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The Media Show: DMI project; Royal pictures; media ownership; journalists in Egypt

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05/02/2014

DMI project; Royal pictures; media ownership; journalists in Egypt

BBC Radio 4 - The Media Show, DMI project; Royal pictures; media ownership; journalists in Egypt

Steve Hewlett on the DMI project, Royal pictures, media ownership and journalists in Egypt

The BBC's failed DMI project. Plus are recent pictures of the Royals at odds with past objections to 'private' photos, and should Ofcom have the final say on media ownership?

Former BBC director general Mark Thompson apologised to MPs this week for the failure of the £100m Digital Media Initiative. The project, that was meant to allow BBC staff to create, share and store content in a new digital system, was suspended in 2012. The DMI project is one of a series of controversies at the BBC that has prompted parliamentarians to grill former and current bosses. Steve Hewlett talks to the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge on why she hopes this is the last saga she'll have to investigate at the BBC.

Long lens photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge getting off a plane en route to Mustique with Prince George have appeared on the cover of Hello! magazine. Some say the publication of the photos appears to be at odds with past objections to "private" photographs of members of the royal family taken in public places. So, under what circumstances can pictures of the Royals be published? Steve Hewlett discusses the issue with Max Cisotti, who runs the agency which sold the pictures to Hello!, royal correspondent Robert Jobson, and former palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter.

Communications watchdog Ofcom should have the final say on issues of media ownership rather than the culture secretary. The House of Lords Communications Committee says the watchdog should also carry out regular reviews of the media landscape that would "set the context" for any future decisions. Lord Inglewood, the chair of the committee, joins Steve Hewlett to discuss the findings.

And as protests in take place in Nairobi in support of detained Al-Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste, we speak to the broadcaster's head of newsgathering about the dangers now facing journalists in Egypt.

Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

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