The Media Show

In the internet age, is TV news still fit for purpose? We speak to broadcaster Lewis Goodall who argues it needs urgent reform for the digital and social media age and to Krishnan Guru-Murthy, one of the lead presenters of Channel 4 News.
Blue Planet III, narrated by David Attenborough, returns this Sunday. Jack Bootle, the BBC's Head of Specialist Factual Commissioning, told a recent press screening that no generative AI was used – every frame is real. He tells us more and give us a behind the scenes look at the new series.
A celebrity has asked the High Court to prevent ITN and the Guardian from publishing serious allegations about him. We explore how media law is stopping information about the unnamed individual making it into newspapers and the wider media.
And Rachel Riley from Countdown and 8 Out of 10 Cats has a new YouTube channel and podcast called "The Maths of Everything" to bring numeracy to the public.
Presenters: Ros Atkins and Katie Razzall
Editor: Lisa Jenkinson
Assistant Producer: Emily Channon

This week the BBC announced more cuts as part of its drive to save £500 million, following on from a series of other budget saving measures over the last few months. Katie and Ros talk to BBC Deputy Director-General Rhodri Talfan-Davies, and take stock of everything announced so far with a panel of experts: ex-BBC executive Roger Mosey, MP for Southport Patrick Hurley and Baroness Morgan, former Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
And a new Channel 4 programme investigates public attitudes toward disability. The creators of The Experiment have built a fictional care home for disabled people and invite members of the public into the facility to see if they can recognize Nazi-era concepts disguised as modern social care. Producer Nick Parnes and presenter Sophie Morgan join the show.
Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins
Producers: Lisa Jenkinson and Tim Bano

This week, an extended interview with the screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies. He talks to Katie and Ros about his long career in television, from early days in children's TV, to bringing back Doctor Who, to his more recent successes like the critically acclaimed Tip Toe. He also gives his thoughts on the media landscape today, including the role of AI and the lack of commissioning opportunities.
Also, former barrister and legal correspondent Clive Coleman, now a specialist in crisis PR and reputation management, and former BBC news exec Katy Searle discuss the BBC's defamation settlement with the founder of LGBTQ+ news site Pink News and his husband over a 2024 investigation. How should the BBC respond when it gets things wrong?
Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins
Producers: Lisa Jenkinson and Tim Bano

What are the challenges of reporting on the Cornell University rape investigation, and how did it emerge in student and social media? We discuss with Kathleen Bartzen Culver, Professor of Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison; and Dr Robert Topinka, Reader in Digital Culture at Birkbeck University of London.

As Woman’s Hour turns 80, its editor Karen Dalziel joins us to reflect on its impact and legacy. Also on the programme, the BBC’s Nick Thorpe looks at what's changed since Prime Minister Péter Magyar promised to restore media freedom six months ago. Plus, Anneka Rice looks back on her broadcasting career, five decades after she joined the BBC as a trainee.

Manchester City arranged "sham contracts" with a number of commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m, the Premier League says. We discuss how the media was involved in reporting the story over many years with BBC Sport's Laura Scott; Der Spiegel journalist Christoph Winterbach; Nick Harris from Sporting Intelligence and Sky’s sports correspondent Rob Harris.
New research from Stanford University suggests a significant share of newly created websites may now be produced, at least in part, by artificial intelligence. We hear from one of the study's lead researchers, Maty Boháček, alongside technology writer Timandra Harkness, about the scale of AI-generated content online and what it means for the future of the web.
Celebrity Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing are back on our screens. But what goes into casting the stars who make these formats a success? Celebrity talent executive Stef Aleksander takes us behind the scenes of one of television's most important and least visible jobs.