logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
27m 50s

Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Three major stories could change the way we get our news. The multi-million-dollar streaming service CNN+, once billed as the broadcaster’s future, has shut down after less than a month. Over in Silicon Valley, Elon Musk has signed a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. And the UK has seen the launch of a new broadcast channel in Talk TV. These three models – streaming, social media, and broadcast – offer competing alternatives for how we’ll consume news-based content in the future, but which of them will win out?

Guests: Claire Atkinson, Chief Media Correspondent, Insider; Vivian Schiller, Executive Director, Aspen Digital; Christopher Williams, Business Editor, The Telegraph; Lauren Hirsch, reporter, The New York Times.

Producer: Dan Hardoon Presenter: Ros Atkins Studio engineer: Tim Heffer

Up next
Jan 14
Grok AI, Media coverage of the Iran protests, Hamnet film producer Liza Marshall and inside prison radio
Katie Razzall and guests discuss how Iran’s recent protests have sparked debate about how they were covered by international media. We speak to BBC Persian’s Behrang Tajdin, Lyse Doucet, and Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat about the challenges of reporting from one of the world’s m ... Show More
42m 37s
Jan 7
US raid on Venezuela & what it says about military-media relations, Actors & AI, Influencers at Westminster & the lobby system
Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins on what the media knew and when regarding the US military raid on Venezuala. They're joined by US based journalist Max Tani from Semafor the Defence Editor at the Times Larisa Brown and Brigadier Geoffrey Dodds who oversees the UK’s D notice system.Ac ... Show More
42m 48s
Dec 31
How to Make a Hit TV Show
Have you ever wondered how reality TV gets made? Why some shows become instant classics, while others vanish without trace?In this special edition of The Media Show, four of the UK’s top creatives in unscripted television reveal their secrets. From The Traitors to Pointless, Hunt ... Show More
42m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2022
Spotlight — A Bigger Picture on Elon & Twitter
If Elon Musk owns Twitter, what are the risks and what are the opportunities? In order for Twitter to support democracy — and Musk’s goal of becoming a multi-planetary civilization — we need a radical redesign that goes beyond free speech. Note: this conversation was recorded on ... Show More
13m 42s
Apr 2023
Six months of Musk: How Elon changed Twitter
<p>Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, he has brought about sweeping changes – but how successful have they been?&nbsp;And what impact has his purchase of the social media platform had on his many other businesses?</p><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of re ... Show More
29m 2s
May 2022
Elon Musk, le milliardaire qui voulait contrôler Twitter
<p>Le 4 avril dernier, Elon Musk entre dans le capital de Twitter en rachetant 9,2 % des actions, devenant ainsi le premier actionnaire du réseau social. Mais l’homme le plus riche du monde ne s’arrête pas là.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.leparisien.fr/high-tech/rachat-de-twitt ... Show More
20m 20s
Apr 2022
Twitter’s Elon Musk Problem
<p>Elon Musk’s recent investment in Twitter has turned a high-profile and frequent user of the platform into the company’s largest stakeholder.</p><p>At first, the involvement of Mr. Musk, the C.E.O. of Tesla, was seen by the social media giant as a chance to gain a powerful ally ... Show More
29m 1s
Apr 2022
Elon Musk Might Break Twitter. Maybe That's a Good Thing.
<p>If Elon Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter comes to fruition, the world’s richest person will own one of its most important communications platforms. Twitter might have a smaller user base than Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat, but it shapes the dominant narratives in key ind ... Show More
1h 5m
Aug 2022
Coming soon: Elon Musk vs. Twitter
How it Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter is a first-of-its-kind newsroom collaboration featuring exclusive reporting on the rise of Elon Musk to become world's richest man, the parallel rise of Twitter as the global public square, and the collision of these two titans this year. Th ... Show More
1m 35s
Apr 2022
Elon Musk is set to own our ‘digital town square’
<p>Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter, the social media platform for US$44-billion on Monday, just a week after the company’s board tried to block the takeover.</p><p>The Globe’s technology reporter,<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/temur-durrani/"> Temur Durrani< ... Show More
16m 21s
Jul 2022
Can Elon Musk Get Out of Buying Twitter?
<p>Last week, Elon Musk announced that he was pulling out of his $44 billion agreement to purchase Twitter. Today, we explore why a company that once tried to fend off this acquisition is now trying to force Mr. Musk to buy it.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/kat ... Show More
23m 4s
Jul 2023
Peak social media: Trouble at Twitter
<p>Elon Musk took over Twitter with the promise of promoting free speech and making the loss-making platform profitable again. But his critics say he’s destroying Twitter’s culture and driving it to bankruptcy. How much danger is the company really in? In the first episode in a n ... Show More
29m 28s