The podcast that discusses global current affairs with women leaders!
Ilana Bet-El chats with wonderfully qualified women experts from around the world in informal but in-depth conversations that explain, analyse and highlight events of the day.
Women Leaders brings incredibly well-informed perspectives to world events: not the news, but what the news means! From geopolitics to security, defence and wars, and from economics to journalism, media and disinformation, we bring context and insight to the rapid changes in the world.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The podcast that discusses global current affairs with women leaders!
Ilana Bet-El chats with wonderfully qualified women experts from around the world in informal but in-depth conversations that explain, analyse and highlight events of the day.
Women Leaders brings incredibly well-informed perspectives to world events: not the news, but what the news means! From geopolitics to security, defence and wars, and from economics to journalism, media and disinformation, we bring context and insight to the rapid changes in the world.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Democracy and freedom, die in ignorance. There is wilful ignorance, as in not wanting to know; there is collateral ignorance, as in watching silly videos and media feeds rather than seeking information; and there is imposed ignorance, when sources of information are cut off and denied. The Trump administration is blatantly indulging in the latter, both internally and externally. Within the US, the administration is hand picking the media outlets it will deal with, while also dismantling the Department of Education. Outside the US, it has chosen to defund and potentially close both Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America — two amazing organisations that have brought facts and news across the globe, notably those in non-democratic regimes.
It seems that for the Trump administration journalism is a threat. In a world where the boundaries between media, politics and business continue to erode, the likes of Trump, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos have become central figures in shaping public discourse. Moreover, the rise of entertainment news, change of habits, explosive volumes of news pose significant challenges for journalism today.
To explore these issues, Ilana Bet-El is joined by veteran BBC journalist Kate Adie. In a conversation rich with anecdotes from her storied career, she reflects on the evolution of media, the structural crises of today’s news industry and the fundamental role of journalism in society. Amid the explosion of information and the struggle to filter truth from noise, she argues that people basically seek real news and information, not propaganda. Because in the end, the truth still matters.
This episode was recorded on 20 March 2025 and is part of the third edition of the Podcasthon, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness on various charities worldwide, thanks to (great!) podcasters. For this episode, we put the spotlight on the Committee to Protect Journalists: an independent, nonprofit organisation that promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news safely.
Chapters
What is journalism in an age of billionaires and power struggles?
The decline of traditional media and the rise of digital chaos
The battle between real news and entertainment-driven coverage
The structural crisis of the media industry
Why people still want real journalism—and why it matters
Mentions
Committee to Protect Journalists Instagram X/Twitter Youtube
Kate Adie reporting on Tiananmen Square
Follow
Kate's BBC website
Credits
Production: Florence Ferrando
Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.