Sky News’s Political Editor Beth Rigby joins Alan and Lionel to reflect on 2023’s key events and to launch the inaugural Media Confidential “awards”, nominating people, stories and news organisations for recognition in these categories:
- Most important story of the year
- Most under-reported story of the year
- Turkey of the year
- Political scoop of the year
- News organisation of the year
- Journalist of the year
- Villain of the yearHero/Heroine of the year
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This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Alan Rusbridger:
This episode has been sponsored by the award-winning management consulting firm Q5. Q5 is all about good organisational health. Q5 work with their clients to ensure they optimise their organisational strategy, their structure, and their culture, so that they can achieve all their goals. From strategic conundrums to operational gripes, Q5 combine the art and science of organisational health to address challenges. And Q5 work with a range of organisations, those at the top of their game and those who are in turnaround mode. If you want to know more about how Q5 can help your organisation, improve and excel, please visit www.q5partners, all one word.com.
Hello and welcome to Media Confidential, Prospect Magazine's weekly exploration of the media world, and in this case a look back at the year in this fascinating and contested industry. I'm Alan Rusbridger.
Lionel Barber:
And I'm Lionel Barber. On this episode recorded just before Christmas, Sky News's political editor, Beth Rigby, helps us reflect on some of 2023's key stories and media figures.
Rusbridger:
Listen and follow us wherever you get your podcast, to make sure you'd never miss an episode. And Media Confidentialis on X/Twitter. We are @mediaconfpod. Beth, welcome to Media Towers. I believe you've had the pleasure of knowing and even working with, or perhaps even for Lionel.
Beth Rigby:
I worked for Lionel for 15 years, Lionel? He's my editor.
Rusbridger:
And lived to tell the tale.
Rigby:
Taught me everything I know.
Rusbridger:
[inaudible 00:01:42]-
Barber:
Well, I'm not sure about that, Beth.
Rusbridger:
Have you got any-
Rigby:
All right, you can disavow the bad bits. All the good stuff, I learned everything I knew from Lionel.
Rusbridger:
On a range of one, pussycat, to 10, brutal dictator. What was he as an editor?
Barber:
Think hard, Beth.
Rusbridger:
Give us a score.
Rigby:
Lionel was a formidable and sometimes terrifying editor, but the thing that was quite annoying about Lionel was he was always right, even when I didn't want him to be. No, he was a brilliant editor. And actually the FT actually thrived on [inaudible 00:02:16], but he was quite a scary editor.
Rusbridger:
I'm calling that an eight.
Rigby:
An eight?
Rusbridger:
10 is brutal. One is pussycat.
Barber:
Do I get a say in here?
Beth Rigby:
I don't think you'd want to be a pussycat though, would you?
Barber:
No way. I'll give myself an eight and a nine. But I was an enlightened-
Rusbridger:
You want to be a dictator.
Barber:
... enlightened is despot, that's what I used to call [inaudible 00:02:32]-
Rusbridger:
The Viktor Orban of editors.
Rigby:
What I liked about you, Lionel, as well when you're editor was, the FT, the editorship, it's a networking job as well, because you have to represent a global business brand, but you loved the story. You were always close to the story.
Barber:
Well, thank you. That's what we're going to do just now when we're talking about some of the biggest stories in the year.
Rusbridger:
Yeah, I think we've had enough soft soaping, Lionel, [inaudible 00:02:56]-
Rigby:
I know. We'll duff him up in a minute.
Rusbridger:
Before we get started, there's a new seasonal subscription offer from Prospect Magazine. We're discounting the price of an annual digital subscription by an amazing 50%. To take advantage of this one-off deal, please search for Prospect New Year offer or visit subscribe. Prospect magazine, all one word, .co.uk/ny. And the offer ends Friday the 19th of January.
So, what we're going to do today in this review of the year is, hand out the coveted Media Confidentialannual prizes. I say they're coveted, this is the first year we've ever done it, but they will be coveted in years to come, and people will look back on 2023 as a vintage year.
Rigby:
What do you get, Alan, if you get a prize, do you send something out?
Rusbridger:
I think they just have to live with the fame and the glory.
Rigby:
Or the infamy.
Rusbridger:
Well, there will be one or two infamous people, spoiler alert. So are we ready, Lionel?
Barber:
Indeed we are. Fire that starting gun.
