As more celebrities threaten to sue the News of the World over alleged phone hacking, Steve Hewlett hears about the latest developments in the case. Guardian columnist Roy Greenslade explains how details that have emerged in recent weeks throw light on the extent of the problem and discusses what the revelations mean for the News of the World. The Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has outlined his plans for the future of local television in a speech at the Oxford Media Convention. Steve Hewlett talk...
Jan 19, 2011•28 min
Steve Hewlett presents a topical programme about the fast-changing media world. As former presenter Miriam O'Reilly celebrates winning an ageism case against the BBC, we ask whether this ruling will impact on who programme executives choose to be their on-air talent. A recent EastEnders storyline on sudden infant death syndrome has prompted a record number of complaints leading producers to announce they will cut the story short. Former channel controller Lorraine Heggessey and scriptwriter Simo...
Jan 12, 2011•28 min
Facebook starts 2011 on a high as the company has been valued at $50bn after new investment. But can Facebook be worth that much? Benjamin Cohen, Technology Editor for Channel 4 News and Matthew Horsman, founder of Medatique, discuss what the world's biggest social network is really worth. The attorney general issued a warning to editors last week after some newspapers and broadcasters reported personal details about Chris Jefferies, the man arrested in connection to the murder of Joanna Yeates....
Jan 05, 2011•28 min
2010 was the year when the media became the story. From coverage of politics under the coalition government to the drive to make journalism pay its way and the impact of the WikiLeaks revelations, stories about the media look set to continue to make headlines in 2011. Steve Hewlett is joined by Times columnist and former BBC executive David Aaronovitch, Anne McElvoy who is former executive editor of the London Evening Standard and soon to write for The Economist and Peter Bazalgette, formerly of...
Dec 29, 2010•28 min
As revelations about Vince Cable's thoughts on Murdoch owned News Corp's bid for BSkyB come to light, Steve Hewlett looks at The Telegraph's role in reporting the story and asks where this leaves News Corp's bid. It's nearly thirty years since Rupert Murdoch bought The Times. Through freedom of information requests, the BBC has gained an insight into how the deal was done. Graham Stewart, author of The History of The Times: The Murdoch Years and Ben Fenton, Media Correspondent for the Financial ...
Dec 22, 2010•28 min
Yesterday the BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons announced the BBC's strategy review, saying that it couldn't rule out the closure of some services. Steve Hewlett talks to Michael Lyons about where the BBC cuts are likely to fall and his response to the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt's recent claims that BBC political reporting has been out of touch with the national mood. Banker Nicholas Shott has been looking into the viability of US style local television news channels for the UK. In his rep...
Dec 15, 2010•28 min
Last week, Andrew Jennings drew praise and criticism for his Panorama report on FIFA. This week, in his first broadcast interview after the programme, he calls UK sports news journalists "the worst in the world" for not trying to beat him to his story. Mihir Bose, former BBC sports editor and Ashling O'Connor of The Times respond to his claim and discuss the challenges of covering sport off the pitch. On Monday, Jeremy Hunt announced further funding to help bring superfast broadband to every com...
Dec 08, 2010•28 min
Michael Grade was chairman of the BBC and then ITV and is now heading to the House of Lords. Last week, he suggested that Channel 4 should drop its adverts and that licence fee payers should take over its funding. As a new Conservative peer, what changes would he try to bring about in the TV industry? With traditional journalism, many of this week's stories from Wikileaks could have commanded their own headlines and front page coverage for days. How far does the volume of stories work affect the...
Dec 01, 2010•28 min
Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive officer of WPP Group and one of the biggest names in advertising, talks to Steve Hewlett about Rupert Murdoch's view of the media, the BBC licence fee agreement and advertising's chances of recovering from the economic downturn. Rupert Murdoch is reportedly set to launch a new US newspaper, called The Daily, which will only be available to read on ipads. New York media commentator Emily Bell and FT journalist Tim Bradshaw discuss whether an ipad-only paper...
Nov 24, 2010•28 min
Tom Bradby tells Steve how he secured the interview with Prince William and Kate Middleton yesterday for ITV and whether there were any ground rules. Simon Kelner of the Independent, meanwhile, explains why he chose to avoid the royal engagement story on his front page, when all the main broadsheets and tabloids have so much coverage....and so does the Independent's digested read, the "i". Lorraine Heggessey is a former controller of BBC1 and, until this year, chief executive of Talkback Thames....
Nov 17, 2010•28 min
This week the BBC Trust, while broadly praising BBC 4, has said the channel needs to make a bigger impact on the majority of viewers who do not watch it. The trust made similar comments about 6 Music earlier this year, before the BBC announced plans to close that radio station. Does controller Richard Klein have any fears for BBC 4's future? There are claims that media reports of allegations of corruption at Fifa may harm England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. One suggestion is that journalis...
