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PODCAST

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch

Good Egg Productions

Roger Bolton,formerly presenter of BBC Radio 4"s "Feedback" launches his very first podcast. Free from the constraints of broadcasting on the BBC, with a few more opinions and casting his net a little bit wider to encompass the whole of the BBC, Roger examines the issues that are facing the corporation and public service broadcasting.Find all our podcastshereAnd please support this podcast by subscribinghereWe also support VLV (Voice of the Listener and Viewer) which represents the interests of

news politics

All Episodes

36:31

Robin Aitken, former BBC journalist on Impartiality,...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/09/16

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.“There is an assumption in the BBC, broadly speaking, that public is always better than private; that a

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30:07

Dr Alice Donald: Media Myths, Chicken Nuggets, and...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/09/10

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 political debate surrounding potential withdrawal and the impact on the Good Friday Agreement, and the

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21:59

Prof John Wyver, on the campaign for access to the...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/09/03

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 broadcasting and the arts at the BBC.There is no public catalogue of this archive, which seems to me is

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28:57

Prof Catherine Johnson on disappearing public service...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/07/23

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 challenges in measuring public service programming on streaming platforms, refusal of data by public service

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32:58

Richard Ayre, former senior BBC Executive on the...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/07/16

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 corporation's annual report.“It’s outrageous that the Secretary of State lifts the phone and demands

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23:21

Marcus Ryder, CEO Film and TV Charity on the Greg...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/07/10

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 they couldn't properly talk about."Listen to all our episodes here: https://podfollow.com/beebwatchTo

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29:03

Rhodri Taflan Davies, BBC Director of Nations and...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/06/29

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 4World Tonightpresenter, Ritula Shah. Together, they explored challenges in TV production and co-production partnerships, tax credits and charter renewal, local radio, decentralising

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34:45

Miqdaad Versi on the report "BBC on Gaza-Israel: one...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/06/18

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 Palestinian interviews, inconsistent use of language and the suppression of genocide allegations. "We want to

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32:05

Iain Dale, LBC presenter on his Thatcher biography,...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/06/09

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, the rise of opinion-led channels like GB News, and whether the market can still deliver trusted

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36:40

John Ware, veteran investigative journalist on Gerry...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/06/05

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 broadcasting, and the impact of agenda journalism."The BBC’s coverage actually is quite timid”Listen to all

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25:23

Jonathan Thompson, CEO of Everyone TV, on Freely and...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/05/28

Jonathan Thompson is Chief Executive of Everyone TV, the organisation that runs free television in the UK.In this episode Jonathan discusses the launch of the UK's newest streaming platform, Freely, which brings together live and on demand content from the UK's public service broadcasters. We explore what Freely offers, its accessibility, and its role in preserving public service broadcasting. We explore critical issues facing UK television: how to maintain content diversity, attract younger

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31:23

Dr Tom Mills, Media Reform Coalition on how to...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/05/22

Dr. Tom Mills, Chair of the Media Reform Coalition and co-author of the report “Our Mutual Friend: The BBC in the Digital Age”, discusses a detailed proposal for the mutualisation of the BBC—an idea supported by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. He explains what it would mean for audiences to become active participants in the Corporation’s governance, how such a model could work in practice, and what it could offer in terms of accountability, representation, and resistance to political interference.“I

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26:09

Patrick Spence, exec producer 'Mr Bates vs the Post...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/05/15

Fresh from his BAFTA award, Patrick Spence, executive producer for Mr. Bates vs The Post Office discusses how the series was commissioned, why it was a success, how it was funded, the decline of certain TV drama genres, the crisis in the industry, the need of government support: levy vs tax breaks,the impact of tariffs, regional production, the streamers’ role and his upcoming project The Hack.“If I was offered Mr. Bates vs the Post Office now as a prospective development, I would not take it

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33:54

Rozina Breen, CEO, The Bureau of Investigative...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/05/09

Rozina Breen is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and formerly head of news at BBC Five Live and BBC North.A speaker at the recent Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit, Rozina discusses the event, the growing challenges facing journalism under the Trump administration, the importance of local and regional journalism, the BBC and the role of partnerships, the importance of fact based reporting and why TBIJ is necessary.“” The fire has always been

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36:50

Jonathan Dimbleby, veteran broadcaster, on...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/04/23

Jonathan Dimbleby is a veteran British broadcaster known for his long-form interviews on BBC and ITV, and as host of Radio 4’s Any Questions.In this episode, we discuss his latest book on World War II, the use of a journalistic background in writing history, challenging historical myths, the ‘special relationship’ between the US and Britain, the rise of populism and parallels between current political trends and historical threats to democracy, the critical role of public service broadcasting, the

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32:34

Nick Kent on his BBC Two documentary "Simon Schama:...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/04/11

Nick Kent is the chief executive and creative director of Oxford Films, which made this week’s BBC Two documentary "Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz". We discuss the challenges making an impactful 60 minute documentary which explores the Holocaust's broader historical context, the role of language and visual imagery, ethical considerations in portraying the Holocaust and the importance of public service broadcasting.“We're living in a time when the BBC is in jeopardy, and what's at stake now is

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29:20

James Cridland, editor Podnews and radio futurologist...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/04/01

James Cridland is the editor of Podnews and a radio futurologist— a writer, consultant, and public speaker on radio’s future. We discuss the BBC’s Annual Plan, its financial challenges, the impending changes to BBC Sounds' international access, the intricate challenges of rights management, potential revenue streams, and the delicate balance between public service broadcasting and commercial imperatives.“The only change going on here is that we're getting rid of the BBC Sounds app, and you have to

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31:57

Kirsty Lang BBC presenter on changes to BBC Sounds...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/03/27

Kirsty Lang began her BBC career in 1986 and worked as the Central Europe correspondent for the BBC World Service and as a reporter on Newsnight. After a stint as The Sunday Times’ Paris correspondent, Kirsty went on to present Channel 4 News. Since 2002, she has been a stalwart of Radio 4, presenting Front Row, Last Word, and Round Britain Quiz.We discuss the BBC's financial squeeze, its plans to restrict international access to domestic radio services, the importance of BBC programming as a form

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26:18

Stewart Purvis, former Ofcom regulator, on the fall...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/03/17

Prof Stewart Purvis is the former content regulator at Ofcom, a former Editor of Channel 4 News and ITN Chief Executive.As the Vice President of the Royal Television Society we discuss: the RTS Awards controversy withdrawing an award for Gaza journalists, Stewart’s experience reviewing BBC Middle East coverage and the fallout from the landmark GB News vs. Ofcom legal case and the ability of foreign governments to influence British broadcasting."What's at stake is the future of broadcast journalism

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32:35

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The i Paper columnist, on the...

Roger Bolton"s Beeb Watch ·

2025/03/13

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown describes herself as a "lefty, liberal, anti-racist feminist, Muslim" who was born in Uganda and came to the UK in 1972. She is a journalist, columnist for The i Paper, and commentator.Yasmin is a strong advocate for human rights who supports Israel's right to exist while being critically engaged with its policies. On this week’s podcast we discuss the BBC’s handling of its withdrawn Gaza documentary, the challenges facing independent journalists in Gaza, the lack of critical

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154 results

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