Top Gear's future, The Sun's 'Whistleblower Charter', Headline-Writing - podcast episode cover

Top Gear's future, The Sun's 'Whistleblower Charter', Headline-Writing

Apr 29, 201529 min
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Episode description

Kim Shillinglaw, Controller of BBC 2 and BBC 4, is the BBC executive tasked with securing the future of Top Gear. In her first interview for The Media Show, Steve Hewlett asks her how she will save the network's 'baby', now that Jeremy Clarkson and executive producer Andy Wilman have left, and whether Hammond and May will be appearing next season. He also asks her about the remit of the channel, and how to capture a younger audience.

Under the banner of 'A Whistleblower's Charter,' The Sun has created a safe space online to allow whistleblowers to share stories with journalists without fear of retribution. Using encryption software Tor, Sun Secure Drop is aimed at those who might otherwise be reluctant to leak information. Dominic Ponsford, Editor of Press Gazette, joins Steve to discuss what the charter might mean for newsgathering, at a time when powers like RIPA are being used to access journalists' phone records.

In the golden age of headline writing, the purpose of a title writ large was to get a paper noticed on a newsstand, rather than in a newsfeed. For those in the business of reporting and selling news, that platform has been replaced several times over by desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets and now wearable technology. Steve talks to John Perry of The Sun about what works on the front page, and considers the ever evolving digital consumption of news with Emily Bell, director of Tow Centre for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, and Buzz Feed UK editor Luke Lewis.

Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

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