Nov 10, 2010•28 min
ITV's chairman Archie Norman has said ITV's caught up in a ratings rat race, that the demand for a mass audience "drives us to the lowest common denominator every time." At the same time, Daybreak with Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley has lost enough of the mass audience to raise concerns about the programme's future. Is there really anything wrong with ITV's schedules and what, if anything, needs to be done to fix them? Times editor James Harding talks to Steve about the number of people pa...
Nov 03, 2010•28 min
Conrad Black is on bail in the USA while he appeals against his convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice. If he succeeds, he may be free to return to the UK sooner than expected. Talking to Steve Hewlett by phone from America, Lord Black explains why he might return to newspapers and shares his thoughts on his former rival Rupert Murdoch and on the role of a newspaper proprietor. Former Guardian editor Peter Preston offers his prediction of what Conrad Black will do on his return. The In...
Oct 27, 2010•28 min
After the chancellor George Osborne's announcement on the funding of the BBC, Steve Hewlett asks BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons if this really is a good deal for an independent BBC or, as some claim, the day the BBC became a state broadcaster. Media commentator Dan Sabbagh looks at how the deal was put together and early signs that parts are already unravelling. Danny Cohen is the new controller of BBC1. Former controller Lorraine Heggessey looks at the challenges he faces. Can viewers exp...
Oct 20, 2010•28 min
There has been a major outbreak of collective letter writing in media land. First the one to Vince Cable about Rupert Murdoch's plan to buy the 60% of Sky he does not own and what the writers say is a serious threat to media plurality. But should the BBC have signed it? Ben Fenton broke the story of the letter for the Financial Times and he is joined by Phil Harding, former editor of R4's Today programme. And then there is a second letter, from newspaper editors to the Financial Services Authori...
Oct 13, 2010•28 min
Last week the Radio Times accidentally released the names of the final twelve X Factor contestants before the programmes were broadcast, so confirming the names that had been circulating on the internet since early September. It was reported that Simon Cowell was "very, very disappointed" by the mistake but it is unlikely he would have been disappointed with the huge viewing figures that followed. How far can broadcasters control the leaks and rumours, to boost interest while not spoiling viewer...
Oct 06, 2010•28 min
Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State at the DCMS, has made the encouragement of local TV a flagship policy and has now given more details of how this might work. Steve gets reaction from Barry Clack of Witney TV, which was highlighted in Jeremy Hunt's speech yesterday and from Helen Philpot who runs Lincolnshire's Channel Seven and who has been talking to government advisers. Mark Oliver of analysts Oliver and Ohlbaum gives his view on the likelihood of the plans succeeding. Both Virgin and Sky a...
Sep 29, 2010•28 min
A story has leaked this morning that the BBC is to allow the National Audit Office to look at its accounts - an idea proposed by the three main parties before the election. An announcement is expected from Don Foster at the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool. When the idea was first raised, there were concerns that government inspection of the BBC books could compromise its independence. Media commentator Dan Sabbagh of Beehive City looks at the potential points of conflict. In Prospect magazine to...
Sep 22, 2010•28 min
Rupert Murdoch's plans to buy out BSkyB have been questioned this week, with the leak of a report calling for Business Secretary Vince Cable to call in any deal for review. This would be under a law designed "to ensure the existence of a range of media voices, safeguarding the vibrancy of democratic debate". So should any takeover be subject to scrutiny? That is the discussion between TV executive David Elstein, former head of programming at BSkyB and Will Hutton, columnist and former editor of ...
Sep 15, 2010•28 min
Paul Staines, aka Gudio Fawkes, is the political blogger behind the story of William Hague and his special advisor. Critics describe him as an anti-journalist, un-accountable and a peddler of political soft porn. How does he respond? With a Papal visit to the UK imminent, issues like the ordination of women, and arguments about whether to build a Mosque at Ground Zero in New York, religion is never far from the headlines. But, can a secular media cover events in the world of religion effectively...
Sep 08, 2010•28 min
When Mark Thompson spoke of "radical change" at the BBC and insisted that he was "up for the fight," in his speech at the Edinburgh TV festival, exactly what did he mean? Steve Hewlett speaks to the BBC's Creative Director Alan Yentob. In that same speech, the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, the BBC's Director General also said that "it's time for Sky to pull its weight" - Sky's Director of Public Affairs David Wheeldon responds. The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson has written a blog headlined...
Sep 01, 2010•28 min
