Sunday Mirror Sexting, Journalists' Safety, Political Interviews

An online investigation published by the Sunday Mirror has led to the resignation of Conservative minister, Brooks Newmark, complaints lodged with press regulator IPSO and The Metropolitan Police and an apology issued from Editor-in-Chief Lloyd Embley to the women whose images were used without consent. Alex Wickham, a reporter for the political blog Guido Fawkes, has been revealed to be the freelancer who posed on Twitter as 'Sophie Wittams,' a fictional female Tory activist. Louise Mensch, the journalist and former Tory MP, who served on the Commons Culture Committee, and Simon Sapper, former PCC Commissioner join Steve to examine the public interest arguments behind the probe, the journalistic ethics and the implications for press regulation.Evan Davis's debut as 'lead anchor' at BBC2's Newsnight began with an interview with the Prime Minister. Unlike his predecessor, Jeremy Paxman, who was widely known for his adversarial, sceptical tone, Evan adopted a more relaxed and conversational style. Is a more affable approach likely to draw more spontaneous conversation out of political figures, or will it play in to politician's hands? To discuss the political interview and how to make it work for the presenter, politician and audience Steve hears from Adam Boulton, Sky's former Political Editor and Sian Kevill, a former Editor of Newsnight.The dangers of reporting from Syria have been highlighted by the beheading of freelance journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff as well as the release of a third video this week of British hostage and photojournalist John Cantile by Islamic State militants. Steve hears from the Middle East Correspondent, Ruth Sherlock who has been covering events in Syria for The Telegraph.Producer: Dianne McGregor.

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.