Cliff Richard vs the BBC, Brexit coverage, Accents in politics

Published: July 20, 2018, 4 p.m.

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Roger Bolton hears listener views on the Sir Cliff Richard verdict and finds out about the new wave of World Service podcasts. BBC News executive James Stephenson discusses the corporation\'s Brexit coverage and Chris Mason talks about accents in politics.

This week, a legal ruling awarded Sir Cliff Richard \\xa3210,000 in damages against the BBC with the judge saying some of the news coverage of a police raid on Sir Cliff\'s home infringed his privacy rights in a "serious" and "somewhat sensationalist" way. Citing concerns with the precedent set down in the case, the BBC has stated that it is considering an appeal. We hear listeners\' views.

Brexit has been a constant feature in the Feedback inbox and, this week, listeners have been asking why the BBC hasn\'t put more resources into investigating what they see as Brexit "scandals". Roger puts those concerns to the BBC\'s News Editor, James Stephenson.

Death in Ice Valley, an investigative podcast that looked into the death of an unidentified woman in Norway in 1970, has been downloaded and streamed more than 2.7 million times. It\'s the BBC\'s most successful new podcast launch. BBC World Service Podcast Editor Jon Manel, who commissioned the series, joins Feedback to discuss how his network is looking to reach new audiences.

And a recent Radio 4 documentary looked at accents and politics, asking Could the PM Have a Brummie Accent? It caught the imagination of many Feedback listeners. Chris Mason, BBC Political correspondent and Yorkshireman, talks about why he took on the topic.

Producer: Will Yates\\nA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

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