Rusbridger:
Okay, so we're going to start with the most... We've got eight categories chosen to help reflect on this here in media. And we're going to start with nominations for the most important story of the year, and who's covered it well.
Rigby:
For my most important stories of the year, I've got obviously the conflict in Israel. I've also got AI, because I think it's been something that in the political world at least, hasn't been covered much, but is the biggest story of our time. And I think we're almost sleepwalking into something that we don't particularly understand, and it's going to change all our lives. And then, the other stories I picked up on actually, were in terms of media stories. But as a shout-out to some of the women out there that do under-reported work, was for me, one of the big stories of the year, was the allegations against Russell Brand that took years. Was a collaboration between Channel 4 and The Times, and Sunday Times, and took years to come out. So, they would be my stories of the year, Alan, I think.
Rusbridger:
And have you got any particular nominations for the correspondents who have been doing this amazing work?
Rigby:
For the Russell Brand stuff, it was Rosamund Urwin at The Sunday Times with their brilliance investigations editor, Paul Morgan Bentley, who did all of the Russell Brand stories. So yeah, they would be-
Rusbridger:
And that was an unusual collaboration with Channel 4-
Rigby:
Channel Four.
Rusbridger:
... Channel 4, wasn't it? It's an increasing pattern in media [inaudible 00:05:34]. I think that was an important story, and took months if not years to get, didn't it?
Rigby:
Yes, it took years.
Rusbridger:
Lionel, your important story of the year?
Barber:
I'm going to second Beth on the AI story. It's the story which went mainstream. And some people like Masayoshi Son, the Japanese multi-billionaire, head of SoftBank called it, likened it to the Cambrian explosion, the origin of the species, some 500 million years ago. That may be a little bit of exaggeration, but it's big. But for me, the story of the year is the Middle East. I think it's a story which really exposed three very simple misunderstandings and miscomprehensions of what was going on. One, that somehow the Palestinian problem could be managed, and that the Israel was reaching a definitive peace agreement with not just the Gulf states, but Saudi Arabia. Two, that somehow Hamas could be bought off. We now know that the Israelis were arranging for the Qataris to send millions to Hamas in the West Bank to buy them off. And three, that somehow the Americans could just focus on China and ignore the Middle East. All those wrongs apart from, by the way, Israel superior intelligence to everyone else. So, that's the most important story of the year for me by far.
And I would single out... The British newspapers and news organisations have done a good job, but I would single out the New York Times, particularly for its courage. And so, I would also single Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper. Esther Solomon and the senior editor, the English Language Edition, has been on talking about their coverage, but I think it's been outstanding.
Rusbridger:
I agree. Both Ukraine and Gaza have been compelling stories. The Mary Colvin Award this year is named after Mary Colvin, The Sunday Times correspondent, who was tragically killed covering in the course of her work, went to Bel Trew of The Independent. And I must admit, I had to look her up. And she's one of these very modern journalists who works in words, pictures, and video. And she's made documentaries, and she's the independence correspondent in the Middle East, but she's also covered Ukraine. So, if you wanted somebody who's across all those stories, but I think those two stories force themselves to the top of the agenda. Beth, what about the most under-reported story of the year?
Rigby:
Well for me, I'm going to... Because maybe you'd expect, but also this thoroughly deserved story and journalist. I would say for me it's Stuart Ramsay and the work he did on Myanmar, where he went in for 30 days undercover, witnessing what was happening there in a country that is sealed off, it's very hard to get in. He went and spent 30 days in the jungle with rebel fighters, with his crew, and telling those stories from behind. It's not that [inaudible 00:08:36] what's happening in Gaza now where many news organisations cannot get in. And then, it's only because you have people that are in there or willing to go in there to report those stories around the world.
So for me that, I think, was an under-reported story of the year, but it was really important and important that Stuart did it. It probably should receive more coverage. Interestingly, Stuart said about it afterwards, that it was the most unsafe he'd felt. And this is a guy that's been to all sorts of war zones. But I guess, sometimes in a war zone you have a sense that there is a line that you're protected by. But when you go in undercover like that, and you're with rebel forces, you don't know when you're going to be attacked. So, that would be a story, that part of the world in a civil war that's completely hidden from view.
