The Media Show - 24/02/2010

MPs are demanding changes to protect press freedom and standards, but has their report been sidetracked by an obsession with the News of the World phone hacking scandal? And should the Press Complaints Commission be reformed to address MPs' concerns about its credibility? Ritula Shah talks to Paul Farrelly MP of the culture, media and sport committee and Peta Buscombe, chair of the PCC. There is to be a new version of Upstairs Downstairs, made in the UK but paid for in part by US TV. How much do US networks influence the dramas we see on our screens? That's the question for Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of Masterpiece Theatre from WGBH in Boston. Andrew Rawnsley has said the sources for his book on Gordon Brown are '24 carat', but what are the challenges for parliamentary writers who rely on the lobby convention of not naming sources? Veteran journalist and biographer Anthony Howard takes the long view. In a new report, the National Audit Office is widely expected to criticise the BBC for the cost of rebuilding of Broadcasting House in London. Can the cost of prestigious media buildings ever be justified by the value they bring to readers, listeners and viewers?