Media Confidential

In this week’s episode of Media Confidential, Alan and Lionel are joined by Rainey Reitman, writer and civil liberties advocate.

She is the co-founder and president of the board of Freedom of the Press Foundation and is the author of Transaction Denied: Big Finance’s Power to Punish Speech.

The three explore financial censorship: how companies like Visa, PayPal, and Mastercard have cut off support for journalists, activists and small media outlets and use their power to silence dissenting voices. What effect does this have on democracy?

They discuss a number of cases, including the historic banking blockade that crippled WikiLeaks.
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In this episode of Media Confidential, Alan and Lionel discuss the reporting on the “madness of ‘King Trump’”, the war in Iran and the developments since the last episode, in which journalist Susan Glasser described the president as “the big, fat, naked emperor in the room”.

As a surprising pick is announced as the new Ofcom chair, the editors spill the beans on what they know about him and their hopes for his tenure.

They also talk about Sam Altman and the furore surrounding his departure from (and subsequent rehiring by) OpenAI, following a lengthy New Yorker article discussing the many faces of the tech titan.

And they answer a listener’s question on why US police are releasing videos on social media from the arrests of public figures like Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods—would it happen in the UK?
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On this week’s Media Confidential interview, New Yorker columnist Susan Glasser joins Alan and Lionel to discuss how reporters should deal with President Trump.

The three discuss how to hold power to account when the president’s communications are so vast, from phone interviews to social media posts. They also talk about the risks of US media “sanewashing” Trump and normalising a distorted new reality.

In this wide-ranging discussion, Susan, Alan and Lionel muse on the dangers of a president wielding largely unchecked power—and consider how his next decisions will affect the world.
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Alan and Lionel discuss the Observer after investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr, the paper’s former features writer, suggests that some of its new funders may not be who they seem.

And as Scott Bessent, US secretary to the Treasury, takes aim at the Financial Times—claiming that a story about him was “manufactured”—former FT editor Lionel gives a considered reply.

The editors also examine the selection process for the new head of Ofcom. What’s taking so long?

And they discuss the BBC’s sacking of Scott Mills, following new information about abuse allegations.
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In this week’s Media Confidential, Alan and Lionel are joined by former Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi.

The three discuss the Post’s editor-in-chief Will Lewis, following his resignation in February. They discuss how Lewis got the role, his tenure and his abrupt exit, days after overseeing mass layoffs.

They also talk about key decisions made by Post owner Jeff Bezos and how they led to the loss of more than 250,000 subscribers. Is there any hope for the publication?
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