Barber:
My pick for under-reported story of the year is the rise of Saudi Arabian soft power. It is quite extraordinary how the Saudis have one, bagged the World Cup for 2032. Two, got the PGA, the most powerful golf association. That's golf in America. They've got them on board for a merger. In fact, they've taken over tennis, they've bought into football teams. We know Newcastle United. It parallels what is also going on in Saudi Arabia, which is hundreds of billions of dollars to create a new Saudi Arabia around sport, leisure, the new city in the desert, modernization, creating a new image of Saudi Arabia.
Also, by the way, I should have talked about investments in media, also in Hollywood. This is an under-reported story about where that money is going. And it's a different story from the one of course that the media always focus on rightly, that Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist, dissident, activist, whatever you want to call him, he was assassinated, dismembered, and almost certainly at the behest of the Crown Prince. But I would suggest six years on, there is a news story there about Saudi Arabia, which the media needs to focus on.
Rigby:
But is that about necessity as well, Lionel?
Barber:
Well, in terms of access, do you mean it's difficult for the journalist to get there?
Rigby:
Well, it's necessity. Well, no, I mean in terms of the soft power, is that from necessity of the change in dynamic in the Middle East? And if you're an ally power, what options do you have?
Barber:
I think this is a bit more than bread and circuses, Beth. We know that the personal rule of the Crown Prince cannot be challenged, but I also see the Crown Prince as a force for modernization. He's taken on the religious police, the fanatics, the Wahhabis, the people responsible for 9/11. There is a modernization story in Saudi Arabia. They're a big player now internationally. And that rise of the soft power is a parallel to that.
Rusbridger:
Well, after those, I'm going to choose a very trivial story. On the face of it, which is Gibb Gate.
Barber:
I thought you might be coming around on that.
Rigby:
I thought this was going to come up.
Rusbridger:
Scandalously under-covered, so this is the attempt by a BBC director to fix the chair of Ofcom, which I think is on any accounts of scandal. And no one's covered it apart from me. And it was one of those stories that I think will break into the open next year, not least because it all came out in the quizzing of the BBC Chair elect, Samir Shah. And it's one of those stories that nobody could understand, because nobody's covered it, but it could yet become a factor. But I admit, it doesn't compete with Myanmar or Saudi Arabia for the sheer importance.
Barber:
Can we go seamlessly to turkey of the year, Alan? I think this is a category that you have sought out, specialised in. It's a particular honour. Do you want to go?
Rusbridger:
It's a double turkey. The double turkey the year goes to the two presenters, Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox, who were GB news' in-house culture warriors and conspiracy theorists. And both of them got the heave-ho this year. It was long overdue. They were everything that's unadmirable about the media, and it was good to see them go. I hope they're not dear friends of yours, Beth.
Rigby:
They're not dear friends of mine. The issue there as well was, it was the misogynistic comments against-
Rusbridger:
Oh, horrible.
Rigby:
... a woman, that in the end it was beyond the [inaudible 00:13:13] that their offer.
Rusbridger:
Do you have a turkey ready for the plucking?
Rigby:
Yes. My turkey of the year is Captain Tom Moore's family, because obviously that was the story of feel good PR. The late Tom Moore raised, and I think it was nearly 40 million pounds for the NHS during the pandemic. You remember him [inaudible 00:13:32]-
Rusbridger:
He was probably walking around his garden.
Rigby:
... walking around his garden with his frame and his medals. And then, the family basically creamed off some of the money from his books. There was a swimming pool, there was a spa involved. And what was a great story about a national treasure turned into a story of scandal. So, they are my turkey of the year.
Rusbridger:
Very good nomination. Lionel?
Barber:
Well, I'm going to have to tread rather carefully here, because I'm also venturing into the television world, again. And my turkey of the year, it's more a story than the person. And it's the prolonged, agonising departure of Phillip Schofield as the co-host in ITV. And what just astonished me was the level of coverage, [inaudible 00:14:21] online. It was the lead story for days. Even the BBC started picking this up. All fed Schofield, he was quite successful and everything, but do we really need to have him leading the news day in, day out? We know that there was some questionable relationships between him and a younger man, but really?
Rigby:
So Lionel, this is interesting, because obviously at the FT, we never really dealt with these sorts of... We didn't really cover these sorts of stories, did we?
Barber:
Certainly not.
Rigby:
But Alan, The Guardian in you would have. Do you think it was overdone, the coverage?
Rusbridger:
Yeah, it was completely.
