In today’s Media Confidential, Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber discuss Labour’s latest scandal, after thinktank Labour Together reportedly hired a company to gather material about journalists Gabriel Pogrund and Harry Yorke—who were investigating its financial affairs—and then handed over the information to GCHQ.

The information produced by the US-based PR firm allegedly included “deeply personal and false claims”; though Starmer has promised an investigation, has this happened to other journalists, too?

And, as Prince Harry's legal war with the Daily Mail continues, they also discuss the evidence of former Mail editor Paul Dacre during the ongoing trial.

Plus, the pair talk about the changing role of the court reporter, and the big libel cases they have faced in their respective editorships.

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In today’s Media Confidential, Alan Rusbridger is joined by Marty Baron, long-time former editor of the Washington Post.

Marty discusses the recent sweeping cuts across the paper—including the decimation of the sports department—and reveals the shocking way one foreign correspondent found out their job was being axed.

He talks about his own relationship with Post owner Jeff Bezos, as well as how the billionaire’s editorial ambitions for the paper may have been influenced by his ties to President Trump. The pair also discuss the reasons behind the controversial decision not to endorse a candidate for the 2025 election, and the subsequent fallout.

And, after more than 300 staff were laid off, Marty and Alan discuss how a newspaper deals with the dreaded “death spiral”. Is this is the beginning of the end for the Post?

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In this episode of Media Confidential, Alan and Lionel discuss the Washington Post sacking over 300 journalists—or one-third of its newsroom—and the dangers of not having a strong journalistic organisation in the US capital.

Lionel challenges Post owner Jeff Bezos’s argument that decisions about cuts have to be data-led and speculates on the departure of editor Will Lewis: was it out of his own free will?

They also discuss Ofcom’s decision not to investigate a GB News interview with Donald Trump which contained false claims.

And, after one listener asks what Lionel and Alan make of a Telegraph article lamenting how the Financial Times has “gone woke”, the pair disagree over the FT’s infamous How To Spend It (HTSI) luxury magazine.

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