The Media Show

The BBC has admitted to overpaying some male journalists compared to their female colleagues. How will it fix the problem and is it endemic in the media?Amol Rajan is joined by Peter Salmon, Endemol Shine's Chief Creative Officer, Jonathan Munro, BBC Head of Newsgathering, Professor Lis Howell of City University, Steve Anderson, former ITV controller of News and Current Affairs and Jane Martinson, former head of media at The Guardian.An extended interview with Peter Salmon about his career is included in the podcast edition of this programme.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Rupert Murdoch has proposed that Facebook pay a "carriage fee" to publishers in exchange for distributing their news articles. Amol Rajan is joined by the former Culture Minister John Whittingdale, Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 News, Eleanor Mills of The Sunday Times, Mark Di Stefano of BuzzFeed, and Brian Fung of the Washington Post.The podcast version of this programme contains an extended interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Facebook has announced it will change how its news feed works. Posts from friends and family will take priority over content from media companies. Adweek has called it "the digital equivalent of a nuclear bomb on the media industry". Andrea Catherwood is joined by Niall McGarry founder of JOE Media and Piers North, Trinity Mirror's Head of Digital.Also in the programme, Emma Scott, CEO of Beano Studios on 80 years of The Beano, and Professor Brian Cathcart, founder of Hacked Off and Gary Shipton, Deputy Editor in Chief at Johnston Press discuss calls for further press regulation.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant producer: Eleanor Kifvel.

What can journalism learn from Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff's blockbuster account of life inside President Trump's White House? How does a reporter persuade the rich and powerful to let them into their world - and when they've got what they wanted, is it ever OK to burn their sources on the way out? Also, why the tech giants are now taking the digital detox trend very seriously.Andrea Catherwood is joined by Polly Curtis, HuffPost UK editor in chief, Maija Palmer, social media journalist at The Financial Times, Camilla Long of The Sunday Times, Patrick Forbes, documentary maker, and lawyer and writer Arwa Mahdawi.Producer: Richard Hooper.

Christmas has traditionally been a big event for broadcasters. But this year, how did British TV channels perform in the age of Netflix and Amazon? Also in the programme, a look-ahead to some of the big media stories coming up in 2018 including the government's decision on moving Channel 4.Julian Worricker is joined by Justin Sampson, Chief Executive of BARB, Clare Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, Nick North, BBC Director of Audiences, Cat Lewis, CEO of Nine Lives Media, and John Fairley, former managing director of Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television.Presenter: Julian Worricker Producer: Richard Hooper and Paul WatersPicture shows Brendan O'Carroll in Mrs Brown's Boys, one of Christmas Day's most watched shows.

British TV producers are responsible for some of the world's most popular shows. What is the secret to creating a hit format? Amol Rajan gets advice from Richard Osman, creative director of Endemol UK, Karen Smith, co-devisor of Strictly Come Dancing and Paul Smith who was part of the team behind Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Robin Hilton is a partner at the law firm Sheridans and John McVay is Chief Executive of Pact.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant producer: Eleanor KifvelPicture shows Richard Osman and Amol Rajan.

Robert Peston found fame for his string of scoops during the financial crisis of 2007. In his new book WTF he admits to how he voted in the EU referendum but insists his impartiality as ITV Political Editor has not been compromised.The BBC has announced substantial changes to the way it covers religion and says it should do more to reflect non-Christian life. Stephen Pollard is editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Aaqil Ahmed is the former head of religion at the BBC, Nisha Parti is producer of The Boy with the Topknot, and Justin Brierley presents on Premier Christian Radio.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper

Walt Disney is rumoured to be finalising a $60bn takeover of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox. Brian Wieser is an analyst for Pivotal Research Group and Matthew Garrahan is the FT's global media editor.The publicist Max Clifford has died - what is left of the culture of celebrity journalism that he did so much to create? Rosie Nixon is editor in chief of HELLO! and Camilla Wright is the co-founder and editor of Popbitch.Buzzfeed has announced job cuts in the UK. James Ball was a special correspondent for Buzzfeed.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief of Guardian News and Media, discusses the newspaper's financial and digital future with Media Show presenter Amol Rajan.Also - we lift the lid on the intimate and sometimes fraught relationship between political party directors of communication and spin doctors on the one hand, and political programmes and broadcasters on the other. Each side needs the other, but what happens when their interests do not coincide? We gain an insight into the rows, manipulation and behind-the-scenes deals from three insiders: Sue Inglish, the former head of political programmes for BBC News Tom Baldwin, who was director of communications for then Labour leader Ed Miliband Ben de Pear, editor of Channel 4 NewsPresenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Paul Waters.

Prince Harry is getting married and newspapers have devoted dozens of pages to the story. But do British journalists abandon their principles when it comes to the Monarchy? Charles Anson was the Queen's press secretary, Emily Andrews is Royal correspondent for The Sun, Tim Ewart was ITN's Royal Editor and Tim Montgomerie is the founder of UnHerd.The Financial Times is now reaching a record number of paying subscribers. FT editor Lionel Barber explains his strategy.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper

Paperchase has apologised for a promotion offered in the Daily Mail. The stationery retailer backtracked after being targeted on social media by campaigners. Stop Funding Hate believes that an advertising boycott can change the editorial stance of newspapers they disagree with. Amol Rajan is joined by Owen Jones, Johnny Hornby, founder of The&Partnership, Christian May, editor of the newspaper City AM, and Jane Martinson of The Guardian.Donald Trelford was the editor of The Observer from 1975 to 1993. His new autobiography is called Shouting In The Street.Mashable has reportedly been sold for $50m, just a fifth of how much it was valued at last year. Buzzfeed and Vice are also expected to miss revenue targets for the year. As advertisers now concentrate their spending on Google and Facebook, do some digital publishers have an unsustainable business model? Will consolidation in the industry mean reduced choice for consumers?Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Vladimir Putin has been accused by the UK government of weaponising information to sow discord in the West. Amol Rajan is joined by Dmitry Linnik, former London bureau chief of Voice of Russia, James Nixey, head of Russia programme at Chatham House and Carole Cadwalladr of The Guardian.Jeremy Thompson was one of Sky News' biggest stars until his retirement last year. Now he's written his memoir, Breaking News.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

The Paradise Papers are 13.4 million leaked financial documents. A German newspaper got hold of them and then farmed out the legwork to a global network of almost 100 publishers to investigate. Is scoop by collective the future for journalism? Gerard Ryle is the director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and James Oliver is a producer for BBC Panorama. George Trefgarne is a former Economics Editor at The Daily Telegraph and now runs a financial PR company.A group of female journalists have set up The Second Source in response to the problem of sexual harassment in the media industry. Ros Urwin is a co-founder and also a senior feature writer at The Evening Standard.IMPRESS is the UK's official press regulator and Jonathan Heawood is its chief executive.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Netflix have suspended filming of their hit TV series House of Cards. The decision follows allegations now engulfing the show's lead actor Kevin Spacey. Marisa Carrol is BuzzFeed's deputy national editor. Matthew Garrahan is the FT's global media editor.Refinery29 is a digital publisher targeting millennial women and has been valued at $500m. Kate Ward is the executive responsible for Refinery29's expansion into Europe.If the allegations of impropriety by members of parliament now filling the front pages really were an open secret, did Westminster's journalists turn a blind eye? How effective is the Lobby at holding power to account? Heather Brooke was the investigative reporter who exposed the expenses scandal, Paul Staines blogs as Guido Fawkes, and Michael White is The Guardian's former political editor.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Richard Hooper.

