Media Masters

Katy Searle is editor at BBC Westminster. With over three decades at the corporation, she has built up a wide range of experience on a variety of radio and television programmes. She has overall responsibility for political news and leads a 90-strong team, anchored in Westminster, who report from around the UK. In this in-depth interview, Katy describes the daily challenge of creating engaging political coverage to fight against ‘Brexit fatigue’, gives her take on the Tory leadership battle, and reveals how, in the face of criticism from all sides, the BBC decides which politicians to put on air – or not.

Alok Jha is science correspondent at The Economist. After studying physics and science communication at university, he spent 11 years at the Guardian where he launched their award-winning Science Weekly podcast. He presented over 300 episodes before leaving for ITV News, where he led their science and environment coverage. He is also an honorary lecturer at UCL, and best-selling author. In this in-depth interview, Alok describes the challenges of communicating complex scientific ideas to a mainstream audience, recalls the “incredibly frustrating” transition from print to broadcast, and discusses how “a stray thought” inspired him to write a book about water – the most unique (and important) liquid in the whole universe.

Debbie Ramsay is editor of BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra Newsbeat. The flagship news programme has been on the air for 45 years and has a weekly audience of eight million 16 to 24-year-olds, with 14 million more online through articles, videos and social media. Since joining the BBC in 2006 she has done “every job in Newsbeat”. In this in-depth interview, Debbie speaks out against critics who claim news must ‘dumb down’ to attract young audiences, describes how the “immediacy” of broadcast lured her away from print, and argues that the secret to Newsbeat’s longevity lies in telling “diverse” and “authentic” stories.

Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson is US business editor of the Financial Times. In his 21 years with the FT on both sides of the Atlantic, he has covered a range of editorial and reporting roles, including eight years as their global media editor. With an international network of journalists covering every time zone, it has a paid readership of over 1m with almost 80% online. In this in-depth interview, Andrew describes how he handles the “five speeds” of news from breaking stories to long reads, reveals the lesser-reported political events causing CEOs most concern, and explains why part of the FT’s job is to look for “the grit in the oyster” when it comes to predicting financial disasters.

Jeremy Darroch is group chief executive of Sky. He joined as chief financial officer in 2004 and took on his current role in 2007. Sky delivers television, broadband, mobile and pay-TV. With 23 million customers, it is Europe’s biggest entertainment business. In this in-depth interview, Jeremy discusses their plans for the future under new owners Comcast, talks about the responsibility of big business to act responsibly by “showing up” and paying their taxes – and recalls how the launch of the company almost took Rupert Murdoch “personally to the wall”.

Mark Borkowski is an acclaimed PR specialist, writer and industry commentator. Famed for his grand publicity stunts, he has been successfully advising celebrities and brands for four decades. Since first catching the publicity bug in 1979, his headline-grabbing stunts have included filling Selfridges with hundreds of naked people and gift-wrapping a helicopter for Harrods. In this in-depth interview, he argues that despite the proliferation of fake news, social media has made it easier to protect a client’s reputation; explains why artificial intelligence means PRs will be “redundant” within 15 years, and remembers the chaos he caused by setting a bunch of live scorpions loose in a BBC green room.

Tyler Brûlé is chairman and editor-in-chief of Monocle. Noted for the jet-set lifestyle journaled in his “Fast Lane” FT column, he launched the magazine in 2007, which has since evolved into a global brand with its own cafes, retail stores and a 24-hour radio station. He is the youngest ever recipient of the British Society of Magazine Editors' Lifetime Achievement Award. In this in-depth interview, Tyler explains how the 2008 recession changed the face of the magazine through an editorial shift towards entrepreneurialism, speaks candidly about the decision to move print production to Germany because of “volatility” in the UK market, and reflects on his experience of being shot while reporting from Afghanistan.

Greg Williams is editor of Wired UK. Starting as deputy editor after its relaunch in 2009, he took the top job in 2017. With a UK audience of 1.5m and 4m across the globe, it has grown into a multiplatform business with an award-winning podcast, consultancy and a successful programme of live events. In this in-depth interview, Greg argues the case for investing in longform journalism to tackle the growing anti-science movement, describes how Brussels is leading the fight against the ‘big five’ tech companies that are making “about $150 billion” from European markets every year from our personal data, and reveals how FinTech apps are making the biggest difference not in the west, but in emerging economies.

Raju Narisetti is professor at Columbia Journalism School, where he is director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship, a prestigious one-year economics and business programme for working journalists. After moving from his native India to the US in 1990 to study journalism, he spent two decades working for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and News Corp as a reporter, and later led their transformation into digital-first operations. In 2006, he was founding editor of Mint, India’s second biggest media business and its first newspaper to be published in the Berliner format. In this in-depth interview, Raju recalls the challenge of bringing brands such as Gawker, The Root and The Onion together during his time as CEO of Gizmodo, explains the notion of the “truth sandwich” when reporting dubious facts – and discusses his renewed optimism about the future of print journalism.

Jeremy Hillman is communications director at The World Bank. Formerly a journalist with the BBC, he spent a decade with the corporation; first as economics reporter, then New York bureau chief, and finally economics and business editor. He left in 2011 to become director of external communications at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, before taking on his current role in 2014. In this in-depth interview, Jeremy discusses the “white saviour” stereotype and the “incredible optimism” of developing economies, describes the challenges of modern philanthropy in tackling poverty, and argues that economic journalism is crucial to understanding in almost all areas of the media.

