether it's up to the job. And the funding of ITV's smash hit 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office'. “You can't fund dramas on television now, just out of ...
Mar 15, 2024•30 min•Season 5Ep. 10
One of Britain’s finest reporters Peter Taylor, with numerous books, documentaries and awards spanning a career of over 50 years, on his latest BBC documentary 'Our Dirty War: The British State and the IRA’. We discuss the human cost of IRA informers, the role of Scappaticci codenamed “Stakeknife”, Operation Kenova and covering Northern Ireland. “The curtain is still firmly down on this dreadful period. And I think people should know about it and what the cost of it was.” To support our journali...
Mar 11, 2024•35 min•Season 5Ep. 9
One of Britain’s finest reporters Peter Taylor, with numerous books, documentaries and awards spanning a career of over 50 years, on his latest BBC documentary 'Our Dirty War: The British State and the IRA’. We discuss the human cost of IRA informers, the role of Scappaticci codenamed “Stakeknife”, Operation Kenova and covering Northern Ireland. “The curtain is still firmly down on this dreadful period. And I think people should know about it and what the cost of it was.” To listen to this podca...
Mar 05, 2024•37 sec
Baroness Kidron is one of the country's foremost drama and documentary directors. Her long list of credits includes ‘Storyville’, 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit', 'Victoria and Abdul' and 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'. She now sits as a crossbench peer and is the founder of the Five Rights Foundation. For the past five years, she has been one of the most instrumental figures in ensuring better protection for children through the passage of measures such as the Online Safety Bill. On this ...
Mar 04, 2024•28 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Baroness Kidron is one of the country's foremost drama and documentary directors. Her long list of credits includes ‘Storyville’, 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit', 'Victoria and Abdul' and 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'. She now sits as a crossbench peer and is the founder of the Five Rights Foundation. For the past five years, she has been one of the most instrumental figures in ensuring better protection for children through the passage of measures such as the Online Safety Bill. On this ...
Feb 29, 2024•48 sec
Anna McNamee, an award-winning Canadian journalist and writer with a background in BBC radio, is the Executive Director of the Sandford St Martin Trust, dedicated to promoting excellence in religious broadcasting. We discuss the new Media Bill, the importance of religious literacy, the decline in programming on religion and ethics, commissioning practices, and the critical need to ensure public access to broadcasting. “This is legislation, which is made for commercial broadcasters, it has commer...
Feb 26, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 7