Johnston Press is one of the UK's largest publishers, whose titles include The Scotsman, Yorkshire Post and the i. Chief executive Ashley Highfield discusses his strategy with Amol Rajan.As part of what it calls an experiment, Facebook has changed what type of story appears in the News Feed for some of its users. Publishers have complained that the only way of now reaching users' main feed is by paying for the privilege. Filip Struharik is an editor at the Slovakian publication Dennik N and Lynsey Barber is City A.M.'s tech editor.For the first time the ASA has upheld a complaint against an advert that appeared on Snapchat. The ruling comes at a difficult time for Snap with the company struggling to sell its much hyped smart Spectacles and missing advertising targets. What's the future for the company once valued at $25bn? Tim Armoo is CEO of Fanbytes and Lucy Rohr is The Economist's Snapchat editor.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated by a car bomb this week. She was renowned for challenging corruption on the island. We hear about her work and the risks faced by investigative journalists in Malta and elsewhere - and the impact this attack may have on other reporters. We hear from people who knew Daphne - Frederik Obermaier of the worldwide Panama Papers investigation into corruption and Saviour Balzan of Malta Today.Which? magazine is celebrating 60 years of consumer journalism, but how relevant is it today, as free-to-access reviews by ordinary consumers have become such a feature of online shopping? Richard Headland, Editor in Chief of Which? and Katie Morley, the Telegraph's Consumer Affairs Editor, both join us.Crimewatch axed: Did you see it? Do you know someone who has an axe and has been behaving suspiciously? After 33 years, the BBC's long-running crimebusting evening TV series is no more, so how are police communicating and engaging with the public in the post-Crimewatch era. Nick Cloke of Dorset Police tells us.Tinder journalism: The use of online dating sites like Tinder to gather information for journalistic purposes. We hear from pioneering Tinder journalist Kevin McElwee on the ethics of engineering online encounters when you're really only after one thing - and it's not a date.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Paul Waters.

The Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein stands accused of years of sexual misconduct. Weinstein denies all allegations of non-consensual sex. But could he have been exposed earlier? Was the media complicit in protecting him? Gabriel Sherman is a Vanity Fair special correspondent, Meirion Jones is from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Alan Collins is a partner at the law firm Hugh James.A local TV channel for every city was the grand plan of the former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. Four years since the first of them came on air, is anyone watching? Jamie Conway is the CEO of Made Television and media analyst Ray Snoddy is a long term follower of the project.Shortlist is the magazine handed out for no charge in city centres and railway stations up and down the country. It was launched 10 years ago this month and has expanded into a range of other titles. Ella Dolphin is CEO of Shortlist Media.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

Clare Balding has denied claims that she demanded approval of a Saga Magazine interview.

In the inaugural Steve Hewlett Lecture at the Royal Television Society, Nick Robinson argues how the BBC should respond to the popularity of hyper-partisan news sources. Anoosh Chakelian is a senior writer at the New Statesman and Alex Wickham blogs as Media Guido.Twitter has announced that it is increasing the number of characters allowed in a Tweet. It used to be 140 - in line with old fashioned SMS text messages - but now it is going to experiment with 280 characters. Piers Morgan thinks it is a bad move whilst technology journalist Kate Bevan explains the business rationale.BT Sport has become a serious rival to Sky in the market for live sport. Amol visits its giant studio in East London and meets Simon Green, Head of BT Sport.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Amy Irvine.

Theresa May has called for tech firms to do more to tackle online extremism. Meanwhile in Germany new legislation is due to come into force next month that will mean the likes of Google and Facebook facing huge fines of up to 50m euros if they fail to remove extremist content. Markus Beckedahl is a prominent free speech campaigner and founder of the Netzpolitik blog.Sam Baker edited some of Britain's biggest magazines - Just Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and Red - but then in 2015 jumped ship. She co-founded The Pool, an entirely digital publication, which today is experiencing steady growth.The incident at Parsons Green prompted accusations that some journalists were behaving like "vultures". Members of the public who had posted photos and video from the scene soon found themselves swamped with requests from journalists. Steve Jones is the Press Association's Social Media Editor and Kaya Burgess is a reporter at The Times.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

How does the UK retain its position as one of the world's leading producers of TV? A special edition of The Media Show recorded at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention. Amol Rajan is joined by Sophie Turner Laing, CEO of Endemol Shine, Wayne Garvie, Chief Creative Officer, International Production at Sony Pictures, Theresa Wise, RTS Chief Executive and Katherine Rushton, Media and Technology Editor at the Daily Mail.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Tim Allen.

