Media Masters

Ian Bremmer is Editor-at-Large and global affairs columnist at TIME magazine, and the Founder and President of Eurasia Group, a leading political risk research/consulting firm, with offices in seven countries. In this in-depth interview he argues Trump, Brexit, refugee crises and Isis have resulted in the worst geopolitical environment since World War II; why experts need to take responsibility for failing to make the case during the Brexit and US election campaigns - including himself; and why despite analysing an increasing number of global crises... he is still an optimist.

Anna Williams is Head of News at BBC World News. In this in-depth interview, she reveals the challenges behind delivering news to a global audience of 100 million; broadcasting to strongly-censored countries such as North Korea; balancing fair coverage of the Thai monarchy without landing their in-country correspondents a life sentence; covering Brexit from a truly international (and decidedly non-UK only) perspective; combatting gender inequality at the BBC; how cold-calling CNN kickstarted her career; and explains why she warned her son away from a career in journalism.

Laura Desmond is a media entrepreneur, board member of Adobe Systems Inc. and former CEO of Starcom Mediavest, one of the largest media networks in the world. In 2008 she became their youngest CEO, billing $26 billion a year, and doubling the size of the business to 8,000 employees in 110 locations. In this in-depth interview, she shares lessons learnt from over 30 years at the top; including candid advice from Sheryl Sandberg, and why her early career in Latin America was instrumental to her later success.

Poorna Bell is UK Executive Editor and Head of Global Lifestyle at HuffPost. In this in-depth interview, she discusses her book ‘Chase the Rainbow’ about her husband’s tragic suicide, the paradox of modern masculinity, and HuffPost's campaigning commitment on mental health issues; shares the changes she made to grow the Lifestyle section into the site's second most popular channel; argues successful editors have to build on great journalism with an equal focus on commercial concerns; and contends that printed media still has a strong future - despite competition from huge online brands... such as HuffPost.

Maxine Mawhinney is a veteran journalist and former BBC news anchor. In this in-depth interview, she talks through her career reporting around the world, starting in Northern Ireland during the Troubles; her experience as a correspondent in Tokyo and Berlin; her secondment to Washington covering the Clinton Presidency, the OJ Simpson trial and the Waco siege; breaking the news of Princess Diana’s fatal accident on air; and gives frank advice to the next generation of journalists who want to follow her path.

Roger Mosey is Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge; and former BBC Editorial Director. Roger spent over 30 years at the beeb, and held some of its biggest jobs: Director of Sport, Controller of Radio 5 Live, Head of Television News, and leading the coverage of the 2012 Olympics. In this in-depth interview he reveals behind the scenes at the top of the world’s largest broadcaster, the maelstrom behind closed doors during the Savile crisis; why he never wanted to be Director General and the "relentless" nature of the job; and despite the pressure, why the Olympics was an opportunity he "couldn’t possibly turn down".

Nicky Cox MBE is the founder and Editor of the children's newspaper First News. Founded in 2006, with 2.3 million readers and half of the UK’s schools subscribing, it won Best National Weekly Newspaper of the Year in 2012. In this in-depth interview, Nicky explains how they cover war, terrorism, and disasters in an appropriate way; discusses the importance of tackling fake news due to its stronger impact on children; and lists the issues that young people care about the most - with Brexit surprisingly their most pressing concern.

Minna Salami is a journalist, writer, and TED speaker. Based in the UK, with a childhood in Finland and her formative years in Nigeria, she uses her triple nationality to frame her writing; and has emerged as a feminist voice with an African-centered perspective, on her blog msafropolitan.com. ELLE Magazine named her one of ‘12 women changing the world’ with Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie. In this in-depth interview, Minna argues bloggers have an important role driving global political change; explains how it can be productive to engage with trolls and detractors; and reveals why she enjoys the ‘challenge’ of writing.

Ian Burrell is former Media Editor of The Independent, and one of the UK’s foremost news industry commentators. In this in-depth interview he talks through his career, starting at the Birmingham Post & Mail, his work at the Sunday Times Insight team, and 20 years at The Independent; discusses journalism’s future, despite ‘heartless’ cuts to newsrooms; and strongly criticises Facebook for holding back ‘critical’ information from publishers, threatening the industry.

Jimmy Wales is the founder of Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia. In this in-depth interview he talks through the whole journey from inception to today, now with 270 million daily views and 40 million articles in 293 languages. He speaks candidly on what’s still wrong with Wikipedia and what he’s doing to put it right, including addressing the deficit of female voices; shares his plans for WikiTribune, his new website to combat fake news; and discusses the Turkish government’s Wikipedia ban, and his personal outreach to talk them out of it.

