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Media Confidential
Julian Assange: A landmark moment in press freedom?
After 12 years without freedom—first after seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and then as a prisoner in high-security Belmarsh—Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is free and is back on home soil in Australia.
Assange’s crime was to publish classified information leaked from the US Army. He was working alongside Chelsea Manning, who had hacked the material. Assange claimed he was a journalist acting under the protection of the First Amendment in the US guaranteeing freedom of speech. A similar defence had been used in 1972 with the publishing of the Pentagon Papers by the New York Times.
In today’s episode, Alan Rusbridger, who was editor of the Guardian—the UK paper that published the documents leaked by Assange—and former FT editor Lionel Barber are joined two special guests. James Goodale is a legendary lawyer who represented the New York Times during the Pentagon papers and Kenneth Roth is former executive director of Human Rights Watch. They discuss the legal precedents set by this case and debate the rights and wrongs of publishing classified documents. Plus, what does this case indicate for the future freedom of the media?
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36. Q&A: The BBC, a broken tape recorder and a fake Meryl Streep
21:30||Season 2, Ep. 36The BBC, a broken tape recorder and a fake Meryl Streep. That’s right, it can only mean a new edition of Media Confidential’s Q&A show.Alan is joined by Janine Gibson, in Lionel’s absence, to tackle questions about their first days as editors, their favourite headlines and the future of the BBC.One listener asks: do the editors remember a time when they badly messed things up?From an interview with a massive guest going awry, to retribution in the form of one well-known actress, Alan and Janine share some of the finest stories they’ve gathered in their time as journalists and editors.35. Armando Iannucci: "X is an industrial piss factory"
46:38||Season 2, Ep. 35How do you solve a problem like Elon? The billionaire owner of X controls one of the world's biggest social media channels, treating the platform as his own propaganda machine.Armando Iannucci—the satirist, writer and producer behind Alan Partridge, The Thick of It and Veep—has, until recently, been using his own Twitter account to fact-check Musk's posts.He joins Alan Rusbridger and guest host, Janine Gibson, editor of the Weekend FT, to discuss how what happens if we don't take Musk seriously.Like Donald Trump, Musk has a strong dislike for the mainstream media and has used X to vocalise support for fringe figures like Tommy Robinson. But what might have once been dismissed as baseless rants are now driving the news agenda—and even political manoeuvres—in many parts of the USA and Europe.How will Musk's megalomania end? And how dangerous to global democracy is he, really? Armando, Alan and Janine discuss.34. Q&A: When Lionel met Obama and Alan met the queen
18:48||Season 2, Ep. 34Alan and Lionel kick off the 2025 with a brand-new Q&A episode.While primetime CNN attracts a mere 400,000 listeners, the Joe Rogan Experience reaches over 17 million subscribers on YouTube. What explains the exponential rise of Joe Rogan’s podcast?In a world dominated by social media platforms, where fact and fiction are blurred, the editors make the case for traditional, fact-based journalism.Plus, Alan and Lionel have brushed shoulders with many household names, but who has made them starstruck? The editors share their stories: what question did Alan ask the queen?33. 2025: Buckle up! It’s going to be quite a year
45:00||Season 2, Ep. 33Alan and Lionel are joined by Janine Gibson, editor of the Weekend FT, to look ahead to what promises to be a “yuge” year for journalists.As Trump enters his second term in the White House, should we expect authoritarian clamp-downs on the press? And as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg promises free-speech and the end of fact-checking at Facebook, will opinion trump truth?The editors also discuss new media stars, from Joe Rogan to gamer “ConnorEatsPants”, who has interviewed everyone from Joe Exotic to Sesame Street’s Elmo…and even the mysterious Adrian Dittmann, rumoured to be Elon Musk’s alter-ego.Plus, will Prince Harry have his day in court to take on Murdoch over phone-hacking? One of our editors receives some tantalising hints that he may not go through with it after all…Is assisted dying moral? Rowan Williams and Brenda Hale in conversation
