Media Confidential

I’m listening to Lionel Barber praise the easier access to audio equipment and wonder why the quality of his recording is more uneven than Alan’s.

Even I, an American, love this show with its mostly British concerns. Both Rusbridger and Barber are distinguished former editors and their tone and manner is just right. But Barber’s humblebragging (but not really humble) about his globetrotting is the one off-putting thing about the show. Let me extend that a bit: Barber’s America-philia (carried over from his time at the FT, which has become a thoroughly American rag run mostly by Americans though owned by Japanese) stops me from giving it five stars.

This podcast shows signs of promise. Two successful editors who answer to no one and can call it straight. That’s rare in Britain.

Who better than two of the great editors of our time - Rusbridger of the Guardian & Barber of the FT- to assess and explain the stories behind the stories and newsmakers? Excellent first episode on Murdoch and his legacy.