Rigby:
But why do you think there was an... Do you think it was media newsrooms had the appetite or the audience had the appetite? I don't know the answer. I'm generally interested.
Rusbridger:
Well certainly, when I was at The Guardian, there was still a media section, and-
Barber:
We used to feature in it sometimes much to my displeasure, but I never rang you about it.
Rusbridger:
And so, we felt an obligation to cover the media. It's, I don't know how many millions of people watch this morning, but he's a well-known, and I was going to say significant, but he's not significant really. So, I think The Guardian would've covered it a bit, but the coverage was completely over the top. As by the way, I thought it was for Huw Edwards and the subsequent drama over his departure or the departure on leave.
Rigby:
But do you think it's a feature of media organisations in the end are interested about reporting other media organisations? You think it's an element of that, that we forget the audience?
Rusbridger:
We're talking a podcast called Media Confidential, so. The premise of our podcast is that we believe that media is a significant force in society and needs to be examined. But I think you're right that too much of the surface flotsam gets covered, and actually the real power goes comparatively unexamined.
Barber:
Political scoop of the year. I'm going to have in due deference to ask Beth to start off on that one.
Rigby:
Yeah. So, I actually found this quite hard to answer, because in the past couple of years there's been such obvious stories around Partygate. But the ones I went for, if I can find them, I can't find them in my... I did loads of prep for this by the way, audience, because Lionel's my former editor. So, I've got notes like I'm doing an exam.
Rusbridger:
And we've established he's a bastard, [inaudible 00:16:45].
Rigby:
It's quite, I feel like I'm doing my A-levels. The ones I actually picked up on are, so with political scoops, what I picked up on was like, well, what actually had a consequential impact on the government? So, the couple I picked up on was Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs, which actually began the year before. But he finally, having batted off the journalistic endeavours of people, he finally came [inaudible 00:17:11] on it and was forced to resign. And then obviously, the second one on all of that was the Dominic Raab bullying allegations, which again, rumbled on for months, and he was eventually forced to resign. And the reason I use those two is because often in politics stories are placed as we all know for various reasons of players-
Rusbridger:
I'm shocked to hear that.
Rigby:
... on the theatre of Westminster. But with both these stories, it's journalistic endeavour of doggedly pursuing something, and then there's a consequence and there's a consequence for cabinet and a prime minister. But also, it speaks to this idea of Rishi Sunak trying to reset his government back in October, 2022, as one of accountability, professionalism, and integrity. They're the three words he used on the steps of Downing Street. And then, you find cabinet ministers he appointed, embroiled in scandals [inaudible 00:18:05] bully allegations around his Deputy Prime Minister, or tax allegations around Nadhim Zahawi, that brings down individual ministers, but speaks to a culture in government that the voter might conclude, the Prime Minister hasn't cleaned up. And I think if you look at the polling from when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister to now, in terms of the voters, [inaudible 00:18:29] has been no improvement, be that around policy or perhaps politics. So that for me-
Rusbridger:
I'm racking my memory, Beth, but the Zahawi story, was that not broken by this guy Dan Neidle?
Beth Rigby:
It was Dan Neidle, and it was also Anna Isaac.
Rusbridger:
On The Guardian?
Beth Rigby:
Yes.
Rusbridger:
Because Needle's one of these interesting characters, a bit like Bellingcat who's just-
Rigby:
He just persisted-
Rusbridger:
He's a tax expert who's become, as it were, a journalist. And he's in the face of quite substantial legal threats [inaudible 00:18:55]-
Rigby:
Yeah, he's a tax expert, isn't he? And he just pursued it. And also, Anna, I think also did the CBI.
Rusbridger:
She did.
Rigby:
Yeah. So, maybe she should be my journalist of the year.
Barber:
We're talking about the CBI story where women were assaulted at the conference?
Rigby:
Yeah, she broke that story as well. So, they would be my... Yeah, I think they would be my two stories of the year in terms of scoops that have a... Because what we're looking for with scoops, we're looking for a real world consequence of what we're discovering, right?
Barber:
I'm tempted to go with Gabriel Pogrund for his scoop on Richard Sharp, just before he was going to become chairman of the BBC, arranging for a loan via a friend to Boris Johnson, to help him out with his financial difficulties. Great story. [inaudible 00:19:44]-
Rigby:
Because he just won Journalist of the Year. And he is superb. And that was, again, a superb story which had consequences for Johnson and ultimately for the BBC as well.
