Media Masters

David Yelland is the former Editor of The Sun, and is now a senior communications advisor to global CEOs. A journalist for 18 years, he started on a local weekly newspaper, eventually reaching Deputy Editor at the New York Post. He then took the reins for five successful years at Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper before leaving to join the world of corporate comms. In this in-depth interview, David discusses the challenges he faced as Editor; talks candidly about his successes and mistakes, and the reality of working with Rupert Murdoch; shares leadership lessons from his time at Harvard Business School; argues passionately against Brexit and offers his analysis of why the Remain campaign lost; and explains his work tackling alcoholism, inspired by his own recovery.

Jessica Coen is Editor-in-Chief of Mashable, the global media brand for all things tech, entertainment and culture, with 70 million monthly readers. In this illuminating interview, Jessica talks through her career journey - how her previous job as Editor of Gawker gave her a ‘tremendous launch pad’ and a strong digital insight, now helping her take Mashable’s audience to record highs; argues the so-called ‘Trump bump’ is over, and outlines what media companies need to do to stay relevant, sustainable and profitable in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Lorraine Candy is Luxury Content Director of The Sunday Times, and Editor-in-Chief of the paper’s Style magazine. A former Editor of Cosmopolitan and ELLE UK, she was twice-named Editor of the Year. In this in-depth interview, she describes her start in journalism as a teenager at the Cornish Times, and questions whether the same opportunities are available today; goes behind the scenes of her biggest news stories; details how her job has to combine traditional editorial with digital insight to reach new audiences; and explains how Style has a stronger impact - and better reader engagement - than other ‘glossy’ magazines.

Adam Boulton is Editor-at-Large at Sky News. He was instrumental in establishing Sky’s politics team in 1989, and over the next three decades went on to cover seven general elections. In this in-depth interview, he describes the thrill of assembling a story live on air; explores the tension between politicians and journalists; and reminisces that, uniquely, he is the only journalist to have ever ‘doorstepped’ the Queen.

Tom Newton Dunn is Political Editor at The Sun, the UK’s most read daily newspaper. Widely regarded as one of the best story-getters in the industry, Tom is an award-winning journalist and a regular TV commentator. In this in-depth interview, he fails to recall the last time there was a 'quiet week' in politics; contemplates the future of the centre-ground as voters crave radical change; explains why Corbyn needs to learn to love the word 'aspiration' if he wants to be PM; and says why he couldn’t imagine leaving political journalism in such unpredictable times.

Ian King is the presenter of Sky News’ leading business programme. The former City Editor at The Sun and Business and City Editor at The Times, Ian twice won Business Journalist of the Year before swapping the newsroom for the TV studio in 2014. In this in-depth interview, he describes how the shelf life of exclusive stories has been cut from weeks to hours; discusses how social media has changed the way CEOs respond to crises; and reveals what his day job has taught him about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

Jane Francisco is the Editor-in-Chief of Good Housekeeping, one of the world’s leading women’s magazines. Founded in 1885, Good Housekeeping has counted Virginia Woolf and Evelyn Waugh among its former contributors, and is widely known and respected for its iconic Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. After her appointment in 2014, Jane grew the magazine’s reach to 60 million, and was recently named Editorial Director at Hearst Lifestyle Group. In this in-depth interview, she discusses the segmentation of the magazine’s readership, and how she appeals to an audience that cuts across generational divides; explains why she introduced the Good Housekeeping audience to the ‘slow living’ movement; and reveals what inspired her to set up the Awesome Women Awards with award-winning TV producer Shonda Rhimes.

Mike Williams is the Editor-in-Chief of NME, the UK's most widely read music publication. Launched in 1952 as a newspaper, NME was the first British title to include a singles chart, and later championed emerging British groups such as The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Oasis. Mike led the successful relaunch of NME as a free magazine in 2015, and was named Editor of the Year in 2016, when the magazine recorded its highest ever circulation. In this in-depth interview, Mike takes us behind the scenes of the strange world of working with musicians, and explains the difference in attitude between global megastars and promising new acts; describes how to appeal both to older long-time readers and a younger audience; and reveals how he found himself at the centre of a political storm after interviewing Jeremy Corbyn.

Joanne Lipman is Editor-in-Chief of USA Today, with a daily reach of 3.3 million in print across the US, and 102 million unique visitors online reading 1.2 billion articles; and Chief Content Officer of The USA Today Network, employing 3,000 journalists in 110 regional newspapers across America. In this in-depth interview, she talks about her ‘calling’ to journalism and how an internship at the Wall Street Journal led to over twenty years at the paper; her current role and the challenges of leading an iconic media brand; and shares her frustration with the low number of women in media leadership roles - how she is dedicating the next phase of her career to being part of the solution, and her forthcoming book “That’s What She Said: What Men Need To Know (and Women Need To Tell Them) About Working Together.”

Farrah Storr is Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan UK, Britain's most widely-read women's magazine, with an online reach of over ten million regular readers. Named on The Guardian’s 2017 list of Britain’s most powerful people, in this in-depth interview she describes how the iconic media brand is facing the digital challenge, who today's ‘Cosmo woman’ actually is, and why she had to reinvent the way they write about sex; discusses why she is passionate about improving diversity in the creative industries, the use of plus-sized models and the media’s responsibility on body image issues; argues there is a strong future for traditional glossy monthly women’s magazines, defending them as a force for good which empower women; and shares how Cosmopolitan Housing is providing homes for young women looking to start their careers in London.