The Media Show

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.

Scoops, scandals and sackings: Piers Morgan dishes the dirt on his childhood master plan to become Britain's most talked about journalist and his rapid rise to become editor of a national newspaper aged only 28. In this special Media Show interview, he talks to Steve Hewlett about the highs and lows of his life story, including the City Slickers share-tipping scandal, phone hacking and the photographs of British troops abusing Iraqis that his newspaper admitted were fake. This former editor of the News of the World, the Daily Mirror and the Sun's Bizarre showbiz column describes how it felt to be on the receiving end of press intrusion and the difference it made to how he ran his own tabloid.He also talks about the relationships, stolen stories and celebrity feuds and friendships that eventually led him to stardom in the United States as a judge on America's Got Talent, winner of Celebrity Apprentice and successor to Larry King. And Piers gives his insight into how to get a job on a national newspaper, what the future holds for the press and what's going on in the mind of his mate, US President-elect Donald Trump.Presenter: Steve Hewlett Producer: Paul Waters.

SKY takeover: Beyond the prominent arguments, what are legal and regulatory hurdles that the 20th Century Fox bid has to clear? And, how does the situation differ from last time, when Murdoch's NewsCorp made a bid in 2010? We speak to Jon Zeff, former Director of Media at the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Christmas TV Schedules: What can the TV schedules this Christmas tell us about the health of terrestrial channels as they compete with video on demand services like Netflix and Amazon? TV Critic Kevin O'Sullivan and Ben Preston, Editor of the Radio Times discuss. How important is BBC Monitoring? And who should be paying for a service that meets the needs of both the BBC and the Government? We hear from former BBC Monitoring employee and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, Keir Giles and from Stuart Seaman, the outgoing Father of the Chapel for the National Union of Journalists at BBC Monitoring at Caversham Park about the work the service does. Producer: Ruth Watts.

Joining us to discuss 20th Century Fox's proposed takeover of Sky are Mathew Horsman, Director of Mediatique, David Elstein, former head of programming at Sky and Vince Cable, former Business Secretary.Reporters Sans Frontières supports journalists doing their job throughout the world. They've just opened an office in London and Chair of the UK board of advisors, Eve Pollard joins us to talk about their work. The News Media Association says that the British news publishing industry contributes £5.3bn to the economy. Its Chair, David Dinsmore joins us to discuss the strength of the industry and the challenges it faces.Producer: Ruth Watts.

Former Controller of Radio 4 and current BBC trustee Mark Damazer talks about the plans for the BBC's new unitary board, the appointments process for the new chair and the pitfalls that could lie ahead.Damian Collins MP, Chair of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport and Lis Howell, Director of Broadcasting at City University look at what lies ahead for the BBC's new unitary board.And, Mark Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of The New York Times Company discusses the paper's relationship with US President Elect, Donald Trump.Producer: Ruth Watts.