Mary Hockaday is Controller of the BBC World Service. In this in-depth interview, she talks through the challenges of running a truly global broadcaster and producing content that appeals to audiences across the world; reflects on reporting landmark events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela’s death, and 9/11; examines the sensitivities covering graphic and horrific stories; shares her optimism about journalism despite a ‘challenging and bumpy time’; and light-heartedly contrasts life at the BBC with the sitcom W1A.

Aidan White is Founder of the Ethical Journalism Network. Following his journalism career at the Financial Times and the Guardian, he became General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, and Chair of the Appointments Panel at IMPRESS, the controversial press regulator now recognised by Royal Charter. In this in-depth interview, he challenges the conventional wisdom that the internet has had a positive impact on journalism, arguing it has encouraged a plethora of badly written and poorly-researched articles; defends IMPRESS and its role ‘upholding ethics’ in journalism; discusses the lessons learnt from the Leveson Inquiry; and describes how the values of news media are being ‘trashed’ more than ever by their ‘corrupt’ owners.

Matthew Gwyther is Editor of Management Today, the UK’s biggest-selling business magazine, launched in 1966 and regarded as one of the most authoritative in the world. In this in-depth interview, he takes us behind the scenes of the whole editorial operation; celebrates entrepreneurs and argues they are born, not made - but can often be terrible managers; shares their collective passion to advance the cause of women in business, and calls for more women in middle management; and contends strongly that Brexit is not just bad for business, but will be toxic for the wider UK economy.

Hannah Devlin is the Guardian's Science Correspondent, and presenter of their science podcast. In this in-depth interview, she explains why she chose journalism over academic biomedicine; talks frankly about sexism in science; discusses her move from Science Editor at The Times, the differences of writing without a paywall, and her view that social media has fundamentally changed journalism; reveals the slate of groundbreaking research she's currently reporting on; and explains why - as the evidence apparently shows - that two G&Ts is the "scientifically perfect" amount.

John Fallon is CEO of Pearson, the multinational publishing company and former owner of the Financial Times. In this in-depth interview, John discusses the disposal of the FT; outlines his plans for Pearson’s turnaround, despite facing their toughest years yet; talks candidly about his business successes and failures; takes us through his career, from humble beginnings as John Prescott’s researcher, to CEO of a global brand; reveals why he treasures the first edition of Dr Johnson’s Dictionary in his office; and explains his motivation to return to corporate life after beating throat cancer.

Janet Lee is the BBC’s Executive Producer for Arts and Culture. In this in-depth interview, she discusses the challenges she faces growing the audience for arts programmes, and how she balances attracting new viewers and listeners while maintaining artistic integrity; robustly defends the BBC’s efforts on tackling diversity; and shares her adventures during a long career, including stints as Editor of The Culture Show, Producer of Desert Island Discs, Producer of Simon Schama's History of Britain, Commissioning Editor for Arts at Channel 4; and Editor of Imagine, BBC One's flagship arts and culture series.

Heidi Dawson is the Editor of BBC Radio 5 Live. In this in-depth interview, she champions their move to Salford’s MediaCityUK, welcoming a “less London-centric view”; advocates podcasting as the key to unlocking a younger audience; recounts how a work trip to Jerusalem profoundly changed her journalism; talks through her ambitious plans to grow the station, and hits back at critics who describe it as “bloke-ish”.

Randall Lane is the Editor of Forbes, one of the world's most iconic and prestigious business publications. In this in-depth interview, he explains how covering a huge cocaine bust for his student newspaper made him want to be a journalist; reveals what he’s learnt from interviewing the world’s biggest billionaires (and the three things they all have in common); takes us behind the scenes of the groundbreaking '30 under 30', the feature which discovered the founders of Snapchat, Instagram and Spotify; and talks frankly about hard-earned lessons from his own entrepreneurial ventures.

Pam Wasserstein is CEO of New York Media, whose publications include New York magazine, Vulture, and thecut.com. In this episode, Pam discusses the practical implications of Trump’s ‘shocking’ position on the media, her transition from a career in corporate law to CEO of a global media brand via the Tribeca Film Festival, and the importance of valuing journalists now more than ever.

David Callaway is CEO of TheStreet, one of America’s leading providers of financial news, with 11 million monthly readers. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of USA Today, modernising and growing the iconic brand to the fifth-largest in the US. In this in-depth interview, he talks candidly on the challenges and opportunities faced in 30 years in journalism; reflects on the risks and opportunities for Wall St under Trump; and ponders on the dangers facing the free press, with an increasingly hostile White House, and a journalists around the world facing mortal danger as never before.