Media Masters

Decca Aitkenhead is chief interviewer at the Sunday Times. Beginning her career at The Independent in 1995, she then spent 21 years at The Guardian, winning ‘Interviewer of the Year’ at the British Press Awards in 2009. In 2018 she joined the Sunday Times where she has profiled the very biggest names including Hillary Clinton, JK Rowling, Oprah Winfrey and most recently made headlines talking to Tony Blair. She has also written her memoir ‘All At Sea’ which reflects on the tragic death of her husband and coming to terms with her grief. In this in-depth interview, Decca reveals some of the methods behind her successful technique, reflects on her explosive 2008 interview with then chancellor Alistair Darling where he inadvertently revealed “the country was facing the worst recession in 60 years”, and discusses how she has been able to write about the devastating events in her personal life with such honesty.

Hadas Gold is CNN’s media, tech and politics correspondent based in London. Beginning her career as a web producer at Politico in 2012, then media reporter, she joined CNN in 2017, moving to the UK the following year. Since then she reported extensively on Brexit and now coronavirus. In this in-depth interview, Hadas discusses the current east/west tensions in tech and its impact on the future of the internet, shares her concern for reporters accused of fake news in countries without the 'protection of the first amendment', and reflects on her experience in Argentina with the Pultizer fellowship in 2011, where she spent time with the cartoneros who dig for recyclables in Buenos Aires, learning to handle sensitive situations and convey both emotion and politics when telling their story.

Alex Bilmes is editor-in-chief of Esquire UK. Beginning his career in 1994 as a reporter for the Richmond and Twickenham Times (under chairman David Dimbleby), he joined Esquire as editor in 2011, via senior positions at British GQ and Vogue. In this in-depth interview, Alex reveals his repositioning strategy – increasing the cover price, publishing bi-monthly and preferring ‘everyday heroes’ above celebrities on the cover, discusses his love of print journalism and figuring out how it can adapt to the shifting consumer habits, and shares anecdotes from his interviews with the likes of Jay-Z and Angelina Jolie.

Jon Sopel is the BBC’s North America editor. Joining the Beeb in 1983, he rose through the ranks to become one of the best-known faces across their flagship programmes. Appointed to his current role in 2015, he is familiar to many for standing outside the White House reporting on the ups and downs of the Trump presidency. In this in-depth interview, Jon argues that the BBC’s “fair and balanced” coverage is more important than ever amidst growing claims of ‘fake news’, discusses Trump’s ability to surprise even him on a near-daily basis, and shares his excitement at the launch of ‘Americast’, his new podcast co-hosted with colleague and friend Emily Maitlis for what is set to be a fascinating and unprecedented election. 

Lorraine Heggessey has had some of the biggest jobs in broadcasting - head of Children’s BBC, controller of BBC1 (the first woman to do so) and chief executive of Talkback Thames. Now a media consultant, public speaker and advisor to Channel 4, she left the media world in 2017; and spent two years working for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, as chief executive of The Royal Foundation. In this in-depth interview, Lorraine recalls the time she memorably fired Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon for taking cocaine, describes the risks she took when commissioning Strictly Come Dancing in order to “reinvent Saturday nights,” and discusses her work as chair of the Grierson Trust, which helps young people from diverse backgrounds to get into documentary making.

Angelo Carusone is president and CEO of Media Matters for America, a campaigning non-profit described by Bill O’Reilly as “the most dangerous organisation in America.” Founded in 2004 and based in Washington DC, it challenges right-wing bias and monitors social media across the US to correct conservative misinformation. In this in-depth interview, Angelo argues that Donald Trump takes advantage of the “right-wing echo chamber created by Fox News”, challenges critics accusing them of “liberal fascism” after they urged brands to pull their adverts from Facebook as part of the recent BLM boycott, and shares his fear that a “free and fair US election is impossible” given the current political climate.

Nazir Afzal is a writer, legal reform campaigner and former chief crown prosecutor. He spent 25 years at the CPS and is best known for prosecuting landmark cases including the Rochdale grooming gang, Stuart Hall and the death of ‘Baby P’, which he recalls in his recently published memoir ‘The Prosecutor‘. A lay member of the ipso's complaints committee, he also advises governments on preventing violence against vulnerable women, especially those from a BAME background. In this in-depth interview, Nazir reveals how his upbringing in inner-city Birmingham inspired him to pursue a career in law, shares his ideas for reforming the criminal justice system and tackling its institutional racism, and argues that the courts can build public confidence through better engagement with the media.

Martin Frizell is editor of ITV’s This Morning. Beginning his career at Radio Clyde, he worked as a correspondent for Thomson Reuters and GMTV before his ten years in the editors chair famously came to an abrupt end. He then briefly entered the world of PR as an executive director at GolinHarris, before returning to television in 2014 as editor of Loose Women. After a year he took the helm at This Morning, one of the most prestigious editorships in UK television. In this in-depth interview, he shares his exhilarating and often heart-breaking adventures as a young correspondent (including the time he was begged by a Kurdish family to take their baby), argues that This Morning has acted as a ‘comfort blanket for the nation’ during lockdown, and shares his joy at the programme's campaigning successes - including ‘Project 84’ which directly led to the creation of a minister for suicide prevention.

Hugo Rifkind is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. Joining The Times in 2005 he has been a diarist, features writer and TV critic and now writes many of their leaders as well as ‘My Week’ – the very popular diary parody. He is also a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz. In this in-depth interview, Hugo shares the difficulty of “being funny in a very un-funny political climate”, discusses the peculiar experience of taking part in The News Quiz without a studio audience, and reveals details of awkward real-life encounters with subjects of his satire.

Jamie Angus is director of the BBC World Service Group. Appointed in 2018, he oversees the World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com, as well as BBC Monitoring. He joined the Beeb in 1999 and has edited Newsnight, The World at One and The World This Weekend, and as editor of Radio 4’s Today programme, he took the show to a peak audience of more than seven million listeners. In this in-depth interview, he recalls taking over Newsnight in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal when the programme’s future was in doubt, argues that social media giants like Facebook and Google have to “step up” in the fight against ‘fake news’, and describes standing up for the BBC’s editorial impartiality and reputation against disinformation around the world as a “war”.