A new podcast series On Royal Watch delves into the complicated relationship between the British royal family and the media. In today's episode we talk to Anna Whitelock, professor of the History of Monarchy at City, University of London, and look at the past, present and future relationship that the media have with the royal family, and in particular how the Queen is portrayed. How has that changed – and will the way the Firm as it’s known be covered in the same way when Prince Charles or Prince William is on the throne? And what effect are fictional portrayals of the Windsors having on their image?

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Episode 25: The Queen and Us: Fact and fiction in reporting the Royals

A new podcast series On Royal Watch delves into the complicated relationship between the British royal family and the media. In today's episode, we focus on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s frenzied relationship with the press. Their romance, wedding, pregnancies, public exodus to the US via Canada, family dramas, and now a hopeful rebranding as media moguls continue to make headlines in the UK and around the world. We talk to Royal Editor at Large for Harper’s Bazaar Omid Scobie.

Episode 24: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Is it the media’s fault they left royal life?

A new podcast series On Royal Watch delves into the complicated relationship between the British royal family and the media. In today's episode, we focus on the ongoing allegations of sexual assault against the Duke of York. Listen to experts Dr. Leigh Gilmore and Jen Tarran talk about what media have done right, what they've missed, and if Prince Andrew's royal status shields him from further scrutiny. A trigger warning: In this episode we are discussing sexual abuse and detailing the allegations against Prince Andrew.

Episode 23: Covering a royal scandal: How should the media report allegations against Prince Andrew?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey this week laid bare bitter rifts at the heart of the House of Windsor. The revelations of Meghan’s suicidal thoughts during her pregnancy, the allegations that another member of the family made racist remarks about her unborn child, and that the Prince of Wales had refused to take his son’s calls made headlines around the world. The Palace took two whole days to respond before issuing a statement that said the issues of race were ‘concerning’ but would be dealt with privately. But there was another powerful institution other than the Palace that Meghan and Harry directed their anger at: the British media. Harry told Oprah that the racism from the tabloid press was a large part of why the couple had left the UK, and talked about how the royals were trapped and in fear of media coverage. Perhaps proving the Sussexs’ point about hostile coverage, the GMB host Piers Morgan, one of Meghan’s fiercest critics, said he did not believe a word she said. After 41,000 complaints were made about him to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom, he and ITV parted company. In today's episode we interrogate the symbiotic and often fractious relationship between the royals and the media. How should royals be reported on – were the Sussexs naïve or justified in their criticisms? What role did race play in the coverage of Meghan? Were she and her sister-in-law portrayed as two different archetypes? And why was Oprah Winfrey so successful in getting the scoops from the couple?

Episode 22 - Meghan, Harry and Oprah: What we learned about the royals and the media

In today's episode, we talk to activists about missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two spirit people and the reporters who are trying to shed light on this largely overlooked crisis. After years of failed law enforcement investigations and inconclusive data on indigenous women and girls, it was an unprecedented measure to label the systemic violence as a genocide in a country that has a reputation for being peaceful. The report states that up to 4,000 indigenous women and girls have been murdered in Canada in the last 50 years, but adds the caveat that the exact number may never be known. Years of strained government and community relations, and mistreatment of Inuit, metis, aboriginal and indigenous Canadians on various fronts such as forced education, the foster care system, lack of essential resources, and now neglecting a genocide… equals frustration and tension. Yet, the US has just passed two bills that are meant to address violence against indigenous women and girls. So with federal governments in the US and Canada finally taking some initiative to address the genocide of indigenous women, what role do journalists play in reporting on this? This episode examines how coverage has been both positive and negative and what news organizations need to do in order to improve current depictions of indigenous people. This is the last episode of The Knowhow Podcast's special five-part series: Reporting Injustice... A series where we look at some of the key stories in recent years that were turning points in how we saw some fundamental issues. We talk to the journalists who uncovered them about their struggle to bring these stories to public view. And we speak to experts who explain how these reports altered the way society perceived pressing matters of race, class and sexism. From Bill Cosby to Windrush, Grenfell to missing and murdered indigenous women, Reporting Injustice looks at the story behind the stories...

