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The Media Show: Election Polls in the News, CEO of All3Media Jane Turton

Election Polls in the News, CEO of All3Media Jane Turton

13/05/2015

BBC Radio 4 - The Media Show, Election Polls in the News, CEO of All3Media Jane Turton

News chiefs discuss the dominance of stories about election polls. Steve Hewlett presents.

News chiefs discuss why election coverage was dominated by poll results, and the CEO of All3Media talks about fostering creativity in a global marketplace. Steve Hewlett presents.

Research from Cardiff University shows that coverage of this election was dominated by the story of the polls, with broadcasters choosing to run stories about the 'horse-race' between Labour and the Conservatives, rather than stories about policy or issues. So, why did they decide to give poll results such prominence, and had they focused more on covering policies, would this have revealed more about the real mood of the public? Steve Hewlett talks to James Harding, director of BBC News; Jonathan Levy, head of news gathering at Sky News, and Richard Sambrook, a former director of BBC news who is now Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University. They discuss the editorial decisions around covering the election campaign, and what can be learned for next time round. Also joining Steve is David Dinsmore, editor of Britain's best-selling daily, The Sun - a paper which prides itself on being closely attuned to what the nation thinks - about his decision to go strong on coverage of the "neck and neck" race between the parties, and whether there was an over-reliance on opinion polls in this years coverage. 

All3Media is Britain's biggest independent production company, responsible for content ranging from the BBC's acclaimed Wolf Hall, to Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and Hollyoaks. It was recently bought by Discovery Communications, the US media company behind the Discovery Channel, and Liberty Global - two companies controlled by American billionaire John Malone. Jane Turton, the newly appointed chief executive, talks to Steve Hewlett about the challenges of American ownership, how the indie sector can continue to foster creativity in a global marketplace, and her views on the current industry landscape. 

Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

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