Media Masters

Gordon Crovitz and Steven Brill are co-CEOs of NewsGuard. Founded in 2018, their mission is to rate the trustworthiness of more than 7,000 news and information websites, and give every site its own “nutrition label” based on transparency and integrity. Prior to leading NewsGuard, Steven founded The American Lawyer, Court TV, and the Yale Journalism Initiative; while Gordon was executive VP for Dow Jones and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. In this in-depth interview, they share how witnessing the depressing rise of fake news and the genuine harm it’s doing, gave them the idea for a platform which assesses the credibility of news outlets; discuss the nine criteria they use to rate news platforms - for example, how well a publication distinguishes between fact and opinion, and whether it clearly labels advertisements; and reflect on what has become their biggest challenge - tackling the “avalanche of covid-19 misinformation” and hoax sites getting more engagements than responsible health sites during the pandemic.

Annette King is CEO of Publicis Groupe UK. Founded in 1926, Publicis Groupe employs 80,000 people in 100 countries, and boasts an annual revenue of nearly €10bn. Annette previously spent 17 years at Ogilvy, latterly as CEO of its 10 UK operating companies. In this in-depth interview, Annette reflects on how digital has “revolutionised the advertising industry” with the insight that data brings; and proudly shares Publicis Groupe UK’s commitment to promoting the positive mental health of their staff - as it “makes business sense… as well as being the right thing to do.”

Craig Engler is general manager of Shudder, a premium streaming service focusing on horror, suspense and thriller content. A subsidiary of AMC Networks, they have over 1 million subscribers across North America and Europe, and have recently expanded to Australia and New Zealand. Joining in 2018, Craig previously enjoyed a long-standing career as a writer and TV network executive, spending a successful 15 years at Syfy. In this in-depth interview, Craig talks through the journey of their successful original series ‘Creepshow,’ when an “amazing series of coincidences” brought the show to launch, working with an array of Hollywood A-List talent including Stephen King, Kiefer Sutherland, Justin Long and Giancarlo Esposito; tackles critics who say the streaming market is saturated, and explains why “finding ways to surprise and delight members” is helping making Shudder “not your only streamer - but your favourite streamer;” and shares the creative process involved in bringing the hit TV show ‘Z Nation’ to the screen as writer and producer.

Harleen Kaur is co-founder and chief executive of Ground News. Created last year, the app was formed to handle the growing problem of misinformation and curates stories from a variety of media sources across the political spectrum, which are independently reviewed for bias and reliability, allowing users to see how the same stories are covered differently. In this in-depth interview, Harleen discusses how she abandoned her engineering career at NASA, and was inspired to tackle “information overload and media sensationalism;” shares how the app manages “filter bubbles” by revealing blind spots and news bias; and delves into how the app allows people to reach their own conclusions about developing stories.

Anna Palmer is the founder and chief executive of Punchbowl News. Nearly a year old, the daily email newsletter focuses on the “power, people and politics” in Washington DC. For almost two decades Anna has covered congressional leadership, campaigning, lobbying, the politics of government and the presidency - and in her prior role as Washington correspondent for Politico, co-created their successful ‘Playbook’ newsletter franchise. In this in-depth interview, Anna reflects on launching their new venture just three days before the “astonishing” Capitol attacks on January 6th; delves into her New York Times bestseller ‘The Hill To Die On’ which documented Trump’s first two years and won acclaim for “bringing to life the deal-breaking and backstabbing as never before;” and discusses whether Trump could return to the White House, and if so, how it would happen.

Zach Seward is co-founder and chief executive of Quartz. Founded in 2012, and now boasting a readership of over 10 million, its mission is to “make business better” and “solve real problems without creating new ones.” Previously at The Wall Street Journal, he reported on education and health and was the paper’s first-ever social media editor. In this in-depth interview, Zach reflects on the “emotional rollercoaster” of the pandemic - with the pain of restructuring and layoffs now eased with a return to growth across people, profitability and subscriptions; welcomes the “fresh energy” that returning to ownership and its renewed independence has brought; and shares his view on the future of the economy as it recovers from the pandemic.

In a special edition, we’re joined by the new editorial leaders of GQ. Established in 1957, the iconic men’s fashion and style title has a global reach of 10m in print, and over 50m online. Joining from New York is global editorial director Will Welch; and from London, deputy global editorial director Adam Baidawi. Will was previously the editor of GQ America; and Adam was previously editor of GQ Middle East, moving from Dubai to London to take the role. Both newly-promoted to deliver publisher Condé Nast’s new digital-first strategy, the pair immediately made their mark with a special issue - in which 17 of the brand’s international editions joined forces to simultaneously publish The Weeknd on September’s cover. In this in-depth interview, they pay tribute to Dylan Jones who left the UK editor’s chair after 22 years; share their plans to “harness the power of global unity” and end the era of local editions “competing” against one another for stories and interviews; and share insight from their strategic pivot to digital - with the “physical glossy magazine” always being “the shining diamond at the center of what we do.”

John Micklethwait is editor-in-chief of Bloomberg. Responsible for its editorial content across all global platforms, he leads its news, television and research services - with 2,700 staff in 120 countries. Beginning his career as a banker at Chase Manhattan in London, he switched to journalism in 1987, joining The Economist as financial correspondent, ultimately becoming editor-in-chief in 2006, and joined Bloomberg nine years later. In this in-depth interview, John shares why he sees audio content as integral to their future growth, following the success of their recent podcasts; discusses how they use “restless energy” to compete against digital-only startups for scoops and stories; and sets out his prediction on how the global economy will recover from Covid-19 - and why the pandemic has “exposed the weakness of the West.”

Noah Shachtman is editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone. Previously executive editor at The Daily Beast, and before that a national security reporter based in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait, he also worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 election campaign. In this in-depth interview, Noah talks about taking the reins of the iconic publication - and how the music, politics and culture title will become “faster, louder, harder” as he seeks to grow its impact; shares how he turned The Daily Beast into a “scoop factory,” breaking some of the biggest stories of recent times including Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest and Donald Trump’s impeachment; and drawing on his years of experience in the Middle East, reflects on President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan - and the likely consequences.

Richard Gibbs is a leading Hollywood movie composer, and music producer. Starting his career as a session musician, he was playing keyboards in the band Oingo Boingo when in 1988 an unexpected opportunity to score a film led to a long career as a film composer. He has worked on some of the very biggest movies and TV shows including Say Anything, Dr Dolittle, The Simpsons and Queen of the Damned. His studio in Malibu ‘Woodshed Recording’ is the musical home of U2, Chance the Rapper, Coldplay and Sting. In this in-depth interview, Richard reflects on a long career in music, working on dozens of movies - and explains how the business of making music in Hollywood really gets done; takes us behind-the-scenes of the whole process of film music composition from start to finish; and shares the journey of founding his charity ‘Armory of Harmony’ which takes guns - formerly in the hands of criminals - melts them down and turns them into musical instruments for deprived students.