Barber:
I'm going to go with James Ferguson, the mail on Sunday in Scotland, Sunday Mail. And I think his reporting on Nicola Sturgeon's government, and the connection with her husband who is, as we know, chair of the SNP, really fearless. It's tough being a journalist up north of the border, the SNP having been in power so long. And James Ferguson just did some fearless stuff, exposing the hypocrisies, the lies, and the money. The money, he followed the money trail. So, great job, James.
Rigby:
And also, real life consequence because since that-
Barber:
She went.
Rigby:
... she went, the SNP is coming down in double digits, labour are now resurgent. And that has a knock-on effect of course for general election, because labour can't win if they don't go through Scotland. And I think they've got, what? Two seats at the moment.
Barber:
No, it's fundamental.
Rigby:
I remember, Lionel, actually covering the Scottish referendum with you at the FT. And I remember we got story on the front. I remember it was on the front of papers about supermarkets warning they might have to increase prices if those independents, because effectively a supermarket network across the country, metropolitan areas where it doesn't cost much, to move the trucks from warehouses, subsidises the cost of transport in places like Scotland where they might have to go. And we put a story on the front. And my goodness, do you remember the blowback from it?
Barber:
Absolutely. They went nuts. I got called and told, it was being utterly irresponsible, there'd be consequences. And I told them to back off.
Rigby:
I know. I remember feeling the... We knew the story was, it was well sourced, but I remember feeling the heat from that. And if I was feeling the heat, you must've been right in the fire, I imagine.
Barber:
Yeah, I told them to get lost.
Rigby:
You did that quite a lot on some of my stories, I remember.
Rusbridger:
I'm going to give a passing mention to The Yorkshire Post, who did great work on the Sheffield Trees felling scandal, but my vote is also for Gabriel Pogrund, who's consistently one of the great story getters in British films-
Rigby:
Fabulous.
Rusbridger:
... at the moment.
Rigby:
Yeah.
Barber:
This is Media Confidential's review of 2023, and coming up we'll debate the year's leading news organisation, journalist, villain, and hero/heroin.
Rusbridger:
On the Prospect Podcast this week, the Prospect team discussed what has surprised them in 2023 and their predictions for 2024, as well as celebrating the best of Prospect ournalism from the year.
Ellen Halliday:
I think it's going to be a bad year for UK universities. The higher education sector's really in a financial crisis at the moment. It's a huge part of the UK economy. It's worth billions of pounds to the UK economy, but many universities have reported deficit at the end of the last financial year.
Rusbridger:
Well, this is a slightly wild prediction. Guess, I think rather than prediction. But I think it's possible that neither Biden nor Trump will end up being candidates at the next American election.
Alex Dean:
I think there'll be maybe a slight calling of the AI hype.
Sarah Collins:
I think that there's only so long that you can have this generational inequality, and this sense of a generation that has no Prospect of a better future.
Rusbridger:
Follow and subscribe to the Prospect Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. This is Media Confidential's end of the year review with me, Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber. And our special guest, Skye News' Beth Rigby. And we're now coming on to news organisation of the year. My nomination is the same that Lionel mentioned earlier, Haaretz, the liberal Israeli newspaper. And they've had a brilliant war, but I'd like to single them out because actually it's been a pretty lonely path being a liberal news organisation in Israel for the last maybe 15 years. They've been pretty brave, I think. They've come under intense criticism and attack for holding the liberal faith. They're one of the few Israeli news organisations that have had correspondents, and people, and columnists writing from both the West Bank and Gaza. And that's a perspective that not all Israeli media give. And during the current conflict, they've said some uncomfortable things, for certainly the Israeli government, but also I imagine for their readers. So, well done, Haaretz.
Rigby:
I'm going to highlight regional news. I'm worried about regional news, and I'm sure we've all been talking about it for years about the importance of local journalism. So for me, I'm going to highlight the Manchester Evening News, their campaign for Awaab's Law, which came in in 2023, and that was about that little boy who died from exposure to damp, Awaab Ishak, I hope I pronounced that correctly. They reported it consistently, persistently, and it ended up in a change to the law and a regulation that requires landlords to guarantee properties a mould-free and provide adequate ventilation. Also, my colleague, Dan Hewitt, who's a great journalist at ITV, he's been doing a lot of work on this as well. So, that's-
Rusbridger:
That's a great nomination.
