

The Media Show
BBC Radio 4
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
Episodes
Mentioned books

8 snips
Nov 12, 2025 • 43min
How do we fix the BBC?
Join industry experts John Shield, former BBC communications chief; Jamie Angus, ex-World Service director; Tim Montgomerie, a journalist and conservative commentator; and Jane Martinson, a Guardian columnist, as they dissect the BBC's recent crisis. They explore governance failures and the implications of a misleading Panorama edit on Trump. The discussion reveals deeper issues of board structure, political bias, and the urgent need for reform. With insights on global perceptions and crisis management, they highlight why the BBC remains a vital source of impartial news.

Nov 5, 2025 • 43min
Mishal Husain, Andy Wilman and the Traitors Finale
Mishal Husain, a seasoned broadcaster and fresh Bloomberg host, discusses her departure from the BBC and the nuances of journalistic integrity. TV producer Andy Wilman shares entertaining anecdotes from his years on Top Gear, including the origins of The Stig and managing strong personalities. Mike Cotton, the brain behind Celebrity Traitors, reveals the show's secretive casting process and the careful editing that keeps viewers guessing. Together, they tackle the BBC's recent controversies and shed light on the evolving landscape of media.

Oct 29, 2025 • 43min
Play for Today relaunch, diversity in advertising, streaming consolidation, Bettany Hughes and Treasures of the World
Katie Razzall and guests discuss some of this week's media stories including:
The relaunch of the drama series Play for Today by Channel 5 with actors Anita Dobson and Nigel Havers who star in one of the new productions and Graham Kibble-White Head of TV & Radio at The Telegraph.
After Reform MP Sarah Pochin complained about adverts being "full" of black and Asian people we look at representation in UK advertising with Dino Myers-Lamptey, Founder, The Barber Shop and Sara Denby, Director, Oxford Future of Marketing Initiative, Oxford University.
We discuss consolidation in the streaming industry and ask what it could mean for producers and views with the CEO of Curve Media Camilla Lewis and historian Professor Bettany Hughes tells us about founding her production company Sandstone Global and her new TV series Treasures of the World.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Content Producer: Lucy Wai

Oct 22, 2025 • 43min
Reporting on the Prince Andrew scandal, 'slow journalism' and how AI is influencing how we consume news
Ros Atkins talks to Paul Salopek the journalist who’s walking around the world in search of stories. We catch up with him in Alaska.
We’ll hear about new research on how AI is influencing how we consume news - and what impact that is having on the information we trust - with Luke Tryl, from the think tank More in Common, and Niamh Burns, senior analyst in Tech and Media at Enders Analysis.
And how have the media reported the Prince Andrew scandal with royal biographer Robert Hardman, broadcaster Simon McCoy and royal correspondent Emily Andrews.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Content Producer: Lucy Wai

Oct 15, 2025 • 42min
Reporting the Gaza ceasefire, Bari Weiss profile, Today in Parliament
Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy and The Independent’s Bel Trew join us to discuss their reporting on the Gaza ceasefire. Professor Lee Edwards from the LSE analyses how the media has been framing recent events. Also on the programme, who is the new editor-in-chief of CBS News? Semafor’s Max Tani profiles Bari Weiss. Plus, the BBC’s Susan Hulme reflects on the future of Today in Parliament as it celebrates its 80th anniversary.

Oct 8, 2025 • 43min
Steve Rosenberg, Zanny Minton Beddoes, new Victoria Beckham documentary and the ethics of secret filming
Katie Razall on some of the week's biggest media stories: BBC Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, on winning the Charles Wheeler Award for outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor in Chief of the Economist on their new video podcast Insider which launches this week. What are the editorial and ethical issues around secret filming as seen in the recent Panorama documentary Undercover In The Police? And as a new three part Victoria Beckham documentary drops on Netflix we consider the rise of the self produced celebrity documentary. Producer: Lucy Wai
Assistant Producer: Elena Angelides

Oct 1, 2025 • 43min
TV rights and the Boat Race, conspiracy theories in the media ecosystem, Larry Ellison, Newspaper legal challenge to Reform UK
Ros Atkins on some of the biggest media stories this week.
As the BBC loses TV rights to the Boat Race – we talk to Siobhan Cassidy Chair of the Boat Race Company and Pete Andrews, Head of Sport at Channel 4 which will now broadcast the annual event. We profile the tech billionaire Larry Ellison – as he steps further into the media world - with Telegraph journalist James Warrington. We'll look at the routes that conspiracy theories take through the media ecosystem with Dr Robert Topinka from Birkbeck University and the broadcaster and author Dr Matthew Sweet.
We hear why online content creators teaming up with broadcasters can sometimes be a difficult working relationship with Ben Doyle, co-founder of After Party Studios
and Natalie Fahy Editor of the Nottinghamshire Post and its online arm Nottinghamshire Live tells us about their legal challenge to Reform UK after they stopped speaking to their reporters, sending them press releases and inviting them to events. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai

Sep 24, 2025 • 43min
Reporting on migrant hotels, Jimmy Kimmel's return, The Hack
A new BBC investigation into the government's use of hotels to house migrants has led to the government ordering an urgent review into its findings. Journalist Sue Mitchell explains how she got access to record inside these hotels. As Jimmy Kimmel returns to the screen, Brian Stelter, CNN's chief media analyst, assesses what it means for relations between the US media and the Trump administration. Tara Copp, Pentagon correspondent for the Washington Post, takes us through the Pentagon's new restrictions on reporters. Also on the programme, the executive producer of ITV's new drama The Hack, Patrick Spence, reveals how they made the series and the financial pressures facing the TV industry. Plus, creators Jade Beason, BrandonB and Shabaz Ali discuss the value of making niche content.

Sep 17, 2025 • 43min
Guto Harri, James O Brien, Isabel Oakeshott on the Unite the Kingdom rally and the Charlie Kirk Shooting, Tim Davie
Katie Razzall speaks to the Director General of the BBC Tim Davie at the Royal Television Society Festival. Ros Atkins discusses the language used by the media to discuss the Unite the Kingdom rally and the shooting of Charlie Kirk with studio guests Guto Harri, James O Brien and Isabel Oakeshott.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai

Sep 10, 2025 • 43min
Super Mario is 40, Russia Whatsapp ban, Murdoch succession, The media v The Judiciary?
Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall on Super Mario at 40 with the Guardian's Video Games Editor Keza MacDonald, State crackdowns on social media in Russia and Nepal with Eva Hartog from Politico and Dr Nayana Prakash from Chatham House. Also resolution in the Murdoch family succession battle with Claire Atkinson from The Media Mix and the impact of media coverage on the judiciary with Sir Robert Buckland and legal journalist Frances Gibb.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai


