Media Masters

Paul Croughton is editor-in-chief of Robb Report. Founded in 1976, the luxury lifestyle brand has 18 international editions dedicated to cars, boats, planes and bikes – plus travel, watches, art & design, and food. Paul has spent the majority of his 20-year career on consumer titles, during which time he held a number of senior editorial roles at Arena and the Sunday Times. He launched the UK edition of Robb Report in 2016, and moved to New York to promote the brand globally as editor of their flagship US edition two years later. In this in-depth interview, he recalls his time on the launch team for celebrity weekly ‘Heat’, describes the challenge of creating content suitable for an ultra-high-net-worth readership, and discusses his editorship so far – including the ambitious redesign of its print edition and website.

[Editor’s note: this podcast was recorded in New York on 27th February 2020, before the impact and scale of the Coronavirus was known]

Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE is an international best-selling novelist and journalist. Starting as a typist at the Yorkshire Evening Post, she became a reporter at 16 and was the paper’s first woman’s page editor at 18. By 20, she was a fashion editor and columnist on Fleet Street. Her 1979 debut novel, ‘A Woman of Substance', has sold 32 million copies worldwide. Since then, she has had 38 books published in over 90 countries and 40 languages. In this in-depth interview, Barbara looks back fondly at the creative process and inspiration behind some of her best-loved characters, describes the experience of transforming her books from page to screen – and explains why she thinks 'Me Too' has "overstepped the mark".

Chris Mason is a BBC journalist and presenter. Over the last 15 years, he has developed an increasing profile as an expert on all matters Westminster. He also hosts the Radio 4 show ‘Any Questions?’ and co-presents Newscast, the televised podcast which started life in 2017 as Brexitcast. In this in-depth interview, Chris recalls the ‘imposter syndrome’ he experienced during his first presenting role on BBC Breakfast, describes the experience of going viral after admitting on air that he didn’t have “the foggiest idea” what was going to happen during Brexit – and takes us through his appointment and first few months as host of ‘Any Questions’.

Felicity Capon is editor of The Week Junior. Aimed at eight to 14-year-olds, since its launch in 2015 it has become the UK’s fastest growing magazine with a circulation of over 70,000. Felicity is also a travel writer for the adult edition, and appears regularly on its weekly ‘Unwrapped’ podcast, which unearths underreported stories. In this in-depth interview, she explains how sticking to the facts allows them to tackle difficult subjects without dumbing down, recalls the “baptism of fire” in her first week following the Paris terror attacks – and discusses how their loyalty to print has enabled them to buck the trend of declining circulations.

Jay Rayner is an award-winning writer, journalist and broadcaster. Best known as restaurant critic for the Observer, during his 30-year career he has covered topics from crime and politics to cinema, theatre and the visual arts. His broadcast credits include the BBC’s ‘MasterChef’ and ‘The One Show’ and Radio 4’s ‘The Kitchen Cabinet’. He also presents his own podcast, ‘Out to Lunch’, in which he interviews stars in a restaurant of his choosing. As a performer, he can be seen on solo book tours or as jazz pianist with his band, The Jay Rayner Quartet. In this in-depth interview, he argues that he is a “deadline-orientated old hack” who just happens to write about food, explains why he always orders “the stupidest thing on the menu” – and reveals the creative process which helps him to find the story behind each review.

Jacqui Gifford is editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure. Known for its stunning photography of far-flung destinations, the world's most influential travel brand has five global issues with a combined circulation of almost two million and an online readership of nine million. A specialist in travel and lifestyle content for almost two decades, Jacqui has written and edited for publications including Vanity Fair, OK!, and Brides magazine. In this in-depth interview, she examines changing consumer tastes such as the shift towards multigenerational holidays, discusses the challenge of appealing to the Instagram generation who value imagery over experience, and evaluates the impact of modern travel on local economies – and the planet.

Philip Thomas is chairman of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which celebrates the achievements of the creative communications industry. Its prestigious awards attract 30,000 entries from over 100 countries. Previously, Philip enjoyed a successful journalism and publishing career, and was editor of Empire and managing director of FHM Worldwide. In this in-depth interview, he explains why businesses that invest in creativity are more successful, discusses plans to create a movement with Facebook and Google to make the internet “a bit kinder”, and looks back on his “extraordinary” time transforming FHM into a global business – before the internet killed the magazine “stone dead”.

Phil Riley is a radio and podcast entrepreneur. Starting as a trainee at Birmingham-based BRMB in the 90s, he ultimately became programme controller. He launched the first ever Magic station, and led the transformation of Heart FM into one of the UK’s key industry players. Now a senior independent advisor, he has been called one of the most influential people in commercial radio. In this in-depth interview, Phil describes his journey from “doing grunt work” at BRMB to selling it as part of a reported £50m deal, discusses how micropayment models could lead to podcasts being monetised, and with over half of listeners now tuned into national digital stations, answers the question: “Can local radio survive?”

Mike Gunton is creative director of BBC Studios' Natural History Unit, and has been in charge of its programming for over a decade. Responsible for bringing new and pioneering stories about the natural world to global audiences, he has worked on more than 300 documentaries during his 35-year filmmaking career. In this in-depth interview, Mike explains how an “idiot” weaver bird inspired him to make documentaries entertaining and relatable, discusses the groundbreaking new technologies developed to film the plant world for the upcoming series ‘The Green Planet’, and outlines the challenge of showing audiences the reality of climate change without “being preachy”.

Ross King is an award-winning entertainment journalist and presenter. Starting in hospital radio as a teenager, he went on to work as a DJ, presenter and actor in the UK before leaving for Los Angeles in 2000. As entertainment correspondent for ITV, he is known for his red carpet interviews with Hollywood’s biggest stars on shows such as Good Morning Britain and Lorraine. In this in-depth interview, Ross describes the “light and shade” of covering celebrity gossip alongside hard-hitting news stories, argues that the 'Me Too' movement hasn’t yet killed the Hollywood casting couch – and reveals his favourite celebrity encounters from his star-studded career.