Rigby:
Yeah. I think it's, you were talking about the Yorkshire Post and Manchester Evening News. These are really important publications, especially in a world where for print journalism as well with newspaper budgets under pressure, and they're retrenching in coverage sometimes, it's really important that those organisations keep going and are a loud voice in their parts of the country where, as we know how London centric media is.
Barber:
Alan, I'm going to surprise you, maybe Beth too. My news organisation of the year is The Spectator. And you may say, "Well, is it news?" The answer is, every week I find out things in The Spectator that I wouldn't find elsewhere. They have a great city column on finance, what's going on there, Martin Vander Weyer. Their Scottish coverage has been consistently way ahead of everybody else, pointing to the flaws in the SNP. That's not just because Fraser Nelson is Scottish. Also, I find the connections between British academia on the take from Chinese money. Charles Moore, don't agree with a lot of his politics, but he's been fearless in writing about that. He's influenced the debate. I think their political coverage is good.
And so, sometimes they get a slightly unfair wrap. Well, unfair wrap, they have hard hitting columnists like Rod Liddle. I don't care of his views either, but it's overall, they give a really very good product. And you know what? They're up for sale. I've heard what their numbers are. They're profitable. They've done a great digital transformation. And just lastly, on the COVID inquiry, they were questioning the economics of the lockdown way before a lot of other people. They looked at the Swedish model. So overall, my vote's for The Spectator.
Rigby:
I think that's a good call, because I think what I find with The Spectator, is that what you're talking about, is there is often a settled view, and then The Spectator drops things in, and makes you think again about things. And they produce things that make me think for sure.
Barber:
And I would've named Prospect obviously, but I'm conflicted.
Rusbridger:
Well, I'll take that. No, there are one or two voices of The Spectator I find difficult to take. But I agree, it's an extremely well-edited and agenda setting. It's very difficult to be an agenda setting weekly magazine as it is.
Rigby:
One thing I wonder about with The Spectator as well is aside from the sale, but if there is a change of government-
Barber:
That's a big question.
Rigby:
Yeah. Because part of the value of being the publication for the right, is that also you get access and insight in a political world where you are coveted if you work there because you are speaking to a certain audience that... And it's always interesting to me that when there are huge changes, if it happens, which looks like it's [inaudible 00:28:28] to happen at the moment. Always my three words that do heavy lifting in politics, but whether or not it shifts. Did you find that, Alan, when you were editor in The Guardian, that depending on who was in power made your job easier or harder?
Rusbridger:
Well, The Guardian circulation figures were at their house under Thatcher, because I think it was the voice of opposition. And I think sometimes it's harder to edit with the grain than against the grain. And certainly, Tony Blair was always telling The Guardian that we ought to be more loyal to the Labour Party. And I had to explain that The Guardian wasn't a Labour Party paper. If anything, it was a Liberal Party paper in its traditions. So, The Spectator could turn into an interesting oppositional paper, which would be a different role from what it's had so far.
I have to say, if we had a competitor for podcasts, and I'm not saying we do, I think The Spectator Coffee House Shot, they just ask one question of roundabout lunchtime each day, and they've got excellent people like Katy Balls, who's their political editor.
Rigby:
She's superb.
Rusbridger:
It's only about 15 minutes long, and it's consistently really good. So, that's the news organisation of the year.
Barber:
Journalist of the year, for me is, Lyse Doucet, BBC gets a huge rap against it for bias reporting, not what it was. Here is an old-fashioned foreign correspondent, really versatile, really courageous, report straight down the line, whether in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and now Israel, Gaza. Fantastic journalist, Lyse Doucet.
Rusbridger:
I'm going to mention someone I've mentioned before on this podcast, which is this guy in Gaza, Motaz Azaiza. And when I mentioned him a couple of weeks ago, he had 15 million followers. I've just checked, he's now got 17.3, so he's put on two million followers. And his Instagram feed is almost unbearable in its rawness and it's sheer bravery. This is a guy who is just chasing every bomb. He's recorded attacks on his own family, his pictures are astonishingly good. And you think, is he still going to be alive this time next week? He's got that quality of the best journalists, who are just there to bear witness and to say, "Look, this has happened". And in a world in which we increasingly don't trust the news, I think it's just so valuable that he is there doing this incredibly brave work. How about you, Beth?
