logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2023
27m 57s

The Russell Brand allegations

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Channel 4's CEO Alex Mahon says the allegations made against Russell Brand are "disgusting and saddening," but what do the claims mean for the TV industry as a whole? And when reporting the testimony of anonymous witnesses, how hard is it to get a story like this over the line? Ros Atkins talks to the Channel 4 executive behind the Russell Brand story about their collaboration with the Times and the Sunday Times and we get the government's view on regulation of internet TV channels and social media.

Guests: Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Louisa Compton, Head of News and Current Affairs and Specialist Factual, Channel 4; Mark Williams-Thomas, investigative journalist; Chris Curtis, Editor in Chief, Broadcast; Alexandra Topping, Senior News Reporter, The Guardian; Peter Guest, Acting Business Editor, Wired.

Producer: Simon Richardson

Up next
Yesterday
Steve Rosenberg, Zanny Minton Beddoes, new Victoria Beckham documentary and the ethics of secret filming
Katie Razall on some of the week's biggest media stories: BBC Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, on winning the Charles Wheeler Award for outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor in Chief of the Economist on their new video podcast Insider which ... Show More
43m 24s
Oct 1
TV rights and the Boat Race, conspiracy theories in the media ecosystem, Larry Ellison, Newspaper legal challenge to Reform UK
Ros Atkins on some of the biggest media stories this week. As the BBC loses TV rights to the Boat Race – we talk to Siobhan Cassidy Chair of the Boat Race Company and Pete Andrews, Head of Sport at Channel 4 which will now broadcast the annual event. We profile the tech billionai ... Show More
42m 43s
Sep 24
Reporting on migrant hotels, Jimmy Kimmel's return, The Hack
A new BBC investigation into the government's use of hotels to house migrants has led to the government ordering an urgent review into its findings. Journalist Sue Mitchell explains how she got access to record inside these hotels. As Jimmy Kimmel returns to the screen, Brian Ste ... Show More
43m 1s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
The Investigation into Russell Brand
How did Channel 4’s Dispatches & The Sunday Times put the Russell Brand investigation together? Adam is joined by Louisa Compton, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 and Alistair Jackson, investigations editor of Dispatches.And Liz Truss is back on the political stage, ... Show More
36m 19s
Sep 2023
Who is the real Russell Brand? An interview with Gordon Smart
Gordon Smart was the editor of The Scottish Sun, and deputy editor of the Sun. But before that, he was the paper's showbiz editor who got to know very well, among others, Russell Brand. He sits down with Emily and Lewis to talk about the man that's been accused of sexual assault ... Show More
38m 18s
Sep 2023
#466: Russell Brand | Part 1
Russell Brand has been known as many things over the past twenty years: outrageous stand up comedian, BBC shock jock, football blogger, provocative host of Big Brother UK spinoffs, author of several excruciatingly candid memoirs detailing his many addictions, Hollywood actor, ubi ... Show More
39m 33s
Mar 2023
The secrets of TV news
New host Aggie Chambre takes us inside the world of TV News, and asks how the advent of 24-hour rolling coverage has shaped British politics. Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge explains the importance of the Sunday shows to the Westminster news cycle, and reveals the reaction from Do ... Show More
52m 59s
Sep 2023
#467: Russell Brand | Part 2
We continue our analysis of the recent investigative reporting by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatch regarding allegations of sexual misconduct both in the U.K. and in the U.S. by multi-hyphenate comedian Russell Brand. We discuss each victim who has come forward ... Show More
43 m
Feb 2017
The truth about fake news
The BBC’s media editor Amol Rajan asks James Ball, special correspondent at BuzzFeed News, and Mark Frankel, social media editor at BBC News, about the different meanings of 'fake news' and how journalists should respond to it. 
24m 42s
Mar 2023
BBC Tackles Gary Lineker
What should the BBC do about the Match of the Day host, after criticism of his tweets on the government's asylum policy?Former director of BBC News, Richard Sambrook, reveals how he would handle the comments, from an impartiality point of view, and media editor, Katie Razzall, di ... Show More
29m 29s
Jan 2023
The Prince and the Press
In the last few years, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have traded their broken relationship with the UK press system for the celebrity industrial complex of the US. This week on The Assignment, Audie turns to two insiders from each media ecosystem to discuss how the Duke and Duch ... Show More
22m 49s
Oct 2022
"Dark arts" at the Daily Mail?
The Daily Mail Group - Associated Newspapers - has been accused of 'abhorrent criminal activity' by Doreen Lawrence - mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. She's lodged a claim in the High Court along with Prince Harry, Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sad ... Show More
37m 44s
May 2022
The Prince’s Speech
Charles steps in for the Queen, setting out the government’s agenda. Adam is joined by Chris, as well as former BBC royal correspondent, Jenny Bond, to talk pomp, pageantry and legislation.Also..…….. The BBC’s Colin Paterson and Liz Lake, co-writer and producer of TV drama "Footb ... Show More
32m 20s