Will Young is a singer-songwriter and actor. Since winning the first series of ITV talent show Pop Idol in 2002, he has released six chart-topping albums and four number one singles. He is now co-host of the popular ‘Homo Sapiens’ podcast, a “queer Woman’s Hour” which has featured interviews with a string of well-known guests including Alan Cumming, Julian Clary, Margaret Cho, Clare Balding and Sam Smith alongside poignant stories from everyday heroes. In this in-depth interview, he explains why it’s important for him to live in the moment, describes what it’s like returning to music at 40 – and reveals the real reason he walked out on Strictly Come Dancing.

Lydia Polgreen is editor-in-chief of Huffington Post. Appointed in 2016, she oversees content and direction for the site, which has 170 million readers worldwide. Prior to her current role, she spent 15 years at the New York Times, where she covered conflict, democracy building and development in West Africa. In this in-depth interview, Lydia describes the “enormous responsibility” of upholding the legacy of the iconic brand, recalls how living through a coup in Kenya as a child inspired her to become a journalist, and argues that being a “queer black woman” gives her a stronger insight into diversity issues.

Professor Richard Sambrook is director of the Centre for Journalism at Cardiff University. His first job at the BBC was in local radio. He then moved over to TV news as a producer and quickly rose through the ranks, securing a variety of roles including news editor, head of BBC Sport, director of news and finally head of the World Service. He also played a key role in the roll-out of 24-hour news, and the launch of Radio 5 Live. In this in-depth interview, Richard shares how he led the BBC’s response to the Hutton Inquiry over the so-called “sexed-up” Iraq war dossier, describes his role in lobbying for the safety of journalists worldwide as chair of the Frontline Club; and discusses his academic work, including a forensic analysis of the connection between fake news and press freedom.

Tina Brown is an award-winning journalist, podcaster and author. Previously editor of both Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, she founded The Daily Beast and has written two best-selling books. She also created Women in the World, the annual “live journalism” summit attended by global thought leaders such as Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton and Melinda Gates. In this in-depth interview, she talks us through her legendary editorships, argues how podcasting fills the gap in the market for intelligent ideas  – and explains why she’s not interested in “empowerment venting”.

Ken Hertz is an entertainment lawyer and prominent Hollywood dealmaker. A senior partner in Hertz, Lichtenstein and Young, he counts Will Smith, will.i.am, Gwen Stefani and Celine Dion among his clients. He also founded brand agency MemBrain, which advises the world’s most recognised brands, including McDonald’s, Hasbro and Intel. In this in-depth interview, he describes the brutal truth of the “fame lottery”, reveals what it really takes to make it in Hollywood – and argues that now is the time “where anyone can truly be anything”.

Martin Brunt is crime correspondent for Sky News. He has been with the channel since its launch in 1989, spending the first five years as a general reporter before moving to his now-familiar role covering stories from grisly murders to acts of heroism. In this in-depth interview, Martin discusses how the relationship between the press and the police has changed over the last 30 years, describes how he balances reporting under court restrictions with the demands of live TV – and shares his sadness at the tragic and far-reaching consequences he has witnessed around the Madeleine McCann case.

James Wildman is CEO of Hearst UK. As the country’s largest premium magazine publisher, it has a circulation of 5.3 million and a digital footprint of over 20 million through magazines including Elle, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar. Appointed in 2017, James has harnessed their best-known brands to expand into new products and services such as content creation, events, hotels and homewares. In this in-depth interview, he talks us through his career including previous roles at Trinity Mirror, Yahoo and Virgin Media, discusses how Hearst competes for ad revenue against the “duopoly” of Facebook and Google, and reveals how a period of extraordinary growth has seen the publisher “get its swagger back”.

Darren Childs is chief executive of UKTV. Appointed in 2010, he previously held senior positions at BBC Worldwide, Sony Pictures and Star TV. Starting life in 1992 as a single channel, UKTV is now one of the UK’s largest television companies with more than 100 original shows in production and a 10% share of the commercial TV audience.  In this in-depth interview, recorded days before his resignation, Darren discusses the “creative arms race” created by the rise in streaming services, outlines how he has addressed the challenge of staying relevant to younger audiences as they turn their backs on scheduled viewing – and describes why “best mate” channel Dave is such a success.

Rachel Jupp is editor of BBC Panorama. Appointed to the role in 2016, she was previously head of home news at Channel 4 News and deputy editor at Newsnight. First broadcast in 1953, Panorama is the world’s longest-running current affairs programme, turning the lens on criminals, corporations and governments to expose wrongdoing. In this in-depth interview, Rachel describes the significant responsibility of taking on challenging investigations, discusses the importance of impartiality in pursuing stories “without fear or favour” – and explains how their report on the gender pay gap demonstrates that even the BBC itself is not immune from investigation.

Stephanie Mehta is editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Her career has so far taken her from the Wall Street Journal to Fortune, Bloomberg and Vanity Fair, where she was deputy editor. Now approaching her first anniversary in the editor’s chair, she oversees the magazine’s editorial and design vision with the aim of recognising “the human side” of business. Stephanie is also responsible for expanding the brand into new territory, including “live journalism” through its annual Innovation Festival. In this in-depth interview, she recalls what drew her to the business beat, delves into the inner workings of the magazine’s newsgathering operation, and discusses the renewed obligation of business to engage more constructively with communities.