Media Masters

Trevor Beattie is one of the most accomplished and respected faces in the British advertising industry, and founder of ad agency BMB. Responsible for creating iconic campaigns including ‘Hello Boys’ for Wonderbra and FCUK for French Connection, he is also a movie producer whose films include the BAFTA-winning sci-fi movie ‘Moon’, and documentaries on subjects such as the thalidomide scandal. His poster featuring William Hague’s face superimposed onto an image of Margaret Thatcher played a key part in Tony Blair’s second landslide victory, and he went on to lead Ed Miliband’s leadership campaign. In this in-depth interview, Trevor describes how he “tricks” his brain into creative thinking, argues that the “drippy” sentimentality typified by the John Lewis adverts is on its way out – and explains why his most famous campaigns would now fall flat in the face of political correctness.

John Bird is founder and editor-in-chief of the Big Issue. Launched in 1991, the independent magazine is sold by homeless people to help them out of poverty. Their charitable foundation, launched in 1995, helps people in 74 countries by providing support and advice. He also started the International Network of Street Papers, which supports 100 publications with a combined readership of more than 100 million. In this in-depth interview, John reveals the costly mistakes which almost caused the magazine to fold in its first year, describes how he transformed the business in just three months following an ultimatum from a high street investor – and outlines his vision for “prevention, emergency, coping and cure” which he hopes will eradicate homelessness for good.

Lord Michael Grade is one of the most recognised names in television. With a background in light entertainment, he started his broadcasting career at LWT in 1973. Dominating the British entertainment industry for five decades, he has held the hat-trick of top television jobs – chief executive of Channel 4, chairman of the BBC, and executive chairman of ITV – as well as a chairman at Pinewood Studios. He was awarded a CBE for services to broadcasting in 1998 and was made a life peer in 2011. In this in-depth interview, he recalls the highs and lows of his five decades in the industry, explains why he left a lucrative role at Embassy Television in the US and took “the biggest pay cut in history” to become controller of BBC1, and discusses one of the proudest moments of his career – his involvement in the groundbreaking Live Aid concert.

Alex Hill is the CEO of AEG, the global sports and live entertainment company. They own, manage or consult with more than 120 arenas, stadiums, theatres, clubs and convention centres around the world, entertaining more than 100 million people annually. Starting out at KPMG, Alex was appointed CFO at Freemantle Media before being headhunted by AEG in 2007. In this in-depth interview, he takes us through the operation to reinvent the O2 from an idle “white elephant” that was the Millennium Dome into a multi-purpose international venue attracting nine million visitors a year, takes us behind the scenes of their global events such as Coachella and the ATP tennis finals, and gives us a glimpse into the future of the events industry – from 'scam-proof' tickets to the cutting-edge holographic technology which allows artists to perform in multiple venues simultaneously.

Dr David Starkey is a historian and broadcaster. Developing an interest in the past through grammar school and a scholarship to Cambridge and a lecturer in Tudor history at LSE for nearly 30 years, his trenchant opinions and unforgiving style quickly caught the eye of broadcasters and journalists. His popular television documentaries include ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’ and ‘Monarchy’, and his appearances on Radio 4's ‘The Moral Maze’ earned him the reputation as “the rudest man in Britain”. In this in-depth interview, he argues that the rise of historical programmes has done nothing to reverse the decline in academic standards, discusses how his uncompromising nature has taken him through his career, and reveals how a passion for tradition means he is a staunch Conservative – despite his working class roots.

John Ryley is head of Sky News. Abandoning his original plans to become a barrister 35 years ago, his career in journalism started in local radio before joining the BBC’s trainee scheme. Working on programmes such as The World at One and the Nine O’Clock News, he left for ITN in 1990, where he later became editor of News at Ten. Joining Sky News in 1995, he took the helm 11 years later. In this in-depth interview, John reflects on key moments of his career including the successful campaign for televised election debates, talks about their culture of continuous innovation including ‘Sky News Brexit-Free’, and reveals the name of their new global news channel, launching in partnership with NBC. 

Melissa Fleming is Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations. Leading a team of 700 people in 59 countries, she is responsible for galvanising global support to tackle issues around climate change, war and sustainable development goals – as well as drawing attention to the plight of the world’s 70 million refugees. Her TED talk describing one young woman’s harrowing escape from war-torn Syria has been viewed by millions, inspired her best-selling book and will soon be a Hollywood film. In this in-depth interview, Melissa discusses the challenge of mobilising global citizens into taking action, explains the power of storytelling in drowning out the “drumbeat of war”, and defends celebrity ambassadors such as Angelina Jolie against critics who accuse them of being “white saviours”.

David Aaronovitch is a columnist and presenter. Starting his career in the 1980s as a researcher, he moved from television to print journalism in 1995 as chief leader writer for the Independent. He has written for many newspapers in the UK and has won numerous accolades, including the Orwell Prize for Political Journalism, and his television work includes the BBC1 documentary series ‘The Blair Years’. He has also written three books, including ‘Voodoo Histories’, which debunks modern-day conspiracy theories. In this in-depth interview, he discusses being a “radical moderate” in an era of increased polarization, argues that the thinking around urban myths such as the “fake” moon landings has led to the rise of Trump and Corbynism, and after nearly two decades of writing columns, takes us behind the creative process.

Camilla Tominey is associate editor of the Daily Telegraph. Reporting on a variety of royal and political stories over the last 15 years, she has covered major events from royal weddings to lavish foreign trips, and has witnessed the “brutal” inner workings of Westminster. In this in-depth interview, she explains the rivalries within the Royal household and how each “doubles down” separately in times of crisis, argues that privileged politicians have to take a “long, hard look at themselves” – and examines the options available to Buckingham Palace to deal with Prince Andrew.

Daniel Roth is editor-in-chief of LinkedIn. Described by Business Insider as ‘the most powerful business journalist on the internet’, he oversees their Daily Rundown of news and insights, which is viewed by more than 40 million members a day. With users spanning 56 countries and nine languages, the site could be considered the world’s largest business publication. In this in-depth interview, Daniel outlines how the “three C’s” – 'creating, curating and cultivating' content – help to “pop the filter bubbles” of social media, explains how teams of “relevance engineers” use machine learning to keep users’ newsfeeds fresh and relevant, and argues that, with more than two million posts hosted on the site daily, “writing is the new resumé“.