Coleen Rooney has appealed for photographers to stop following her in the wake of her husband's drink driving arrest. George Bamby, a paparazzi photographer and Susan Aslan, partner at ACK Media Law discuss the issues.Classic FM celebrates 25 years on air this week. Sam Jackson, the network's managing editor, explains its appeal.BBC Panorama has broadcast disturbing footage from inside the Brook House Immigration Removal Centre at Gatwick Airport. Callum Tulley is the whistleblower who filmed it and Joe Plomin is the Panorama producer.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Tim Allen.

As tensions continue to mount on the Korean peninsula, is now the right time for the BBC to be launching a new radio service aimed at North Koreans? Jamie Angus is Deputy Director of the BBC World Service Group, Dr Leslie Vinjamuri is Director of the Centre on Conflict, Rights and Justice at SOAS and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House and Tania Branigan is The Guardian's foreign leader writer.Oliver Cummins Hylton is the winner of the first Steve Hewlett Bursary, an initiative founded in Steve's memory by The Royal Television Society, The Media Society and his friends and family.There is speculation that Amazon could be preparing a bid for Premier League broadcast rights. But seasoned media analyst Mathew Horsman of Mediatique thinks the scenario is highly unlikely.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant producer: Tim Allen.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, claims that Facebook has "dire controls" over who can buy adverts and that as a consequence his brand is regularly used as bait by scam firms. Facebook says that misleading ads are strictly prohibited from its platform and is constantly working to detect them.Evolve Politics has applied to join the lobby of Westminster journalists. Could the admission of the "hyper partisan" site shake up political reporting? Matt Turner is senior editor at Evolve Politics, Tom Newton Dunn is political editor of The Sun, and Carole Walker is a former BBC lobby correspondentWill Young, the singer and actor, has launched a podcast with his friend Chris Sweeney. Homo Sapiens is described as "like Woman's Hour but for LGBTQ+ people".Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant producer: Tim Allen.

If you're a company or a brand who wants to reach millions of people, you can go to the likes of Google and Facebook and they'll do it for you. So what's the point of a media agency these days? For decades, big brands have been paying these firms huge sums to place them in all the right places. Josh Krichefski is CEO of the UK's largest, MediaCom, with clients such as Sky, DFS, and Tesco.As Test Match Special celebrates 60 years on air, The Media Show goes behind the scenes at one of the world's longest running radio programmes. Amol meets TMS producer Adam Mountford, engineer Mike Page, and a host of much-loved voices.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper.

John Malone has been called the "swamp alligator", the "cable cowboy" and "Darth Vader". He's worth several billion dollars and he's one of the few people to put one over Rupert Murdoch. But you've probably never heard of him. Well, John Malone is buying up more and more of UK television. So it's time we got to know him better. Matthew Garrahan is the global media editor of the Financial Times and has met the media mogul. He tells us what John Malone is up to.National newspaper online sites are being accused of copying and rewriting each other's work - as process known as "ripping" - rather than coming up with original stories. We hear from Dominic Ponsford, editor of the Press Gazette, freelance journalist Marie Le Conte and Christian Broughton, editor of the Independent nwespaper.Social media platforms, especially Facebook and YouTube, are criticised for distributing content deemed to be offensive. Whether it's images of violence or bullying, or examples of hate speech or extremist propaganda, the process of moderating what's acceptable really matters. There's evidence that it's getting harder to keep up with the sheer volume of material. Some members of Youtube's Trusted Flagger programme - volunteers who monitor content on the video-sharing website - say there is a large backlog of complaints, specifically about child protection. So how are these sites moderated? And who does it? We hear from two experts who have closely studied the field and spoken to online moderators - Tarleton Gillespie, a principal researcher in this area at Microsoft Research New England, and Sarah Roberts assistant professor with the Department of Information Studies at the University of California.Presenter: Julian Worricker Producer: Paul Waters.