Reporting Injustice Episode 5: How journalists cover missing and murdered indigenous women and girls

In this episode, we look at how domestic abuse by police officers often went unpunished… until Alexandra Heal from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism helped set in train a nationwide super-complaint to call for sweeping changes in the system. As journalists we all want to make a difference, to pursue a story that changes lives. Few do that in a significant way - let alone with their first story out of journalism school. But that is what happened with Alexandra Heal, a journalism student at City, University of London who started looking at the issue of domestic abuse perpetrated by police officers while still studying for her MA. The story began with Alexandra being intrigued by the anecdote told to her about her friend. She thought there might be something more to it than just a one-off and thought it might work for her MA project. The woman in question wouldn’t talk to her, but undeterred Alexandra decided to investigate further. The stories that she discovered through her interviews showed that there was a clear problem about how police forces dealt with abuse when it was carried out by one of their own. This is the fourth episode of The Knowhow Podcast's special five-part series: Reporting Injustice... A series where we look at some of the key stories in recent years that were turning points in how we saw some fundamental issues. We talk to the journalists who uncovered them about their struggle to bring these stories to public view. And we speak to experts who explain how these reports altered the way society perceived pressing matters of race, class and sexism. From Bill Cosby to Windrush, Grenfell to missing and murdered indigenous women, Reporting Injustice looks at the story behind the stories...

Reporting Injustice Episode 4: Investigating the hidden story of domestic abuse by police officers

In this episode, we look at the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017 in which 72 people died. It was the worst residential fire in Britain since the Second World War. The initial cause had been a malfunctioning fridge freezer in a fourth floor flat, but the spread of the fire was due to the type of cladding and insulation used that made the flames extend so rapidly. While the media rushed to report the disaster itself, it was a specialist publication Inside Housing which used freedom of information requests to reveal how the Grenfell disaster was far from a one-off. We also look at how council tenants were ignored and how the investigations have shown these safety issues go far beyond social housing. We talk to Sophie Barnes who worked at Inside Housing looking at the issue of fire safety. It’s now more than three years on since the Grenfell disaster. The Grenfell inquiry recently restarted, 28 months after it began, although hearings look set to continue into 2022. We asked all our guests to reflect on what has happened since then. This is the third episode of The Knowhow Podcast's special five-part series: Reporting Injustice... A series where we look at some of the key stories in recent years that were turning points in how we saw some fundamental issues. We talk to the journalists who uncovered them about their struggle to bring these stories to public view. And we speak to experts who explain how these reports altered the way society perceived pressing matters of race, class and sexism. From Bill Cosby to Windrush, Grenfell to missing and murdered indigenous women, Reporting Injustice looks at the story behind the stories...

Reporting Injustice Episode 3: Exposing the true extent of the Grenfell Tower disaster

In today's episode, we look at one of the biggest stories in the British media in the past few years – the uncovering of the Windrush scandal by the Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman. We talk to her about how this story came to light – and why branding it a certain way was so important. When Amelia Gentleman stumbled across the story of the treatment of the Windrush Generation, she started an investigation that would become a national scandal, trigger an apology from Prime Minister Theresa May, the resignation of Home Secretary Amber Rudd and raise fundamental questions about racism in Britain in the 21st century. In this episode we also talk to the journalist and anti-racism campaigner Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Dr Juanita Cox who carried out the oral history project into the Windrush Generation at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. This is the second episode of The Knowhow Podcast's special five-part series: Reporting Injustice... A series where we look at some of the key stories in recent years that were turning points in how we saw some fundamental issues. We talk to the journalists who uncovered them about their struggle to bring these stories to public view. And we speak to experts who explain how these reports altered the way society perceived pressing matters of race, class and sexism. From Bill Cosby to Windrush, Grenfell to missing and murdered indigenous women, Reporting Injustice looks at the story behind the stories...