Rigby:
I think they're both excellent nominations that you've just given. I've actually picked a UK-based nominees. One of them is Gabriel Pogrund, because I just think... We've talked about him. I just think he's been consistently excellent. And actually, he did a really interesting article in the press, because after winning Journalist of the Year, where he talked a lot about litigation and the way in which you get a story. And then, what readers often don't understand or viewers, and you will know all too well as former editors, is the battle you then have to get the truth out because of litigation. And he talked a lot about the battles that he had had, and the importance of editors sticking behind him. But I would pick him, just consistently really good.
And then also, for a real world story, which at the time was so arresting, I would say the British Gas investigation with Paul Morgan-Bentley. Again at The Times, the investigation I named earlier, and that was all about force fitting of prepayment metres. And the reason I picked that is that it's one of those just classic undercover endeavours where you do the hard yards, and you reveal something that is just wrong and you get it changed. And so, they would be my two nominations, but I think both of yours are absolutely spot on as well.
Rusbridger:
Well, we now move on to villain of the year.
Rigby:
I've got so many villains.
Rusbridger:
Oh, well you go first, Beth. Give us some of your villains.
Rigby:
Well, I've got various villains. Is it because I'm a cynic. Who knows?
Rusbridger:
Go on.
Rigby:
If you were Rishi Sunak, I think it would be Suella Braverman for your villain of the year. She would be some people's heroine though, of course. Michelle Mone-
Rusbridger:
Don't get us going on her.
Rigby:
... villain of the year. Liz Truss is honours list, villain of the year, that keeps threatening to emerge, but never quite comes out of the shadow. They're some of mine. Do you like them all?
Rusbridger:
You couldn't quarrel with any of those. Lionel?
Barber:
It's hard to beat Michelle Mone, but I'm going to try. Rudy Giuliani. The great mayor of New York through 9/11, and there he is. He's now facing fines of a couple of hundred million for libelling those brave, courageous, independent assess of the election in Georgia. And he had to sit in court, listening to their testimony. He libelled them, and he got the verdicts gone against him. He's in desperate straits now. Still obviously very close to ex-president Donald Trump. But what a fall, what a villain.
Rusbridger:
Well, I've taken the brief a bit more literally, because I've gone for a villain of the year in the media world. And I'm choosing Paul Marshall, who I think this time last year no one had heard of. And I'm choosing him because he's an immensely rich man who is losing an awful lot of money on GB News, which he launched. He had 50% owner of that roughly. I just think why, if you had all that money with the crisis in media that we have nowadays. You've mentioned local newspapers which are really a struggling bit. Why would you put the money into a broadcast operation that is unenlightening, unfactual, in some senses, untrue? It is just divisive, polarising, one-sided news. Why is that the best use that such a rich man could think of using his money?
And I think we have to single him out, because he stands a pretty good chance of ending up owning The Telegraph. I think we have every right to feel completely suspicious. We've discussed on this programme that the baleful Prospect of Middle Eastern state taking over The Telegraph, but I'm not sure that we should be celebrating a man who's ploughed all this money into creating a polarising, climate change denying, conspiracy theory based TV station. If that's his idea of the news saying, then God help us if he gets in charge of The Telegraph.
Barber:
Well after that, we're now going to move on to something uplifting, hero or heroine of the year. Beth?
Rigby:
Mine's not uplifting, but I'm sorry to say, but the person that I-
Barber:
It's not anti-hero of the year.
Rigby:
Well no, but it touches on a lot of what you guys have been talking about in this podcast, which is the person that's just jumped into my mind when I thought of this category, is Wael Al-Dahdouh, who is... And I hope I pronounce that correctly, which is the journalist in Gaza, whose family were killed. And then, he went back to work and then his cameraman's just been killed and he was injured and trapped. And for me, I just think he's an incredible man. What he's been through is unconscionable, and he gets up every day and he carries on reporting. So, he is my hero of the year.
Rusbridger:
I've chosen an old colleague, Merope Mills-
Rigby:
Ah, yes.
