Media Masters

Damian McBride was a key member of Gordon Brown's inner circle, and as his Special Adviser, oversaw his campaign to become Prime Minster in 2007. In this interview, Damian discusses the struggles between Tony and Gordon, why he thinks Labour lost in 2015, and gives Corbyn some candid advice on how to revive the Labour Party.

Tim Willcox, BBC News Presenter, and Mihir Bose, columnist at the Evening Standard, join Paul Blanchard for a New Year special. This episode: how will BBC Charter renewal discussions pan out this year? What sides will the media take in the EU Referendum? And what will be the big media stories in 2016?

Comedian and screenwriter Andy Hamilton has created and written some of TV and radio's most popular shows, including Outnumbered, Drop the Dead Donkey, and Old Harry's Game. A regular panellist on QI, Have I Got News For You and The News Quiz, in this in-depth interview, he discusses his approach to comedy, explains how he adapts his writing for TV and radio differently, and talks about crowdfunding his first novel, The Star Witness.

Investigative journalist David Rose famously exposed the UK Government's role in the torture of terror suspects. Former Home Affairs Editor at The Observer and now Special Investigations Writer at The Mail on Sunday, he talks about his role in overturning the murder convictions of the Tottenham Three, explains how he secured the first interviews with prisoners released from Guantanamo, and reveals the backlash he has experienced on social media in response to some of his articles.

Bob leads many of the BBC's flagship radio stations, including Radio 2, 6 Music, and the Asian Network. In this extended interview, he outlines his plans as the first Director of BBC Music, discusses Charter renewal, reveals the issues leading to the closure of Channel 4 Radio, and tackles claims the Beeb is too populist.

0:55 - Day-to-day duties of a Radio Controller

8:00 - Will 6 Music survive?

17.20 - Career to date

24.40 - The internet's impact on radio and TV

33.30 - Lessons learned from the closure of Channel 4 Radio

39.00 - Charter renewal and the future of the BBC

43.30 - "My best day at the BBC so far..."

Joseph Harker, Assistant Comment Editor at the Guardian, and Jack Riley, Commercial and Audience Development Director at the Huffington Post, join Paul Blanchard to discuss the latest media headlines. This episode: Are the BBC are right to switch off BBC3? Should the Sun have published a survey claiming “one in five British Muslims has sympathy for ISIS”? And is it possible for traditional newspapers to compete online?

Investigative journalist John Sweeney is known for what he calls his "explosive" documentaries at BBC Panorama. In this intimate interview, he says what it was like to be harassed by the Church of Scientology; explains how he challenged the evidence of Professor Roy Meadow to help free cot death mum Sally Clark and six others, and recounts the challenges of going undercover in war zones like Chechnya, Zimbabwe and North Korea.

0.55 - Covering the Paris attacks

10:55 - ISIS brainwashing and reporting the Syrian war

13:00 - Maintaining sanity in a warzone

23:38 - What motivates him as a journalist

25:05 - The Church of Scientology and his famous on-screen 'meltdown'

28:37 - Redundancy and BBC charter renewal

31:42 - "The best thing I have ever done..."

James Porter, Head of UK Journalism Training at the BBC, and Rob Lewis, CEO of Electric Jukebox, join Paul Blanchard to discuss the latest media headlines. This episode: can news media be impartial on sport scandals when they are financially involved with the top teams? Will the music industry ever turn a sustainable profit from streaming? And what skills will the next generation of reporters need to compete?

Richard rose to prominence by shining a light on the secretive and sometimes shadowy world at the top of international sporting organisations. Now Sports News Correspondent at BBC Radio 5 Live, in this in-depth interview, he talks about applying the techniques of political reporting to sports; reveals how he secured an exclusive and rare interview with Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA, and says what he was really like, and predicts where some of the next shocking stories in the sports world will come from.

Paul Johnson, Deputy Editor at The Guardian, and Jason Collie, Assistant Online Editor at the London Evening Standard, join Paul Blanchard to discuss the latest media headlines. This episode: why did The Sun scrap its paywall just two years after it was introduced? Is the Government about to weaken the Freedom of Information Act, and should reporters be concerned? Now Seumas Milne has joined Team Corbyn as communications director, what advice should he give his new boss?