Two cheers for the mainstream media
Organisations like the BBC are the last defence against a post-journalistic world.
ByBBC
Discover our latest in-depth features, special reports and analysis on the BBC, the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom.
The BBC’s Jimmy Savile drama is entirely gratuitous
The Reckoning exposes a rotten culture that serves up stories about abused women for entertainment.
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Russell Brand’s career was defined by misogyny – and audiences delighted in it
What a comedian chooses to joke about is revealing – and has a bearing on the world at large.
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The Woman in the Wall turns the Magdalene laundries into offensive melodrama
Ireland’s unfathomably cruel “mother and baby homes” are here just as set-dressing for a shlocky horror – as if the…
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Michael Parkinson – The last interview
The veteran talk-show host on broadcasting’s halcyon days, car-crash interviews and today’s “charlatans in high office”.
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The Huw Edwards crisis has revealed the BBC’s editorial blind spot
If the corporation is to survive, it needs a robust policy for covering celebrity scandals.
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Behind the rise of Amol Rajan
Former colleagues recall being “flabbergasted” by his success, but soon he’ll be presenting University Challenge. What’s his secret?
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Why Wimbledon is made for radio
I thought I had to see tennis to believe it – but BBC Radio 5 Live’s commentary has transported me…
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Something rotten
A succession of scandals has created a profound mistrust in our political and media class.
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The decadent society
With the nation consumed by sleaze, the serious business of government is at a standstill.
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Hunt for the suspended BBC presenter exposes our privacy law mess
Online sleuths will inevitably accuse the wrong people. Better to name the subjects of investigations.
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Can Deborah Turness fix BBC News?
The chief executive is focused on trust and transparency, but she will be judged above all on the fate of…
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Why Glastonbury could do with a touch of snark
From festival coverage to nature documentaries, TV is so relentlessly cheerful that it brings out my inner curmudgeon.
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Why Question Time has had its time
The conditions that made the political panel show a good idea in 1979 no longer exist.
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BBC One’s Best Interests captures the horror of parental grief
Michael Sheen and Sharon Horgan are magnificent as the father and mother of an unconscious disabled child.
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A trip to the GMB sofa and a lesson for lying politicians
Also this week: awkward encounters at my book launch and Prince Harry takes on the Mirror.
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The BBC degrades itself with its Phillip Schofield fixation
From an “exclusive” interview to a live feed on the This Morning presenter’s departure, the broadcaster has left its lofty…
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Richard Sharp’s Eurovision appearance
Rather than keep a low profile, the outgoing BBC chairman is expected to head to Liverpool for the Eurovision semi-final.
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Can the BBC recover from Richard Sharp’s disastrous chairmanship?
The broadcaster is at the centre of a battle for the soul of the British media.
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Is Richard Sharp toast?
Apparently, the BBC chairman has barely been seen around Broadcasting House.
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