The Media Club · 10 March 2023 · 41 min
BBC's Lineker dilemma, Spotify makeover & Unedited's pilot season
- BBC Impartiality Debate
- Gender Representation in Media
- Spotify Redesign
- Unedited Pilot Season
- Media Quiz
In this episode of The Media Club, host Matt Deegan is joined by Karin Robinson, Bernard Achampong, Pat Younge, and Maxine Watson to discuss the week's media headlines. The main topics include the BBC's impartiality debate sparked by Gary Lineker's comments on the government's asylum policy, a new study on gender representation in UK media, and Spotify's major app redesign. The panel also delves into Unedited's pilot podcast season, a slate of original formats launching on March 13th, and plays a media quiz featuring new shows like 'Popcorn for Dinner' and 'Selective Outrage'.
Key takeaways
- The panel discussed the BBC's impartiality debate sparked by Gary Lineker's comments on the government's asylum policy, with differing views on whether he should face consequences.
- New research from ACAS found that UK news coverage of women-focused issues has decreased by a fifth in the last five years, with only 2% of online news coverage in 2022 focusing on such issues.
- Spotify unveiled a major app redesign at its StreamOn event, featuring a more visual, vertical-scrolling interface and enhanced podcast discovery, with mixed reactions from the panel.
- Unedited announced its pilot podcast season, launching on March 13th, featuring five original formats available publicly on all podcast platforms.
- In the media quiz, the panel identified 'Popcorn for Dinner' as a new sitcom podcast, 'Selective Outrage' as Chris Rock's live Netflix special, and '10 to the Top' as the replacement for PopMaster on BBC Radio 2.
In this episode
- News Round-up
- Main Discussion: Gary Lineker and BBC Impartiality
- International Women's Day and Gender Representation
- Deep Dive: Unedited's Pilot Season
- Spotify Redesign Discussion
- Media Quiz
Notable quotes
“It isn't a policy, it's a non-policy. What they actually want is the row about the non-policy.”
“The BBC does tie itself up in knots on this, me and Maxine and Bernard. We've all been there.”
“I just think it's a storm in the teacup.”
“I think it does have to be held to a standard. And Gary Lineker, with his high profile and his massive amount of followers, and the fact that he is on the BBC every week, you know, people are going to take notice of what he says.”
“If you let Gary get away with it, so to speak, then you've got a whole raft of presenters who will see that as license to put their kind of opinions out.”
“I think it's bold. I do like the Patreon tie-up, I think that will really drive.”
Discussed
Gary Lineker · BBC · Spotify · Unedited
Mentioned or recommended
- Popcorn for Dinner
- Selective Outrage
- 10 to the Top
- PopMaster
- African Queens
- Clarkson's Farm
