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The Media Show

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The Media Show: Local TV's first casualty; Class action against Facebook; Reporting suicide

Local TV's first casualty; Class action against Facebook; Reporting suicide

13/08/2014

BBC Radio 4 - The Media Show, Local TV's first casualty; Class action against Facebook; Reporting suicide

Some newspapers have been criticised over their coverage of the death of Robin Williams.

The Local TV service for Birmingham goes into administration; Austrian law student launches a class action against Facebook over privacy rights; Responsible suicide reporting.

The company which was awarded the licence to run Local TV for Birmingham has gone into administration. City TV, trading as BLTV, was awarded the licence in November 2012 and was supposed to be on air by November this year. Its head, Debra Davis, told the Media Show that it's failed to find enough investment. Administrators say they now hope to find another operator. Steve McCabe Labour MP for Selly Oak tells Steve Hewlett why he thinks the licensing system set up by OFCOM isn't robust enough; Jamie Conway, CEO of Made TV, who lost out on original bid for Birmingham, explains why he still thinks local TV in the city is workable, and Bobby Hain, Director of Channels at STV Glasgow, tells Steve how they've made a go of it there. 

A law student in Austria, Max Schrems, has filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook. The action claims the social network has violated the privacy rights of users. More than 25.000 people from more than 100 countries have now joined the privacy law suit. Max received a stack of 1,222 pages after he was the first European to request that Facebook disclose all the information it had about him. He tells Steve his concerns.

Following the death of Robin Williams, some newspapers have been criticised for publishing too much information about the incident. Joan Smith, Executive Director Hacked Off argues that much of the coverage has been sensational and a breach of the Editor's Code. Also joining Steve Hewlett is Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of the mental health charity Mind, who says he will be taking concerns to the Press Complaints Commission, and Bob Satchwell, Executive Director of the Society of Editors', a defender of the press' coverage.

Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

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