Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Matt Wells

Media Talk for May 9

Steve Hewlett and Stephen Brook are my guides through the media jungle, and we kick off with the story of ITV's £5.6m fine for fleecing viewers out of millions of pounds in the premium-rate phone scandal. Why was the fine not higher? And what of the extraordinary revelation that Ant and Dec were wrongly given the people's choice award at the 2005 British Comedy Awards, apparently because Robbie Williams only said he'd turn up if he was handing a gong to the pair?

And in the week that Boris Johnson was elected mayor of London, we ask if it was the Standard wot won it, with its series of anti-Ken articles by Andrew Gilligan.

My special guest this week is Adrian Monck, professor of journalism at City University in London, who has a new book out called Can You Trust The Media? But it's not the usual hand-wringing stuff - quite the opposite. Monk says the media is overly obsessed with trust, while the viewers, listeners and readers don't care.

Gareth McLean is on hand as usual - this week he laments the demise of our so-called rival, The Message.

• Play and subscribe to the podcast here

• Join our Facebook group

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.