Rusbridger:
... who is the editor of Weekend Guardian. She produces a fantastic magazine every week. And really tragically, she and her husband, Paul, lost their daughter, Martha, in an accident, biking accident. And through the negligence of the hospital treatment that Martha received, she died. And Merope and Paul have used their horrendous experience, coupled with them media savvy, to launch a campaign called Martha's Law, which is really the right of patients to demand a second opinion if they're not happy with the... And to my mind, it was the most successful campaign I can remember, because Merope was on the Today programme one morning. And basically by lunchtime, the government had said they were going to get behind this and the medical profession. And it's now, I think, being passed into law if it's not law already. And I think it's just a brilliant campaign. It's just a brilliant example of how you can take the most painful and terrible thing that any of us could imagine, and turn it into a force for good that will impact on thousands of people in years to come.
Rigby:
Yeah, I think that's a brilliant... And actually, the point about that story as well, was that as parents, they clearly did advocate for their daughter day after day after day, and still found themselves in a position where she wasn't having the adequate care. So, by bringing in this law, it makes it easier for other people. I think that's a brilliant nomination.
Barber:
My hero of the year is Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent, detained on trumped-up charges that he's actually a spy in Russia, in March, 2023. He's been isolated, in prison. There've been some talks between the Americans and Russians. They've used back channels trying to figure out a way of getting him out. Remember, the American basketball star was actually traded, the woman similarly detained on trumped-up charges, essentially swapped for an arms dealer, Viktor Bout. Gershkovich is a very fine reporter. He wasn't reporting in Moscow when he was detained.
I think The Journal under its new editor, Emma Tucker, have done a fantastic job in keeping that story in the limelight. They're always doing updates, they're following every lead down, and keeping the pressure on. So, I feel for Evan's family, maybe we can be hopeful of a hostage swap in 2024.
Rusbridger:
That's a good note on which to end the Coveted Media Confidential Awards. Thank you so much, Beth, for coming in.
Rigby:
I've thoroughly enjoyed that.
Rusbridger:
I'm terribly impressed by all the homework you've done for that.
Rigby:
Well, I had to because I was briefly the media editor at The Times. I'm a bit rusty on media stories. I need to listen to your podcast.
Rusbridger:
Well, you've done very well.
Barber:
Certainly not today.
Rusbridger:
Your beastly former editor, I think-
Rigby:
Whipped me into shape yet again.
Rusbridger:
... will give you a good mark for today.
Barber:
9.9-
Rusbridger:
9.9.
Barber:
... ruled the British judge.
Rigby:
I never got a 9.9 from Lionel Barber, ever. Banking it as my Christmas [inaudible 00:39:49]-
Rusbridger:
This has been a revelatory podcast, because we've learned a little about Lionel's... He's so sweet and schmoozy on the surface. But it's, thank you Beth for revealing the true Lionel Barber. I think our listeners will have learned something.
Barber:
Well, we are in the information house.
Rusbridger:
Have you got any cultural picks that... Any must see box series or-
Rigby:
I am an expert in box series, but not that cultural. I watch television constantly, but it's not very highbrow.
Rusbridger:
Well, I will recommend to you, Slow Horses.
Rigby:
Oh, I've watched that. Loved it.
Rusbridger:
And it's on series three. It's compelling watching. Lionel?
Barber:
I'm a retro person. I'm back in season three of the Sopranos, trying to remember the best lines.
Rigby:
That's not bad. I've actually, the one that I have really enjoyed, which I would recommend for all of you, but it might just because I'm in television, is The Morning Show on Apple. Have you guys watched it? It's...
Rusbridger:
I haven't, but I will now.
Rigby:
... The Morning Show, it's fantastic-
Rusbridger:
And I should mention that Slow Horses is also on Apple TV+. If you've got any questions for us about the media, email them to mediaconfidential, all one word, @Prospect magazine, also all one word, .co.uk. And we'll answer a few of them in our future episode.
Barber:
Thank you for listening to Media Confidential, brought to you by Prospect Magazine and Fresh Air. The producer is Danny Garlic.
Rusbridger:
Remember to listen and follow us wherever you get your podcasts.
Barber:
And we're on Twitter/X2 @mediaconfpod.
Rusbridger:
So, it just remains for us to wish you a happy New Year, and hope that you'll return for more key episodes and big interviews from Media Confidential in 2024. New episodes every Thursday. And Beth, you're going to have a quiet year next year? That was a joke.
Rigby:
I am going to have an election next year. That's what we live for. I'm fully pumped. After I've had a little rest at Christmas, I will be fully pumped.
Rusbridger:
We'll be tuned in and join us next year.
