The Media Show

BBC Radio 4
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Aug 27, 2025 • 43min

Noel Clarke libel case, AI articles, filming wildlife

Actor Noel Clarke has lost his libel case against The Guardian. The paper had run a series of stories containing allegations of sexual misconduct. The judgment found that the meaning of each of the newspaper’s articles was ‘substantially true’. We speak to The Guardian's Sirin Kale, one of the reporters behind the original reporting. Plus, legal commentator Clive Coleman explains how libel cases work.A number of online news outlets have withdrawn articles by what they thought was a freelance journalist called 'Margaux Blanchard'. But now, it seems the stories may have been written by AI. Press Gazette broke the story last week – they were tipped off to the story by Jacob Furedi, editor of Dispatch, whose suspicions were raised by one of her pitches. Jacob joins us alongside Dr Glenda Cooper, Head of Journalism at City St George's, University of London.A new football season is upon us, and with it, fresh innovations in how we watch. In the UK, for the first time, some of the live TV rights to the German Bundesliga have been awarded to YouTube channels. Minal Modha from Ampere Analysis analyses the changes to football broadcasting. Telegraph sport columnist Graham Scott also joins us to discuss pivoting from Premier League refereeing to journalism. As the BBC's natural history series Parenthood approaches its finale this weekend, series director and producer Jeff Wilson from Silverback Films, takes us behind the scenes.
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Aug 20, 2025 • 43min

Trading off the news, Edinburgh TV Festival, how the global media covered White House peace talks

Ros Atkins talks to Hollywood insider and founder of the digital media company Puck Matt Belloni and Camilla Lewis from Curve Media at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Sam Koppelman from Hunterbrook Media on his new business model to trade off the news and how has the global media covered the Ukraine peace talks at the White House. It was the first day in her new role as US Editor for Channel 4 News for Anushka Asthana for the summit which included a unprecendented delegation of European leaders. We also talk to Ekaterina Kotrikadze news director and anchor at TV Rain about Russian media coverage.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
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Aug 13, 2025 • 43min

Journalists in Gaza, AI Avatar, Housing Journalism, True Crime

After an Israeli attack in Gaza City killed four Al Jazeera journalists, including correspondent Anas al-Sharif, we examine the situation for journalists in Gaza with Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Oren Persico from Israeli news website Seventh Eye discusses how Israeli media is covering the war.A journalist's exchange with an AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, who was killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, has raised questions about posthumous “interviews.” We hear from Joaquin’s father Manuel and Claire Leibowicz of the Partnership on AI.A scoop by The i’s housing correspondent Vicky Spratt prompted the resignation last week of homelessness minister Rushanara Ali. Vicky joins us to explain how the story came about.Plus: Simon Ford, executive producer of Channel 4’s Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text, on gaining access to a landmark investigation into Encrochat and the long-running 24 Hours in Police Custody.Producer: Dan Hardoon Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
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Aug 6, 2025 • 43min

Return of MasterChef, No. 10's TikTok Strategy, Bluey on YouTube, Investigating Tesla

MasterChef has returned to our screens. We hear from the BBC journalist who first broke the story about allegations of misconduct and ask what the future holds for one of the BBC’s biggest brands.As Downing Street holds its first ever influencer reception, we speak to one of the TikTok creators who attended and the journalist who first reported on the event. We lift the lid on the relationship between influencers and the government.Children’s cartoon Bluey is riding high in the YouTube charts. We hear from the BBC executive behind Bluey's YouTube strategy.Plus, New York Times reporter Chris Buckley on the Taiwanese TV drama imagining a Chinese invasion and the political controversy it's sparked. And the German journalist who gained access to an extraordinary data leak from Tesla discusses what he found about the company and its boss, Elon Musk.Producer: Dan Hardoon
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Jul 30, 2025 • 43min

Christiane Amanpour, Dead Internet Theory, Food journalism

What is the ‘dead internet theory’ and what does it tell us about our anxieties about AI? The Economist’s Alex Hern explains. We also hear from Newsguard’s Isis Blachez about a network of fake news sites built not for people – but to manipulate what answers we get from AI chat bots. Plus, Mark Graham from the Internet Archive discusses how the organisation is approaching its task in the age of AI.Christiane Amanpour is CNN's Chief International Anchor and host of Amanpour on CNN and PBS. She's interviewed presidents, prime ministers, and popes, and is one of the best-known journalists covering international news. She reflects on her career and tells us why she’s turning to podcasting.How can food journalism and content drive news subscriptions? We discuss with Emily Weinstein, Editor in Chief of Cooking and Food at The New York Times; and get an insight into the art of restaurant criticism with The Sunday Times’ Charlotte Ivers.
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Jul 23, 2025 • 43min

YouTube media coverage of Epping migrant hotel protests, Catholic influencers, Claims journalists in Gaza face starvation

Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins discuss some of the biggest media stories this week, including how the protests at the migrant hotel in Epping are being covered by different media outlets. Videos by YouTube journalist Wesley Winter have been seen hundreds and thousands of times online.Cristina Nicolotti Squires, Ofcom’s Broadcasting and Media Group Director talks about a new report from the regulator which says BBC and other public service broadcasters are in danger of becoming 'endangered species'. Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director of Agence France-Presse on claims that journalists reporting in Gaza face starvation and as the Catholic Church prepares to hold a social media influencers conference in Rome we talk to someone who's attending, Mary-Aoife Ong Co Director of Carlo Acutis Ireland, and to Justin Tackett a philosopher at North Carolina State University about the Vatican's media strategy.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
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Jul 16, 2025 • 43min

Afghan data breach superinjunction, Future of the BBC, Tour de France

This week a super-injunction was lifted that allowed the press to report on a story it’s known about for some time – the Ministry of Defence’s leaking of personal details of almost 19,000 Afghan people who had applied to move to the UK. The Times’s Larisa Brown tells us how she, alongside other journalists, fought the super-injunction.The BBC’s Annual Report has contained some good news for the organisation, but has been overshadowed by recent controversies. We assess its future with the BBC’s former Editorial Director, Roger Mosey, and The Financial Times’s Daniel Thomas.As new TV show Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters begins on ITV, we hear from creative director of Plimsoll Productions Andrea Jackson about what it takes to develop a new format blending entertainment and natural history.This is the last year that the Tour de France will be on free-to-air TV in the UK. Rachel Jary, staff writer at Rouleur, and Chris Boardman, Active Travel Commissioner and former racing cyclist, discuss how the media covers the race.Producer: Lucy Wai Assistant Producers: Emily Channon and Martha Owen
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Jul 9, 2025 • 43min

Gregg Wallace, The Salt Path, Oasis reunion tour, migrant small boats media coverage

Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins discuss some of the main media stories in the news this week including the latest allegations about TV presenter Gregg Wallace with Max Goldbart, International TV Editor at Deadline. French police have been filmed getting tough with migrants getting into dinghies to cross the Channel this week, but was it just for the cameras as some claim? Andrew Harding BBC Paris Correspondent talks about his report which made headlines this week and Catherine Norris Trent, senior correspondent at France 24 reflects on how the French media cover the issue. Heloise Wood, Deputy News Editor, at Bookseller talks about fact checking in the publishing industry after claims the hit book The Salt Path which was made into a film isn’t really a truthful biography and as Oasis performs live for the first time since 2009, we consider who owns the iconic images of their reunion concert? Andrew Moger, Chief Executive of the News Media Coalition and Danni Scott, Music and entertainment reporter at the Metro discuss. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wai
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Jul 2, 2025 • 43min

Broadcasting Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, Tim Franks, F1’s media strategy

Tim Franks, a BBC presenter and Middle East expert, discusses his new book exploring identity in journalism. He reflects on the BBC's controversial decision not to air a Gaza documentary, contrasting it with Channel 4’s choice. Chris Banatvala offers insights on media regulations and the challenges of impartiality in sensitive reporting. The conversation also touches on the impact of social media on news coverage and the evolving media strategy of Formula One to engage younger audiences.
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Jun 25, 2025 • 43min

Jimmy Lai - media tycoon and political prisoner, the new Wargame podcast, Tattle Life gossip website

Katie Razzall on some of this week's biggest media stories including an interview with Sebastien Lai, the son of the the political prisoner and media tycoon Jimmy Lai. We talk to Minal Modha Head of Sport Media Rights at Ampere Analysis about why the streaming giant Netflix is embracing some traditional linear TV channels. After one couple win libel damages against the gossip website Tattle Life media lawyer Persephone Bridgman Baker talks about the wider implications of the ruling. Deborah Haynes Sky News Security and Defence Editor on her new podcast The WarGame and reporting on the NATO summit in the Netherland and Behrang Tajdin a Correspondent with the BBC Persian News Service talks about the intimdation many staff and their families are facing because of their work.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Assistant Producer: Lucy Wei

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