The Media Show - 03/06/2009

Steve Hewlett is joined by Ben Brown, the BBC's veteran war correspondent and presenter who has just written his first novel, Sandstealers. Set in Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq, it is a fictional account of issues facing foreign correspondents, including the addictive nature of war reporting and the psychological effect it can have on journalists in later life. Following the news that Britain's Got Talent runner-up, Susan Boyle, has been admitted to a private London clinic suffering exhaustion and feeling 'emotionally drained', we look at the vetting process contestants go through before they are allowed to appear on reality programmes and the duty of care they are owed after they sign on. And as a new feature-length documentary about the impact of overfishing on our oceans is released in cinemas, we discuss the future for funding this kind of journalism.