Media Masters

Jenna Goudreau is the vice president and managing editor at CNBC Digital.

Since joining the broadcaster in 2016, Jenna relaunched their personal finance site ‘Grow’, reaching 6.5 million people in 5 years, and is the founding editor of the award-winning money news website ‘Make It’, which tackles financial illiteracy and helps people navigate their big financial firsts: from landing a dream job to starting a business.

Jenna shares the risks caused by the lack of financial education – schools prioritising trigonometry and algebra over investments and tax returns. She describes her go-to interview question and the qualities she looks for when recruiting new team members – explaining what early career journalists can do to stand out to their boss.

Jon Wardle is the director of the National Film and Television School.

Founded in 1971, the Buckinghamshire-based institution teaches over 750 students and has recently opened new campuses in Glasgow, Leeds, and Cardiff.

The exponential growth of streaming services has hugely increased the demand for UK creative talent. To meet this, the school offers nearly 40 specialist courses – including traditional subjects such as cinematography and screenwriting, as well as “less glamorous” yet highly impactful courses, like production management and accounting.

The gaming industry is bigger than ever, generating higher profits than all of Hollywood combined. The school is at the cutting edge of gaming technology, and its game design MA has become one of the most popular courses – with game engine software transforming film and TV production after being used for major shows such as ‘The Mandalorian’.

Meredith Artley is the former Editor-in-Chief and Senior Vice President of CNN Digital.

During her tenure at CNN, Meredith oversaw content creation, programming, and publishing across their digital properties, leading a global team of over 350 reporters, producers, and editors—and left after 12 years with CNN enjoying the world’s largest digital audience, reaching over 160 million.

Meredith reflects on her career journey—from digitising The New York Times in the ‘90s, significantly growing the online reach of the LA Times, to putting diversity at the heart of CNN’s leadership. She is now on sabbatical in Hawaii, planning her next move.

Amanda Groom is founder and CEO of ‘The Bridge’. 

The TV, film and animation company aims to “bridge” the gap between East and West, enabling mutually beneficial co-productions across multiple genres, collaborating with major broadcasters such as Sky and Channel 4.

When ‘Parasite’ won the Oscar for best picture in 2020, it opened the West’s eyes to the wealth of creative opportunities in the East. Amanda takes us behind the scenes of her recent success, ‘Ms Ma, Nemesis,’ an asian take on Agatha Christie’s ‘Miss Marple,’ and gets us excited for the first Spanish-Korean co-production—bringing a fresh perspective from the world’s previously unheard voices.

Athena Brensberger is an astronomer and science communicator.

Presenter of ‘Suppressed Science’ on Curiosity Stream, she founded the educational platform ‘Astroathens’ in 2016, with a mission to showcase her passion for science and astronomy to the general public. She’s already partnered with NASA, The Science Channel and Spaceport America among others.

In a wide-ranging discussion, she shares the challenge of unlocking complex scientific ideas for diverse audiences—where life on Earth really began, designing biological systems not compatible with ours, and how plants are our unlikely ally in the search for alien intelligence.

One Line: Inspiring the curious to explore the big questions—the great beginnings of the universe, planet Earth… and life itself.

Robin Ritch is President and Publisher of Deseret News.

From advising startups to transforming the longest-running news organization in the American West, Robin has grown Deseret News, founded in 1850 by the Mormon Church, from a local paper into a national media powerhouse, with over 10 million readers across their platforms. As Utah’s oldest continuously operating business, their name derives from the geographic area of Deseret, and just like the settlers that named the area, it is a pioneer in its own right.

Robin shares their commitment to tackling fake news by “being a standard-bearer of journalistic integrity and principled reporting” and discusses their mission to “elevate understanding, challenge assumptions and illuminate context” about the Mormon Church, while remaining editorially independent. Having identified a clear gap in the national news market, and looking to provide a balance to the typically right or left-wing political dialogue, Robin lead the paper towards a centrist political approach, based on values that are important to their readers: family, faith and community. Robin also examines how the paper famously came out against Trump, and continues to oppose him on moral grounds.

Sophy Roberts is an award-winning author and travel writer.

After an unusual start writing about different sides of the pornography industry, she cut her teeth as editor-at-large on the UK edition of Condé Nast Traveller, before joining the magazine’s American team as a special correspondent.

Sophy shares why the best source for stories is through chance meetings with strangers, albeit on a train or in a Mongolian tent, which formed the backdrop of her Sunday Times Book of the Year (2020), ‘The Lost Pianos of Siberia,’ which documents her quest for the classical instrument against the extreme Russian landscape. Recalling her work with Jessica Mitford on one of the most notable exposés in American literature, she compares UK and US newsrooms from a freelancer’s perspective.

Edward Felsenthal is the editor-in-chief and CEO of Time magazine.

Under his leadership, the iconic American publication has enjoyed its greatest revenue and audience growth ever – now reaching 100 million readers globally – and its successful expansion into TV, video and film production.

Including leading the health team at The Wall Street Journal, which won two Pulitzer prizes, Edward shares their plans to celebrate Time’s forthcoming centenary. He takes us behind the scenes of the editorial and selection process for ‘Person of the Year,’ which is always impactful – and sometimes controversial; and discusses their commitment to campaigning on climate change and fixing the global trust crisis.

Jon Mew is CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau UK.

The organisation represents and regulates the £23bn digital advertising industry, counting Google, Meta and Twitter among its members, with a mission to “promote transparency and build a sustainable future for online marketing.”

Jon shares how the industry is toughening its response to fraudsters – standing up for greater consumer protection, but arguing they could do more with the government’s help. He also shares how they are tackling online influencers who endorse products without revealing that they are paid, and in what ways restricting promotion of products high in fat, salt and sugar affects small business owners.

Jim Edwards is former editor-in-chief for news at Insider, and author of ‘Say Thank You for Everything’ – the best-selling guide which aims to revolutionise newsroom management.

Jim started Business Insider UK in 2014 with just one laptop in an empty office. He helped grow the readership from zero to 250 million readers, placing it amongst the most successful news websites in the world. His “bullshit-free guide” provides management advice based on the 19-point email he sent to a colleague, summarising everything he learned supervising people at Insider, which famously went viral. Based on his expertise, it aims to tackle the issue of poorly-run newsrooms, ensuring media management teams are up to the huge challenges to come.