Johnston Press has announced that some journalists working on its weekly Scottish titles are going to be made redundant. Paul Holleran is the NUJ's organiser in Scotland. Chris Williams is the Telegraph's Chief Business Correspondent.Mike Barton, chief constable of Durham Constabulary, says that the likes of Facebook and Google are not doing enough to stop abusive content and should spend more of their "eye watering profits" on policing their platforms.Sir Alan Moses has been reappointed as Chairman of IPSO, the main regulator for newspapers and magazines. Critics say that the organisation is not independent of the industry and Sir Alan tells Amol Rajan that further changes to IPSO's regulations may be needed.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

RT, the news network funded by the Russian government, says it provides an alternative to the mainstream media. Critics say that it is Kremlin propaganda. Amol Rajan is given exclusive access to RT's London office and meets Nikolay Bogachihin, head of RT UK.The New European was launched shortly after the EU referendum, aimed at the 48% who voted Remain. It was intended only to be a "pop-up" newspaper but this week publishes its 52nd edition. Matt Kelly is Editor of The New European.Journalists who have been witness to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean have suffered "moral injury", says a new report on their mental health. One of its authors is Hannah Storm, Director of the International News Safety Institute. Is the British media objective when reporting on immigration? James Delingpole is executive editor of Breitbart London.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant producer: Helen FitzhenryPhoto shows Amol and Nikolay Bogachihin in the London studio of RT.

Saudi Arabia and her allies have demanded that Qatar shuts down a number of media outlets as a condition of ending the crisis in the region. David Hearst is editor in chief of Middle East Eye. Crispin Blunt MP is Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.The Atlantic is one of America's most hallowed publications and has now announced an international expansion. James Fallows is Europe Editor of The Atlantic.Mumsnet, the online parenting forum, has moved into TV and is hosting a comedy called Bad Mother. Justine Roberts is CEO of Mumsnet. Susie Gilmour is the creator of Bad Mother.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

Have Britain's newspapers lost their influence on British politics? Is the unexpected general election result evidence that the key battleground was not the front pages but social media, where a new breed of publisher outgunned traditional newspapers? Amol Rajan is joined by:Jack Peat, The London Economic Matt Turner, Evolve Politics Stephen Glover, Daily Mail Aaron Bastani, Novara Media Michael Heaver, Westmonster Eve Pollard, journalist and former tabloid editor David Yelland, former editor of The SunPresenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

CNN has been accused of staging a Muslim protest after the London Bridge attack. Tony Maddox, head of CNN International, tells Amol Rajan that the claims are "complete nonsense".Is Virtual Reality and 360 video the future of news reporting? Zillah Watson is the BBC Research and Development Editor and Jeremy Bowen is the BBC Middle East Editor.Should online advertisers be taking greater precautions to ensure that they do not appear next to hate speech or fake news? Johnny Hornby, Founder of The&Partnership, explains why Vodafone has now adopted a white-list approach to the problem.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

Has social media reaction changed how journalists conduct political interviews? Amol Rajan is joined by Jon Snow of Channel 4 News and James O'Brien of LBC.The decline in journalists attending court is now a threat to public trust in the judicial system according to the Bar Council. Andrew Langdon QC, Chair of the Bar Council, Andy Martin, editor of the Bournemouth Echo and Guy Toyn of Court News UK discuss.Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

