Podcast
The Media Show
Hosted by BBC Radio 4 · EN
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
39episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Grok AI, Media coverage of the Iran protests, Hamnet film producer Liza Marshall and inside prison radio
Jan 1400:42:37Tap to summarizeKatie Razzall and guests discuss how Iran’s recent protests have sparked debate about how they were covered by international media. We speak to BBC Persian’s Behrang Tajdin, Lyse Doucet, and Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat about the challenges of reporting from one of the world’s most restricted environments. Also, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is under fire for generating sexualised, non-consensual images of women and children. Ofcom has launched an investigation under the Online Safety Act, and the UK government is preparing new laws to ban ‘nudification’ tools. We hear from Chi Onwurah MP and CNN’s Hadas Gold on what this means for tech regulation. Plus, Phil Maguire, co-founder of the Prison Radio Association, reflects on building the world’s first national radio station for prisoners and its impact on rehabilitation. And Liza Marshall, producer of the new film Hamnet, reveals how she secured the rights early - before Maggie O’Farrell’s novel became a global sensation- and what it takes to back a winner in Hollywood.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
Transcribe →US raid on Venezuela & what it says about military-media relations, Actors & AI, Influencers at Westminster & the lobby system
Jan 700:42:48Tap to summarizeKatie Razzall and Ros Atkins on what the media knew and when regarding the US military raid on Venezuala. They're joined by US based journalist Max Tani from Semafor the Defence Editor at the Times Larisa Brown and Brigadier Geoffrey Dodds who oversees the UK’s D notice system.Actors fight back against the TV and film industry using AI scanning on their images without consent with the General Secretary of Equity Paul Fleming.And as the government brings in changes to the lobby briefing system for journalists with more influencers being invited to press events we talk to personal finance content creator Rachel Harris, journalist Steve Richards and head of the Westminster press lobby Lizzy Buchan. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Content Producer: Lucy Wai
Transcribe →How to Make a Hit TV Show
Dec 3100:42:51Tap to summarizeHave you ever wondered how reality TV gets made? Why some shows become instant classics, while others vanish without trace?In this special edition of The Media Show, four of the UK’s top creatives in unscripted television reveal their secrets. From The Traitors to Pointless, Hunted to Gogglebox, they discuss what makes a hit format, how casting decisions are made, how streamers and influencers are changing the landscape, and where the next big hit might come from.Guests: Tim Harcourt, Chief Creative Officer, Studio Lambert; Matt Bennett, Director of Programmes, Shine Television; Tamara Gilder, Joint MD, Remarkable Entertainment; Art Sejdiu, Head of Commissioning Development, Channel Four.Presenters: Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall Producer: Dan Hardoon
Transcribe →Jeremy Vine’s legal battle, Bondi Beach attack coverage, , BBC charter renewal pressures, Trump’s $5bn lawsuit and microdramas
Dec 1700:42:48Tap to summarizeRos Atkins on some of this week's biggest global media stories. Jacqueline Maley of the Sydney Morning Herald talks us through the newsroom’s challenge in covering the Bondi Beach attack during a Hanukkah celebration - a story shaped by rapidly circulating bystander video, fraught community tensions and intense scrutiny over tone and verification.Jeremy Vine reflects on his hard‑fought legal victory after sustained defamatory and harassing posts from former footballer Joey Barton.Media correspondent Alex Farber of The Times examines the BBC’s newly launched charter renewal process, the debate around future funding models, and how all this intersects with President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the corporation over an edited Panorama clip.And finally, Mengchen Zhangfrom the BBC’s Global China Unit explains the rapid global rise of the microdrama - the ultra‑short, phone‑first video dramas attracting huge investment and reshaping viewing habits around the world.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
Transcribe →The battle for Warner Bros, Eurovision controversy latest over Israel participation, festive TV battles and Meta’s pivot to AI.
