Media Confidential

In this episode of Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel discuss the reporting on the “madness of ‘King Trump’”, the war in Iran and the developments since the last episode, in which journalist Susan Glasser described the president as “the big, fat, naked emperor in the room”. As a surprising pick is announced as the new Ofcom chair, the editors spill the beans on what they know about him and their...

On this week’s Media Confidential interview, New Yorker columnist Susan Glasser joins Alan and Lionel to discuss how reporters should deal with President Trump. The three discuss how to hold power to account when the president’s communications are so vast, from phone interviews to social media posts. They also talk about the risks of US media “ sanewashing ” Trump and normalising a distorted new r...

Alan and Lionel discuss the Observer after investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr, the paper’s former features writer, suggests that some of its new funders may not be who they seem. And as Scott Bessent, US secretary to the Treasury, takes aim at the Financial Times —claiming that a story about him was “manufactured”—former FT editor Lionel gives a considered reply. The editors also examine t...

In this week’s Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel are joined by former Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi. The three discuss the Post ’s editor-in-chief Will Lewis, following his resignation in February. They discuss how Lewis got the role, his tenure and his abrupt exit, days after overseeing mass layoffs. They also talk about key decisions made by Post owner Jeff Bezos and how they led...

In this episode of Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel react to the news that Matt Brittin has been confirmed as the new director-general of the BBC. They discuss his suitability for the role and make their predictions. What will his first moves be? Following Alan’s recent investigation into GB News, the duo ask if the electoral commission should be paying attention to the channel for its coverag...

In today’s episode of Media Confidential Alan and Lionel are joined by Chris Banatvala. Chris was Ofcom’s founding director of standards and executive member of the content board. The three discuss Ofcom’s approach to GB News after Alan headed an investigation into the broadcaster and ask if the regulator is turning a blind eye to the channel’s content. They also discuss the evolution of Ofcom’s i...

In today’s Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel talk about the US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, after he told a CNN reporter he was looking forward to the CNN takeover by the family of billionaire Larry Ellison. They’ll also discuss the comments of Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in which he threatened to censor broadcasters who don’t toe the Republican...

In today’s episode of  Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel are joined by Margaret Sullivan, former public editor at the  New York Times  and writer of the Substack newsletter American Crisis. The three talk about the war in Iran and how it has been covered by the American press, as well as debating whether certain other stories have fallen to the wayside because war is dominating t...

In today’s episode Alan and Lionel focus on the sale of the Telegraph. They discuss the new owner, Axel Springer, and what its CEO Mathias Döpfner said he would do if he bought it when he appeared as a guest on Media Confidential in 2023. Döpfner had previously tried and failed to buy the same paper. Our hosts also disagree over Döpfner’s approach to controversy, the political right and journ...

In this Monday’s Media Confidential interview Alan and Lionel talk to Gabriel Sherman, journalist and author of Bonfire of the Murdochs, how the fight to control the last great media dynasty broke a family and the world. Gabriel has been a Murdoch-watcher for many years and scoured the thousands of documents of the Nevada trial where the succession struggles played out in the courts and all “their...

On this week’s Media Confidential , as conflict in the Middle East escalates, Alan and Lionel explore the challenges of reporting on fast-moving international crises. How has the Trump administration been briefing the media, as Israel and the United States wage war with Iran? And after the Pentagon's blacklisting of Claude, they also discuss artificial intelligence: should governments and militari...

This week on Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel are joined by Ailbhe Rea, political editor at the New Statesman , and George Parker, political editor of the Financial Times , for an insider’s account of the Westminster “Lobby”—the exclusive group of journalists with privileged access to Britain’s corridors of power. With enormous influence over political narratives, the Lobby shapes how the coun...

In this episode of Media Confidential , the Times beats Lionel to his scoop about the leading contender for the BBC’s new director-general. Will Matt Brittin be a good fit? Alan and Lionel investigate Brittin’s background and discuss why the BBC urgently needs editorial oversight. After a takeover of the Telegraph collapsed, negotiations about its sale are underway (again). The editors analyse com...

This week, Alan and Lionel are joined by Clare Melford, CEO and co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a non-profit which aims to mitigate the spread of digital disinformation. Labelled a “radical activist” by the Trump administration and denied a Visa waiver from the US for her work, Clare discusses the political and financial pressures on the GDI—and the protective measures her co-...

In today’s Media Confidential , Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber discuss Labour’s latest scandal, after thinktank Labour Together reportedly hired a company to gather material about journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke—who were investigating its financial affairs—and then handed over the information to GCHQ. The information produced by the US-based PR firm allegedly included “deeply person...

In today’s Media Confidential , Alan Rusbridger is joined by Marty Baron, long-time former editor of the Washington Post. Marty discusses the recent sweeping cuts across the paper—including the decimation of the sports department—and reveals the shocking way one foreign correspondent found out their job was being axed. He talks about his own relationship with Post owner Jeff Bezos, as well as how...

In this episode of Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel discuss the Washington Post sacking over 300 journalists—or one-third of its newsroom—and the dangers of not having a strong journalistic organisation in the US capital. Lionel challenges Post owner Jeff Bezos’s argument that decisions about cuts have to be data-led and speculates on the departure of editor Will Lewis: was it out of his own f...

In this episode of Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel are joined by Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists. The trio discuss the growing importance of open-source investigation techniques to verify cases, including the recent ICE shooting of Alex Pretti, where Bellingcat was able to confirm events throug...

In this week’s episode of Media Confidential, Alan and Lionel discuss the decline of the Washington Post. Has owner Jeff Bezos just lost interest—and is the Post now losing the readers? And, staying in America, they discuss President Trump’s ongoing treatment of female reporters in Washington. Keeping track of the BBC, Alan and Lionel also discuss the new interim director general at the BBC, Rhodh...

In this episode of Media Confidential , Alan and Lionel are joined by Bob Ward, policy and communications director of LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. The three discuss how climate issues are covered by the press, why this kind of reporting has become embroiled in the culture wars—and why the health of our democracy (and planet) depends on solid reporting ab...

After ICE’s killing of nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Alan and Lionel discuss how strong reporting has shed light on what really happened. As the New York Times ’s forensic video analysis contradicts the government narrative, the pair explore the fractious relationship between US politics and journalism. They also analyse GB News presenter Matthew Goodwin standing for Reform UK, a shake-up at C...

Should the BBC be publicly funded? This week, Alan and Lionel are joined by media researchers and fellows of the British Academy, Georgina Born and Justin Lewis, whose new report on public service media tells us what the data really says. Reforms are needed, but how radical should they be? The researchers discuss how to ensure the BBC’s independence and accountability, and what the UK can learn fr...

This week, Alan and Lionel unpack Prince Harry’s ongoing trial against the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers—and the implications for media ethics and privacy. They also discuss US government intrusion into journalism, in light of the FBI’s seizure of a Washington Post reporter’s electronic equipment to reveal her sources, which Alan calls “menacing in the extreme”. Though a judge has...

This week on Media Confidential, Alan and Lionel talk to Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the author of The Seven Rules of Trust. They discuss how the online encyclopaedia has evolved to deal with the rise of new digital challenges, like bots and AI.  After Elon Musk branded the website “Wokepedia” and launched Grokipedia as a competitor, the trio discuss regulation, as well as how to ad...

This week, Lionel tunes in from a cycling trip in South Africa to discuss the baboons he’s encountered on his visit—and in British journalism. Alan reviews Liz Truss’s recently launched YouTube channel, which seems rife with conspiracy theories, and the pair discuss the rise of social media politics. As Starmer says that X could lose the right to self-regulate, our hosts also talk about the UK’s s...