Media Confidential

Alan and Lionel are joined, once again, by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, to answer listeners’ questions on a fast-moving media world.

The editors discuss the ethics of whether stories concerning national security should be published. On a lighter note, they share their favourite newsroom-related movies, and are tasked with describing their jobs in just five words. Alan and Lionel reveal which editors they were most in awe of when they began their journalism careers.

Finally, one answer produces fits of giggles, as the hosts share stories of unfortunate typos that appeared under their watches, including one that could have spelt disaster for thousands of men taking the advice of the Guardian…

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Just days ahead of the US election, Alan and Lionel are joined by Steve Coll, a double Pulitzer prizewinner, senior editor at the Economist and former managing editor of the Washington Post.   

Steve reflects on one of the most fraught US elections in history, analysing how the candidates’ relationship with the media has changed and what a Trump win would look like.

Political scientist Robert Kagan also joins the podcast, in the aftermath of his resignation as editor-at-large at the Washington Post. Last week, the newspaper broke with five decades of convention and announced that it will no longer endorse presidential candidates. 

Robert discusses what he sees as an attempt by the Post’s owner Jeff Bezos “to curry favour with a likely Trump presidency”. But what does this mean for the newspaper whose slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness”?

To watch this interview, search for ‘Prospect Magazine’ on YouTube, where Media Confidential is published every Friday morning. 

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Alan and Lionel are joined by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, senior staff editor at the New York Times and former editor-in-chief at gal-dem, for a special edition of Media Confidential’s Q&A.

What do newspaper editors talk about when they’re all in the same room? What support is available for reporters who have witnessed traumatic situations? And what are the rules of giving feedback to writers? (Clue: offer them a shit sandwich.)

With both Trump and Harris making recent appearances on high-profile podcasts, the trio also discuss the role of podcasts in elections and whether American influencers like Joe Rogan might be able to shape the outcome in November…

As a bonus, guess which presenter is obsessed with trying to reach “genius” status in the New York Times game “Spelling Bee”.

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Alan and Lionel are joined by Eric Beecher to discuss his new book, The Men Who Killed The News about media moguls' abuses of power.

At 33, Eric became the youngest ever editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, before Rupert Murdoch crowned him editor-in-chief at the Melbourne Herald.

So why, several years later, was he sued by the Murdochs?

Eric has seen Murdoch at his best, successful and innovative, and at worst, a ruthless dictator.He shares a story of pressure and coercive behaviour, and his growing sense that the news agenda was being manipulated to avoid bad press connected to his boss. reveals that very little happens in the Murdoch empire without Rupert knowing--including, he alleges, the phonehacking scandal.

Plus, Alan tries an AI experiment on Lionel, which leads to fears that they'll both soon be deemed redundant from their current roles.

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On this week’s Q&A, Alan and Lionel are back with a postbag of questions.

One listener wonders if AI makes exposing the truth almost impossible, while another asks for some insider tips for new editors.

In the run up to the US election, Alan and Lionel also discuss Elon Musk’s open endorsement of Donald Trump and whether X should be penalised as a result.

The former newspaper editors also extol the virtues of courage (and Dutch courage) for journalist, plus, inevitably, more on the drinking habits of those working in the media

Send your questions to Alan and Lionel via email at [email protected] or via X, @mediaconfpod

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Alan and Lionel are joined by Michael Lewis, the bestselling author of The Big Short and The Blind Side.

His new book Going Infinite chronicles the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, the tycoon behind the crypto-trading company FTX.

When the company collapsed, and it was discovered that Bankman-Fried had stolen billions of dollars from customers, it ultimately landed him a prison sentence.

Michael was fascinated by Bankman-Fried, watching this story unravel before his eyes. But when Alan raises some criticisms of the book, the interview gets heated.

Media Confidential’s interviews are also published on YouTube every Friday morning. To watch this explosive interview, and more “idiot questions” from our hosts, simply go to YouTube and search for ‘Prospect Magazine’.

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From today's hottest new columnists to the perils of fine wine, Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber discuss listeners' questions with characteristic dry wit.

This week's episode tackles Lionel’s favourite question so far—what does an editor actually do all day?

Alan and Lionel share their tales of the swanky lives of Fleet Street editors...including an anecdote with a seriously morbid conclusion.

The editors also make their predictions about when physical newspapers will become a thing of the past.

To ask Alan and Lionel your questions, send them to [email protected], or via X @mediaconfpod

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Alan and Lionel are joined by Esther Solomon, editor of the English language edition of Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper known for critically reporting on human rights and Israel's policies towards Palestinians.

A year on from October 7th, with hostages still in Gaza, Esther talks about Netanyahu’s fluctuating popularity as regional war continues to escalate. How will Israel strike back at Iran following a recent rocket attack? And when the bombs fall silent and a dialogue needs to begin, what happens next?

Alan and Lionel also discuss Tortoise Media’s ongoing bid to buy the Observer, and whether the final whistle is about to blow on Gary Lineker’s time as Match of the Day host.

You can also watch this week’s episode online: simply go to YouTube and search for ‘Prospect Magazine’ for this, and many other interviews, on the Prospect channel.

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Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber dig into the Media Confidential mailbox to answer listeners' questions about the media. This week, they discuss political bias in UK newspapers, as well as the growing number of people who get their news from social media. Are these sources reliable? And should social media companies be liable for material posted on their platforms?

One listener wonders whether there is anything that the editors strongly disagree on, and asks a pressing question: Alan or Lionel—who would win in an arm wrestle?

Cast your bets and send your questions to [email protected], or via X @mediaconfpod

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Justine Roberts is not happy. Earlier this year she discovered that tech giant OpenAI has been scraping Mumsnet—the successful website of which she is CEO—for content. AI machines, like ChatGPT, train their Large Language Models (LLMs) in this way. Justine and her team have recently launched the first British legal action against OpenAI.Meanwhile, Google is fighting to overhaul UK copyright law to allow it to freely mine content for commercial gain, without compensating other publishers.

Justine explains to Alan and Lionel what she hopes to achieve in her court case—one that could be just one of the first of many of its kind—and why she is so angered by what she views as an existential threat to anybody publishing content online.To watch this interview and much more, head over to YouTube and search for ‘Prospect Magazine’.

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