Dec 1000:42:46Tap to summarizeKatie Razzall and Ros Atkins on some of the biggest media stories this week:Hollywood is in turmoil as Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s film and streaming businesses for $72bn, but Paramount has stepped in with a rival bid that could reshape the industry. We’ll hear from Natalie Jarvey, reporter at The Ankler, and Dade Hayes, Business Editor at Deadline, and Charlotte Henry author of Streaming Wars about what this means for franchises like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and for the future of streaming itself.Eurovision faces its biggest crisis in years, with countries pulling out over Israel’s participation and broadcasters debating whether to air the contest at all - BBC Music Reporter Mark Savage joins us with the latest. Meanwhile, the Christmas edition of the Radio Times, once as much a part of the season as mince pies and port, fights to remain relevant in the streaming era. We’ll be joined by Shem Law, Brand Editor of the Radio Times.And as Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta cuts back on its metaverse ambitions, shifting billions into artificial intelligence we talk to Alex Hern, AI writer at The Economist.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
Transcribe →Ian Hislop, Gary Lineker's new podcast deal with Netflix, YouTubers filming drug and alcohol use in Manchester, football piracy
Dec 300:42:39Tap to summarizeThis week on The Media Show with Ros Atkins: Ian Hislop joins us to talk satire, lawsuits, and the making of Private Eye. We’ll hear why the Manchester Evening News is putting up a paywall, and ask whether YouTubers filming drug and alcohol use in Manchester count as journalists. Football piracy is costing the sport billions - we’ll explore the scale of the problem. And Gary Lineker signs with Netflix for his Rest Is Football podcast.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
Transcribe →The Reith Lecture row, Telegraph sale & CNN documentary MisinfoNation: White Genocide
Nov 2600:42:53Tap to summarizeKatie Razzall and Ros Atkins on some of the biggest stories shaping the UK and global media. Dame Caroline Dinenage MP Chair of the Culture Media and Sport Committee, former Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, and Max Goldbart from Deadline discuss the BBC crisis: from Samir Shah’s leadership challenges to Shumeet Banerji’s damning resignation letter, and the controversy over editing Rutger Bregman’s Reith Lecture to remove a line about Donald Trump. We also examine the £500m sale of the Telegraph to the Daily Mail group – one of the biggest consolidations in British media – and ask what it means for press plurality with Dr Alice Enders from Enders Analysis and CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan on his new documentary MisinfoNation: White GenocideProducer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
Transcribe →Manager of YouTube's Sidemen Jordan Schwarzenberger, BBC crisis latest, Ed Sheeran Netflix producer Ben Winston
Nov 1900:42:48Tap to summarizeKatie Razzall and Ros Atkins discuss the latest developments in the BBC’s ongoing crisis after President Trump threatens a multi-billion dollar lawsuit with: Baroness Tina Stowell, Conservative Peer and former Head of Corporate Affairs at the BBC and the Media Editor at the Sunday Times Rosamund Urwin. Phil Riley, co-founder of Boom Radio, warns that BBC Radio risks becoming an 'orphan asset' unless the BBC rethinks its funding and leadership and Jordan Schwarzenberger, co-founder of Arcade Media and manager of The Sidemen, argues Gen Z won’t pay the licence fee and calls for a creator-led, platform-savvy BBC that can compete in a decentralised media world.And Ben Winston, producer of The Kardashians, Gavin and Stacey, and the upcoming 2028 Olympic ceremonies talks about his latest project: a Netflix documentary with Ed Sheeran, filmed entirely in one take.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Martha Owen
Transcribe →How do we fix the BBC?
Nov 1200:42:43Tap to summarizeOn this week’s edition of The Media Show Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins take you inside the biggest crisis to hit the BBC in decades. A Panorama edit of Donald Trump’s speech has spiralled into a leadership meltdown, culminating in the simultaneous resignation of the Director General and Head of News. The BBC Chair is under fire, the Board is divided, and the President of the United States is threatening legal action. All this as the BBC begins negotiations for a license fee renewal in a shifting media landscape. Joining the show to make sense of it all are: John Shield, former BBC communications chief, now at the advisory firm Teneo, Jamie Angus former World Service director and Today programme editor, Tim Montgomerie, journalist and cohost of Not Another One podcast, Jane Martinson, Guardian columnist and with the view from America the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker Tina Brown. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Martha Owen
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