Reporting Injustice Episode 2: Uncovering racism and betrayal in the Windrush Scandal

This October 16th marks the sixth anniversary of comedian Hannibal Buress’ off the cuff comment about America’s TV dad, Bill Cosby. The comment went viral and put into motion the coming forward of 60 women to tell their stories, international media attention, lawsuits, changes in the statute of limitations in California, a sexual assault charge, a mistrial, a guilty verdict, and ultimately a three to ten-year prison sentence. After years of whistleblowers trying to be heard, Cosby was finally being held to account. Why was that? The reason was a sea-change in the way sexual assault was covered, thanks to the decision of The New York Magazine to focus on the accusers rather than the celebrity at the centre. In today’s episode, we explore the unravelling of the Bill Cosby case. We talk to the journalist behind The New York Magazine expose that featured 35 of the women’s stories - Noreen Malone. We also talk to experts on how the story was treated in the press and how this case was the precursor to the #Metoo movement. This is the first episode of The Knowhow Podcast's special five-part series: Reporting Injustice... A series where we look at some of the key stories in recent years that were turning points in how we saw some fundamental issues. From Bill Cosby to Windrush, Grenfell to missing and murdered indigenous women, Reporting Injustice looks at the story behind the stories...

Reporting Injustice Episode 1: How Bill Cosby's accusers got to tell their story

In today’s episode we catch up with two London refugees who have had to leave the city during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abdulwahab Tahhan is a journalist and a graduate of the Refugee Journalism Project. Zozan Yasar is a journalist too, and before coming to the UK, she worked for Voice of America and Kurdish media outlets. Compared to the life threatening situations, which forced asylum seekers to leave their home country for the UK, current self-isolation may be more comfortable… but it doesn’t mean conditions are not difficult. And during this time of disruption, London’s high rents and often cramped quarters means that for some refugees like Zozan and Abdul the option seems to be leaving… For others it is to share their hostel accommodations with even more people putting themselves at increased risk of contracting coronavirus.

Episode 16 - Life for refugees and asylum seekers during lockdown

Confined to our homes in lockdown, we have never needed to be better informed about how a global pandemic is affecting our lives. As a result, one unexpected group have found themselves classified as key workers alongside health care staff and supermarket workers: journalists. In today's episode, we’re looking at the role of journalists in reporting crises such as coronavirus and whether criticisms of the media are justified. Paul Bradshaw leads the MA courses in Journalism at Birmingham City University. He was so concerned about social media conversations about what journalists should be doing that he wrote a blog that was widely circulated. We began by asking why it was important to do so…

Episode 15 - Reporting Coronavirus - are journalists getting it right?

Since the spread of COVID-19 around the world, life as we know it has changed utterly. Most major countries have faced some kind of lockdown, with shops and businesses closed. For some people, used to the kind of lifestyle interacting with people, it has been a real adjustment. And for one group it has been more difficult than most, even if we are all in it together… Success for celebrities is often dependent on their ability to be both aspirational and approachable, but lockdown has exposed the gulf between them and us. So how can celebrities operate in these extraordinary times? In today's episode, we talk to Dr Ben Falk, author of Celebrity Journalism: How to Make it Your Career and the biographer of Robert Downey Junior and Brian Cox for his perspective.

Episode 14 - Celebrities and COVID-19: what role should they play?

What role should impartiality play in journalism in a world where anyone can broadcast? Was there a confusion between due impartiality and balance? Can any journalist really be impartial? This special edition of The Knowhow is a recording of the Hugh Cudlipp lecture at City, University of London where ITV’s political editor Robert Peston talks about the role of impartiality in news.

Episode 13 - Robert Peston: Why I still believe in impartiality in news

In today’s episode, we talk to medical historian Mark Honigsbaum about pandemics through the ages, from the medieval Black Death to the 20th century’s Spanish flu; from Ebola to SARS. How do we report on such viruses – and what is our fascination with Patient Zero, and ‘superspreaders’? Join us as we talk to Mark about why we ended up panicking over swine flu, but largely forgot the far more deadly outbreak of influenza in 1918, and what role the media has played in forming our views on this.

Episode 12 - Reporting Coronavirus

In today’s episode, we present highlights of a debate at City, University of London where senior broadcasters from the BBC, Channel 4 along with other media figures considered how well the public was served by the reporting on the challenging issue of the UK's exit from the European Union.

Episode 11 - Brexit and Broadcasters: how well did they report?

The Knowhow podcast is aimed at bringing academics and professionals together to dissect the pressing matters of today

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