The Information Commissioner has announced she is opening a formal investigation into the use of data analytics for political purposes. Elizabeth Denham says there needs to be greater transparency around how personal data is used.Michael Schmidt is the New York Times reporter behind what some in Washington are calling the scoop of the year. He tells Amol Rajan how he got it.Users of BBC iPlayer will soon have to register and sign-in before using the service. Andrew Scott is Launch Director of the MyBBC and Toby Syfret is from Enders Analysis.Presenter: Amol Rajan Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

In the latest crackdown on the media, the Turkish government has blocked access to Wikipedia citing a law that allows it to ban websites for the protection of the public. Andrea Catherwood is joined by Yaman Akdeniz, a lawyer challenging the Wikipedia ban and by Can Dündar, a Turkish journalist now in exile in Berlin.Reuters has launched a new initiative called Backstory as part of a plan to bolster trust in its journalism. Stephen Adler is Reuters Editor-in-Chief.Fix Radio is a new digital station aimed exclusively at builders and tradespeople. Is it viable? Louis Timpany is Fix Radio CEO, Mark Mulligan is Managing Director of MIDiA Research, and Andy Stevens runs Eclipse Property Solutions.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Richard Hooper Assistant Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.

The announcement of a snap general election came as a shock to almost everyone. How will broadcasters and publishers cover the event at such short notice? Andrea Catherwood is joined by Jonathan Munro, BBC's Head of Newsgathering, David Wilding, Director of Planning at Twitter in the UK, and Ayesha Hazarika, former special advisor to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband.Le Monde is fighting back against a tide of fake news in France by sending its journalists into schools to teach children how to question what they read on social media. Alexandre Pouchard is one of the Le Monde journalists.The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has published proposals about moving Channel 4 out of London. Dan Brook is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Channel 4. David Smith is Managing Director at Glasgow based TV production company Matchlight and Claire Poyser is Chief Executive of Lime Pictures based in Liverpool.Producer: Richard Hooper.

Sean Spicer, Press Secretary for Donald Trump, has been forced to apologise after trying to compare President Assad with Hitler. Sir Craig Oliver, who was Director of Communications for David Cameron and Sewell Chan, International News Editor at the New York Times discuss what happens when the spokesperson becomes the story.Cleveland Police have apologised again for accessing the mobile phone records of journalists. Graeme Hetherington, Chief Reporter at The Northern Echo and Tom Wilkinson of the Press Association reveal what happened to them.Brian Reed talks about his hit podcast S-Town. Ellie Gibson, creator of the Scummy Mummies podcast and Caroline Crampton, host of the New Statesman's SRSLY show, discuss the UK podcast industry.Producer: Richard Hooper.

Ofcom has taken over regulation of the BBC and has published proposals as to how the corporation's TV and radio channels should be distinct from the commercial sector. Mark Damazer, is a former Controller of Radio 4 and now Master of St Peter's College in Oxford. Andrea Catherwood asks him how distinctiveness should be defined. Bruno Brookes, Chief Executive of Immedia and Matt Deegan of Folder Media discuss what Ofcom's proposals might mean for Radio 2 which is now facing a quota for the amount of news broadcast at peak-time.Cricket's TV rights are due for auction and the ECB is facing calls to ensure that a free-to-air channel wins some of the coverage. Simon Hughes, editor of The Cricketer Magazine and former test cricketer Allan Lamb discuss whether Sky's monopoly has been good for the game.Producer: Richard Hooper.

Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

Nicholas Coleridge has been Managing Director of Conde Nast UK and President of Conde Nast International for the last 25 years. They publish well over a hundred titles from Vogue to Vanity Fair, Tatler to Wired. Andrea asks him about his journalism, the resilience of glossy magazines and picking the right editor. More than 70 MPs have written to the BBC with concerns about "pre-referendum pessimism" and an unwillingness to "accept new facts". Tony Hall says that impartiality has always been the cornerstone of BBC News and that "it is more important than ever that the BBCs journalism is independent of political influence". Former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale didn't sign the letter, but thinks there are problems and joins us to discuss them. And, George Osborne is the new editor of the Evening Standard, the London newspaper with a greater circulation than many national dailies. But what of the man who appointed him, Evgeny Lebedev? To discuss his decision and rationale behind it are Dominic Ponsford of the Press Gazette and John Lloyd, co-founder of the Reuters institute for the study of Journalism and former Moscow Bureau chief for the Financial Times.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Food writer Jack Munroe has won damages in a libel action against columnist and radio host Katie Hopkins. Andrea Catherwood asks Katie Hopkins about whether she thinks the bar for libel on twitter should be any different to traditional media. And we hear from media lawyer Mark Stephens about what the case means. Channel 4's Chief Executive David Abraham is stepping down, we assess his time there and who might replace him with Channel 4 historian and commentator Maggie Brown.And,The Daily Mail won in the Newspaper of the Year category at the Society of Editor's 2016 Press Awards. Ian Murray, board member of the Society of Editors explains what criteria the judges use.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray wrote an article in the Sunday Times questioning the claim of transgender women to be real women. The article sparked controversy and debate, but also claims that Jenni Murray had breached the BBC's impartiality guidelines. Joining Andrea to discuss the fallout from the article are Eleanor Mills, Editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, Alison Hastings, former Chair of the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee and Stewart Purvis formely of ITN and OFCOM, now a Channel 4 board director.A new archive will tell the story of the BBC directly through the voices of the people who worked there. The BBC and the University of Sussex are creating a digital catalogue of hundreds of audio and video interview with former BBC staff. Professor David Hendy talks about what they've found. Next week the Culture Secretary looks set to refer 20th Century Fox's proposed 11.7 million pound takeover of SKY to the regulators. Karen Bradley has said that she is minded to ask OFCOM to examine the bid on two grounds of a threat to media plurality and whether Fox is committed to the required editorial standards. Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis joins us to assess the prospects for the biggest media deal of the year and how it might change the media landscape in this country.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Damian Collins MP, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, tells us about his potential "alternative path" for press regulation. We hear from Matt Tee, the chief executive of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), whether it's a path that IPSO can walk. And from Hugh Tomlinson QC from the campaigning group Hacked Off as to whether IPSO can ever play a credible regulation role.Also - President Trump and his White House press secretary Sean Spicer have been embroiled in a very public adversarial relationship with the media. But how much does it matter? We hear from B Jay Cooper, who did Sean Spicer's job under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Snr.And - ITV has once again pushed its 10pm news to a later slot to make space for a new ratings-grabber, The Nightly Show, to take on the BBC's News at Ten. But ratings have not been good. We look at what's going wrong, what could change and what ITV's strategy might be, with TV critic Kevin O'Sullivan and TV presenter and executive Richard Osman.Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Paul Waters.

Andrea Catherwood presents a celebration of the work of Steve Hewlett, the founding presenter of The Media Show, Steve Hewlett. She is joined by Andrew Neil, presenter of The Daily Politics and former editor of The Sunday Times; the investigative reporter, Peter Taylor; Roger Bolton, former BBC editor and Radio 4 presenter; BBC Trustee and former controller of Editorial Policy, Richard Ayre; and, media commentator Maggie Brown. Producer: Ruth Watts.

