04/11/2009

Available for over a year

After the sacking of government drugs adviser Professor David Nutt, we look at whether the way the media covers drugs has a bigger impact on policy making than the science. The BBC Trust has upheld a complaint about Mock the Week, finding that comedian Frankie Boyle's comments about swimmer Rebecca Adlington were 'humiliating'. We talk to Richard Tait of the BBC Trust and comedian Steve Punt about when comedy becomes offensive. Almost half of the 22,000 people who complained to the BBC about its decision not to run a Disasters Ememrgency Committee appeal for Gaza actually contributed to it. Media historian Professor Jean Seaton explains why she is concerned about web-based protests. Plus, the future of news according to American author, journalist and visionary Steven Johnson.