The Media Show debates TV news purpose and impartiality

BBC News's The Media Show examined whether television news is still fit for purpose as audiences turn to podcasts, YouTube and social media. The programme brought together Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 News lead presenter, and Lewis Goodall, presenter of The News Agents and Sunday with Lewis Goodall on LBC.

Goodall argued that television news had changed little between 2006 and 2026. He said it still felt like sitting behind a desk, with the same rhythm, structure and package. He blamed a combination of the political climate and a large but dwindling legacy audience, and said there had been a remarkable lack of imagination from those who lead television news.

He said the talent pipeline needed drastic repair. News organisations had closed much of their recruitment and relied on students who could afford expensive journalism graduate schools, he added. He called for television news to look to content creators and video journalists working on phones. Legacy organisations would have to offer intellectual property and allow creators off the leash, he said, because audiences in the smartphone age respond to authentic individuals rather than brands.

Goodall also criticised the BBC's treatment of strong personalities over the past decade. He said that approach had too often made television news appear bland and dominated by people afraid to say something. Impartiality was an important goal, he said, but it had become bound up with a wider problem of avoiding personality and flair.

Guru-Murthy accepted that television news should innovate and recruit new talent. He said newsrooms were now digital production operations that packaged reporting for television, social media and YouTube. The distinct role of public service journalism, he said, was to send journalists out as eyewitnesses, talk to people on the ground and hold power to account. He warned that hiring the latest TikTok trend could not replace trusted expertise.

On impartiality, Guru-Murthy said it was not a restriction on journalism but a badge of quality that helped viewers identify trusted brands. He said his organisation's online content voluntarily complied with the Ofcom code. Goodall challenged him over the BBC director general's approach, asking why the corporation would seek an algorithmic attention subsidy for its journalism if it was confident in it.