The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty

In a country where bella figura is a national pastime, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the maestro of media manipulation. Having risen to political primacy with the aid of his Mediaset empire, he now controls 90% of the bel paese’s television channels including the state-run RAI network. Quantity, it seems, does not equal quality. Fed on a diet of semi-naked dancing girls, inane competitions and rickety reality shows built around the most ridiculous of premises, is it any wonder that Italians are becoming a nation of fame-hungry wannabes?

This film investigates how the media has reported war, from the First World War to the present day.

The true story of the influential and controversial columnist, Walter Winchell.

Exposes how companies are desperately rebranding as socially responsible — and how that threatens democratic freedoms.

This film examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news, and provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangerous impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Media experts, including Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy) and David Brock (Media Matters) provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society. This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed."

Documentary about the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over Welles' Citizen Kane (1941). Features interviews with Welles' and Hearst's co-workers also acts as a relatively complete biograph of Hearst's career.

A film about the noted American linguist/political dissident and his warning about corporate media's role in modern propaganda.

The film was commissioned in 1988 by Leonard Stern as the first of a series on celebrity businessmen and finished in 1991. Back then, the only way for a film to be seen was on television or in the theater. Donald threatened to sue any broadcaster or distributor that took on the film. In effect, it was suppressed. It was screened twice in back-to-back standing room only showings at the Bridgehampton Community House on July 3, 1991, the same day that Donald announced his engagement to Marla Maples.

A detailed and compelling portrait of one of the most formidable characters in British politics as she faces her final days in power. The year is 1990 and Margaret Thatcher's support within the government is wavering - her hold on the premiership hangs in the balance. Then, long-serving politician Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns over Thatcher's attitude to Europe. His resignation speech sparks a chain of events that leads to the overthrow of Britain's first woman prime minister. This modern dramatic tragedy illustrates the strengths and fatal flaws of this iconic woman more clearly than ever before and reveals how the very aspects of her character that helped her secure power are the ones that ensured her downfall. Drama starring Lindsay Duncan.

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

David Hare concludes his trilogy of films about MI5 renegade Johnny Worricker with another fugue on power, secrets and the British establishment. Johnny Worricker goes on the run with Margot Tyrell across Europe, and with the net closing in, the former MI5 man knows his only chance of resolving his problems is to return home and confront prime minister Alec Beasley.

All the games and behind-the-scenes of Silvio Berlusconi's power, including politics, media and soccer. Citizen Berlusconi is the original version of the documentary written by Andrea Cairola and Susan Gray broadcast on August 21, 2003, during the Wide Angle program of Thirteen/Wnet New York, the major U.S. public TV station Pbs.

A presidential debate, unconfirmed rumors and four reporters who take the political process into their own hands. With the election only a week away, the two candidates square off in a final debate. The televised event takes a dramatic turn when the moderator and three panelists confront one of the candidates with unconfirmed rumors and allegations. The debate quickly turns into a witch hunt and destroys one politician's career. They also give Tom Chapman, the up-and-coming reporter investigating the panel's ambush, the story of a lifetime: What went on behind the last debate.

This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.

Shadows of Liberty presents the phenomenal true story of today's disintegrating freedoms within the U.S. media, and government, that they don't want you to see. The film takes an intrepid journey through the darker corridors of the American media landscape, where global media conglomerates exercise extraordinary political, social, and economic power. The overwhelming collective power of these firms raises troubling questions about democracy. Highly revealing interviews, actuality, and archive material, tell insider accounts of a broken media system, where journalists are prevented from pursuing controversial news stories, people are censored for speaking out against abuses of government power, and individual lives are shattered as the arena for public expression has been turned into a private profit zone

Follow the lives of the Roy family as they contemplate their future once their aging father begins to step back from the media and entertainment conglomerate they control.

Frustrated at a new moderate Conservative government and deprived of a promotion to a senior position, chief whip Francis Urquhart prepares a meticulous plot to bring down the Prime Minister then to take his place.

Follows the professional and personal relationship between a charismatic attorney and a powerhouse television producer as they attempt to control the media, the justice system, and ultimately - each other...

Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.

Tory! Tory! Tory! is a 2006 BBC television documentary series on the history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism told through the eyes of those on the New Right. It was nominated for the best Historical Documentary at the Grierson Awards in 2006.

It's the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been legalised and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide.

The battling egos, power struggles and inter-band rivalries that split up The Beatles, The Supremes, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, The Beach Boys, N.W.A, Van Halen and Sonny and Cher. From crippling drug addictions to scandalous affairs, we uncover the incredible true stories by recreating the key moments the cameras missed in addition to using rare band interviews and off-stage footage to piece together each dramatic tale.

Max is a charismatic self-made American businessman with media outlets in London and around the world. When the self-destructive lifestyle of his 30 year-old son, Caden, spirals out of control, the devastating consequences threaten the future of the family, its empire, and a country on the brink of change.

The political stories of the day.

The rise and fall of Fox News founder Roger Ailes, focusing primarily on the past decade in which Ailes arguably became the Republican Party’s de facto leader, while flashing back to defining events in his life.

The irresistible rise and dramatic downfall of Margaret Thatcher. Her inner circle reveal how a political outsider won power and dominated British life through a turbulent decade.

The minister, his mistress, and her lover the spy. The story of the woman at the centre of one of the 20th century's biggest scandals – which changed Britain forever.

Francis Urquhart's survival at the top is threatened by the new king's populist agenda.

Featuring exclusive reporting from The New York Times, interviews with people who worked inside the Murdoch companies, and decades of rich archival footage, this six-part series goes behind the scenes of the improbable rise of a media tycoon, his outsized influence around the globe, and the intense succession battle between his children over who will inherit his throne. Cinematic and thrilling, The Murdochs: Empire of Influence charts the high-stakes deal making, political maneuvering, and dynastic betrayals – and how the ambitions of one family birthed one of the largest media empires in history.

The big names behind the big stories. Laura Kuenssberg talks to those making the news, inside and outside politics.