Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

Patrick Barwise is Emeritus Professor of Management and Marketing at London Business School, former chair of Which, the UK consumer organisation, and co-author of 'The War Against the BBC'. We review the government's newly published green paper on the BBC—covering its governance, funding models, independence, commercial and political influences, public accountability, what's missing and participat...

Professors Georgina Born and Justin Lewis are co-authors of the British Academy report on the future of the BBC and public service media. From the UK to Scandinavia, Canada to Australia, the report presents evidence about what works and what doesn’t. We discuss some of their findings: the importance of democratic governance, the decline of the licence fee, and the need for independent funding mech...

Jon Williams, Executive Director of the Rory Peck Trust, former foreign editor at BBC News, and managing editor of ABC News in the US and RTÉ. We discuss the work of the Trust; the challenges facing freelance journalists; the rise in deaths and imprisonment of journalists; dealing with propaganda wars and media companies; and how broadcasters should handle lawsuits. “As news organisations have got...

Dan Thomas is the global media editor of the Financial Times and its former business editor. We discuss the turbulence shaking up the UK media industry: the high-stakes merger talks between ITV and Sky – what that means for the future of public service broadcasting, the challenges posed by increasing media consolidation and what lies ahead for major players like Channel 4. We also discuss the curr...

At the Voice of the Listener and Viewer autumn conference, the second session chaired by former BBC World Tonight presenter Ritula Shah, dealt with enhancing impartiality in news. Professor Stephen Cushion, Director of Research and Impact at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture, presented new research on impartiality standards in news, followed by a discussion on the implications of...

After a turbulent few weeks for the BBC, the Voice of the Listener and Viewer held a timely panel titled “What Next for the BBC?” at its conference on Wednesday. The speakers were Mark Damazer — former Controller of Radio 4, Deputy Director of BBC News, BBC Trustee — and Stephen Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster. They tackled the growing crisis of governance at...

Andy Webb is the author of Dianarama: The Betrayal of Princess Diana. We discuss his years-long investigation into the BBC Panorama interview with Princess Diana, the controversial methods used by journalist Martin Bashir, the ongoing questions of BBC accountability and transparency, and the significant challenges he faced accessing the BBC’s archives in pursuit of the full story. "It could be pla...

Richard Ayre is a former Controller of Editorial Policy and Deputy Chief Executive of BBC News, and later became a member of the BBC Trust. We discuss the BBC's crisis: how the organisation should respond to legal threats from Trump; the resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness; the actions and inaction of the editorial guidelines and standards committee; and the wider impact on BBC journalis...

Pat Younge, former BBC Chief Creative Officer and board member at ITV Studios, responds to allegations of bias made against the BBC’s Panorama programme; outlines proposals from the British Broadcasting Challenge for renewing the BBC’s charter and ensuring its long-term independence and relevance; and discusses the impact of media consolidation by wealthy, powerful figures in the US and how this a...

Matt Frei is the Europe editor and presenter of Channel 4 News who delivered the annual Steve Hewlett Memorial Lecture. We discuss his speech, the state of democracy in the United States and whether what is happening there can happen here, BBC's coverage of Gaza and the propaganda war, challenges facing traditional news organisations and whether there is a place for GB News, the domination of the...

Professor Stephen Cushion, Director of Research at the Cardiff School of Journalism, discusses this week's decision by Ofcom on politicians presenting news programmes, the BBC's request to reduce the number of current affairs programmes in prime time, and his new research which analyses impartiality in news reporting, the representation of political parties, the impact of social media and news con...

Prof Paul Dixon, Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester and Queen Mary College, University of London, discusses his new book, “The Militarisation of British Democracy: The Iraq and Afghan Wars and the Rise of Authoritarianism.” We explore the military’s influence on UK politics and society, the idea of a "militarist coalition," debates over defence sp...

Mary Hockaday, former Controller of BBC World Service, discusses the future of the BBC World Service amid funding pressures and political challenges, the debate over government and defence funding, the challenges of budget cuts, and the global influence and value of the World Service.   “For me, the most important thing in all of this is almost wherever the money comes from, that the principl...