The Law Commission has opened consultations on proposals to update the Official Secrets Act - something it says is necessary in the light of new technology and the internet. But civil society groups say they fear the suggested changes could deter whistleblowers from exposing wrongdoing, make it more difficult for journalists to do their jobs and undermine the transparency that keeps democracy healthy. We hear from former MP Rupert Allason who writes histories of the intelligence services under the name Nigel West. And from Bella Sankey, director of policy for the human rights organisation Liberty.Also - magazines that champion long form journalism are increasing their circulation, despite the long term decline in revenue hitting other print publications. We hear from Stig Abell, the new editor of the Times Literary Supplement, why he thinks the likes of his magazine and others like Private Eye, the Spectator, London Review of Books and the New Statesman are bucking the trend.And - we dip into the row over Bauer Radio's leaked style guide. These are the rules that radio presenters have to follow while speaking on air. They've been criticised as far too restrictive and described as "soulless" and "sucking the joy out of radio". But what's the science and psychology behind them, and do they make more sense than their critics allow? We hear from Talk Radio presenter Iain Lee and radio consultant Matt Deegan of Folder Media.Presenter: Julian Worricker Producer: Paul Waters.

We look at what David Beckham's coverage this week tells us about PR, newspapers and reputation management. Andrea Catherwood speaks to Sara Mansooria, a media barrister at Matrix Chambers and to Denise Palmer Davies, a Director at Borne Media. A year ago the Guardian launched a three year plan to put itself on a firm financial footing - so how's it doing? And in an age of Brexit, May and Trump, how is the liberal title building its brand? We hear from Douglas McCabe, CEO and Director of Publishing and Tech at Enders Analysis and Dominic Ponsford, Editor of Press Gazette. And we look at Twitter's plans to curb abuse with Nick Thomas, Practice Leader for Digital Media at OvumProducer: Ruth Watts.

Sarah Sands, the newly appointed editor of Today talks about her plans for the flagship Radio 4 news programme. An investigation by Newsnight has claimed that David Cameron wanted the editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, to be sacked during the referendum campaign. So where should the lines been drawn when it comes to politicians managing the media and newspapers involving themselves in politics? Andrea Catherwood talks to former journalist and Tony Blair's former director of communications, Alistair Campbell. And travelling with the Prime Minister: what goes on when the press pack follows the PM abroad. We hear from George Parker, political editor of the Financial Times. Producer: Ruth Watts.

Daily Telegraph columnist Charles Moore has accused the BBC of bias in the way it covers Donald Trump. He says that news staff within the corporation suffer from an internal group think, which unconsciously prejudices BBC coverage of President Trump and other issues like Brexit, climate change and immigration. We hear from Charles Moore and get a response from James Harding, the BBC's Director of News and Current Affairs. James Harding also discusses the challenges in dealing with "fake news" and "alternative facts".And - Steve joins Bette Lynch, Getty's director of news photography for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Eleanor Mills, editor of the Sunday Times magazine, to visit Getty Images exhibition of the Images of 2016 to discuss what makes an iconic news photograph and whether professionally taken still pictures still pack the same emotional punch in the age of social media, citizen journalism and embedded video.Plus - media analyst Mathew Horsman of Mediatique looks ahead to broadcaster Sky's financial results and what they could mean for sports coverage and 21st Century Fox's takeover bid.Presenter: Steve Hewlett Producer: Paul Waters.

Theresa May is set to appear on the front cover Of American Vogue, what does her choice of media outlet say about the brand she's building? Andrea Catherwood discusses with Anne McElvoy of the Economist and Sandra Howard, ex-model and wife of former Conservative Party Leader, Michael Howard.As elections approach in Germany Facebook have announced they'll be rolling out measures to fact-check news stories and prevent the spread of false News. We hear from the company that will be checking the stories for Facebook, Correctiv - their founder is the investigative journalist David Schraven. And we talk to Alberto Nardelli, Buzzfeed's Europe News Editor who has been investigating fake news in Germany and beyond. And, with the demise of the Northern Ireland executive, we discuss the editorial priorities and challenges in covering the story. Jon Williams, Managing Director of News and Current Affairs at Irish broadcaster, RTE and Jonathan Munro, Head of Newsgathering at the BBC talk about the decisions they've been making about the bulletins this week. Producer: Ruth Watts.

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.

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.