58:49|Would legalising assisted dying end unnecessary suffering? Or would it instead enable the abuse of some of society’s most vulnerable people?Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill has passed its second reading. Back in September, Prospect invited two of our most profound thinkers—Rowan Williams and Brenda Hale—to debate the issue. As archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams led a Church that publicly opposes any form of assisted dying, while, as a Supreme Court judge, Brenda Hale was involved in life-or-death judgements.In a moving exchange, Hale discusses her own Christian faith, while Williams shares his pastoral experience in the company of the dying. They joined Prospect’s editor Alan Rusbridger and commissioning editor Emily Lawford for a thoughtful and vitally important conversation.This episode was first published on Media Confidential's sister podcast, the Prospect podcast. To read this conversation from the magazine, visit our website.32. 2024 in review: From Sanewashing to the Observer sale
44:28||Season 2, Ep. 32For our final episode of 2024, Alan and Lionel look back at their Media Confidential year. They’ve tackled a huge range of stories: from phone-hacking and the rise of AI, to Ofcom’s battles with GB News. They’ve analysed elections on both sides of the Atlantic, were joined by Toby Jones on the Post Office scandal, and heard from courageous reporters working inside Gaza.There’s been an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and a crisis at the Washington Post… but which episodes do they find the most memorable?Michael Lewis came to Prospect Towers in September to promote his new book about Sam Bankman-Fried, Going Infinite. But when Alan started reading out criticism of the book, the temperature dropped several degrees. The heated resulting exchange is hard to forget.Ahead of the US election, Rebecca Solnit joined Alan and Lionel to discuss her concerns about the American media “sanewashing” Donald Trump.Finally, James Harding and Carole Cadwalladr recently appeared on the show to tell-all about Tortoise's controversial decision to buy the Observer. James received a grilling from our hosts. Now, with Observer journalists striking, who’s to say who was right?2025 promises to be a heck of a ride.31. Q&A: Will machines replace us?
25:36||Season 2, Ep. 31Could machine-generated articles replace those created by human beings?After their series on AI in the media, Alan and Lionel now turn to listeners’ questions.There's no question that AI could help to make journalists lives easier, but what sort of practical uses will there be on a day-to-day basis? Is there a risk that AI will take over the creative roles of writers and reporters? And what are the main threats to media employees?Alan and Lionel remain cautiously optimistic about the future of the tools that will become more and more available.They’re convinced that the subtlety, wit and nuance of real-life journalists will win out and cannot be replaced by machines. At least not yet…Follow us on BlueSky @prospectmagazine.bsky.social and stay up to date with all our latest stories by signing up to our new daily newsletter Lightbulb—simply click on the newsletter tab on our website and enter your email address to register.30. AI: Powering newsrooms of the future?
40:25||Season 2, Ep. 30Can traditional journalism survive when ChatGPT is able to produce copy in a matter of seconds?In Media Confidential’s third episode in a series exploring the world of artificial intelligence, Alan and Lionel are joined by Felix Simon, an AI expert and research fellow at the Reuters Institute of Journalism.He shares how the technology could transform the way newsrooms operate, and why this might actually be a good thing.Meanwhile, despite ongoing deals between AI companies, publishers and news organisations, data scraping and the future of copyright ownership remains a grey area. Why does it matter?To watch this video, head to our YouTube channel, where Media Confidential is published every Thursday.Not sure what to gift this Christmas? Why not make use of Prospect’s discounted subscription offer here.29. Q&A: The Daily Mail's sidebar of shame
21:02||Season 2, Ep. 29What do you do if a big story breaks on Christmas Day and there's a skeleton crew running the newsroom?That's just one of the seasonal questions put to Alan and Lionel in this week's Q&A episode.The editors also discuss Mishal Husain's departure from the BBC's Today programme, characterising her as one of the best interviewers of recent times.Finally, they reflect on how reporting has changed since the #MeToo movement. One feature of the Daily Mail, in particular, is singled out as being stuck in the 1980s.If you're after Christmas gift ideas, look no further than our very own Lionel Barber's recent book Gambling Man, or why not try a discounted subscription to Prospect magazine? (Listener Annie Day's dad will be very happy this year!)https://subscription.prospectmagazine.co.uk/dec24off/prospect-magazine/de24nl