Media Confidential

Does the word “PRESS” on a flak jacket keep a journalist safe or make them a target? In this week’s Media Confidential, we focus on the sobering death toll of reporters covering the war in Gaza, as highlighted by the annual report of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Alan and Lionel hear from the CPJ’s chief executive Jodie Ginsberg and speak to AFP’s Global News Director Phil Chetwynd, who has a team reporting from inside Gaza and who highlights an incident when journalists were seemingly targeted by Israeli guns. Alan also gives insight on dealing with Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, whose latest high profile court proceedings began this week

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Amid great concern over the provision of local news in the UK and beyond, could organisations such as the Manchester Mill and the Bristol Cable challenge famous old papers in some of Britain’s biggest cities and calm long-term fears of areas becoming “news deserts”?

Alan and Lionel hear from Joshi Herrmann and Sophie Atkinson from Manchester Mill about whether their community subscriber model is the way to fund commercially sustainable journalism capable of holding powerful people and institutions to account in local and regional “patches”.

There’s also an update on “Gibb gate”, comment on the latest limp Ofcom ruling pertaining to GB News, plus analysis of Tucker Carlson flying to Moscow to interview the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

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Can Rishi Sunak still rely on what has often been called the “Conservative media”, or are news organisations on the political right becoming increasingly hostile to the prime minister?

Journalist David Aaronovitch helps Alan and Lionel analyse who and what is driving significant cultural and political shifts in some of the UK’s newsrooms and media boardrooms. Could the Telegraph and GB News even desert the Tories and back the Reform party at the next general election?

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Alan’s investigation into “Gibb-gate” continues. In a major article for Prospect, he sets out the influence and connections of a tight-knit and largely unaccountable clique which is undermining the political independence and regulation of public service broadcasting. At the centre of that group is Robbie Gibb, Theresa May’s director of communications when she was prime minister.

Alan and Lionel discuss the independence of the BBC and its journalism, as well as government appointments more generally, with Roger Mosey (former head of BBC TV News, controller of Radio 5 Live and Editor of the Today programme) and Dorothy Byrne (former Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4).

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Is Donald Trump now unstoppable in his quest to secure the Republican presidential nomination, after kicking off caucus season with a decisive win in Iowa? As Trump shapes up for another shot at the White House, Alan and Lionel ask how US media can pitch their coverage and analysis to ensure scrutiny of such an unreliable and divisive figure, without ignoring the election issues that matter to his supporters. They’re joined by Alex Burns, who is now head of news at POLITICO and covered the 2020 election for the New York Times, to analyse how news organisations will and should cover the Trump campaign and question the record of President Joe Biden. Plus, what is former chancellor George Osborne’s involvement with one of the key bidders for the Daily Telegraph, and what is going on at Reach plc as Alison Phillips departs as editor of the Daily Mirror?

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Award-winning actor Toby Jones, who plays Alan Bates in ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office, reflects on the drama’s huge public and political impact, alongside its producer Patrick Spence. 

Alan and Lionel ask why this screen version has cut through in a way that news reporting of the Post Office Horizon scandal did not, with insights from Professor Rasmus Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. 

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2024 is a crucial year for liberal democracies around the world, with over 50 nations voting in general elections and up to 4.2bn people casting their votes. In this episode, Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber discuss why media election coverage will be more important than ever, as key campaigns spill over from conventional, legacy formats such as print, television and radio and onto a wide range of social media platforms. Will fake news and misinformation become even more widespread, and could artificial intelligence have a decisive impact on outcomes?

Alan and Lionel also unpick the importance of a key AI lawsuit between the New York Times and Open AI and Microsoft. And then there’s Twitter, or X. How will the social media platform perform with the challenges that it faces on a daily basis since Elon Musk took over the reins?

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Sky News’s Political Editor Beth Rigby joins Alan and Lionel to reflect on 2023’s key events and to launch the inaugural Media Confidential “awards”, nominating people, stories and news organisations for recognition in these categories:

Most important story of the year

Most under-reported story of the year

Turkey of the year

Political scoop of the year

News organisation of the year

Journalist of the year

Villain of the year

Hero/Heroine of the year

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One of the world’s leading photojournalists discusses her career in conflict zones and tells the story of how she captured a famous, horrific image while under fire in Ukraine.  

Lynsey Addario analyses the challenges of war photography in an era when journalists are increasingly likely to be targets and false images on social media make it difficult to assess what is real. She also shares her perspective on the pictures coming out of the war in Gaza and the courage of those capturing them.  

Plus, Alan and Lionel discuss the latest phone hacking headlines: court success for Prince Harry, and allegations about the role of Sir William Lewis, who is set to become CEO of The Washington Post.  

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