Stewart Purvis is the former Editor in Chief and Chief Executive of ITN and a former content regulator at Ofcom. We discuss Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s intervention in the debate on GB News, issues of impartiality in news, and the role of Ofcom and government in media regulation. As ITV celebrates its 70th birthday, we also look back on Stewart’s long career, the challenges facing ITN, and his...

Mark Damazer is a former controller of Radio 4, Deputy Director of BBC News, BBC trustee, writer, commentator, and chair of the Booker Prizes. We spoke to him about the BBC’s plans for its international audio services, the challenges of monetising content overseas, the implications for the BBC’s global reach and influence, the value of its radio archive, the future of public service broadcasting,...

Robin Aitken is a former BBC journalist, author, and contributor to The Daily Telegraph. In this episode, he discusses his chapter in the book "The BBC: After the licence fee?" We discuss the BBC’s internal culture, its approach to impartiality, the representation of religious perspectives, its coverage of events such as Brexit, audience trust in the BBC and factors affecting licence fee payments....

Dr. Alice Donald, Professor of Human Rights Law at Middlesex University, is one of the author's of a report that was recently published this week from the Bonavero Institute at Oxford University on media coverage of the European Convention on Human Rights. We examine the findings of the report, the prevalence and impact of misreporting, the role of the convention in areas beyond immigration, the p...

Professor John Wyver, Professor of Arts on Screen at the University of Westminster, joins us to discuss his involvement in the recent campaign opposing changes to access at the BBC Written Archive Centre. We explore the archive’s purpose, the proposed access restrictions and their impact, the consultation process, potential alternative solutions, and the broader challenges facing public service br...

Catherine Johnson, Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Leeds, is co-author of the report Behind the screen, how streaming is changing public service media , which was published this week and produced by the University of Leeds, the International Broadcasting Trust (IBT), the Campaign for the Arts and the Sandford St Martin Trust.  We discuss its findings and the challen...

Richard Ayre is a former controller of editorial policy and deputy chief executive of BBC News, before becoming a member of the BBC Trust. Richard is also a former member of the OFCOM content board. In this week's episode, we discuss the BBC's Gaza documentary scandal, the MasterChef presenter dismissals, criticism from the Culture Secretary and OFCOM, challenges to BBC editorial oversight and the...

Marcus Ryder, CEO of the Film and TV Charity and former head of current affairs at BBC Scotland, discusses the recent Greg Wallace controversy, workplace behaviour, mental health, and power dynamics in the film and television industry. "The very fact that so many people have come forward means that there's a large number of people who, up until recently, were experiencing something that they felt...

The Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference held at the end of April featured a session with Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC’s Director of Nations. He spoke about the BBC’s storytelling and regional production, and was then questioned by the session’s chair — VLV Trustee, Classic FM presenter, and former BBC Radio 4  World Tonight  presenter, Ritula Shah. Together, they explored challe...

Miqdaad Versi, Director of Media Monitoring at the Muslim Council of Britain discusses the Centre for Media Monitoring's comprehensive report "BBC on Gaza-Israel: one story, double standards". We discuss the report's methodology and its use of AI to analyse over 35,000 pieces of BBC content over a year and examine its key findings, on the disproportionate coverage of Israeli deaths, fewer Palestin...

Iain Dale is a broadcaster, political commentator, and presenter on LBC. We discuss his new short biography of Margaret Thatcher, written to introduce the former Prime Minister to a new generation. We explore her fraught relationship with the BBC, her influence on broadcasting policy, and what that legacy means today. We talk about the future of public service broadcasting, the BBC’s dominance, th...

John Ware, veteran investigative journalist and former BBC Panorama reporter, with decades of experience covering complex and controversial subjects from the Troubles in Northern Ireland to antisemitism in British politics, discusses Gerry Adams’ defamation case against the BBC, the silence from parts of the Jewish community, BBC coverage of Gaza and the Middle East, the role of public service bro...