Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2017 - Communicators: Media

Vanessa Kingori

GQ Publisher and incoming British Vogue publisher

Kingori, MBE, will become the new publisher of Vogue in the new year, the first woman to undertake the role in the women’s magazine’s 100-year history. She was also the youngest ever publisher of British GQ. She is a leading cultural figure through her support of youth development as a visiting fellow at the University of the Arts London, and recently teamed up with Sadiq Khan to relaunch the London Is Open campaign.

Stig Abell

Editor and Publisher, Times Literary Supplement

The former director of the Press Complaints Commission sprung a surprise when he was appointed managing editor of The Sun in 2013 and an even bigger one when he moved to the TLS last year. At just 37, he is one of the youngest editors in such a senior position. His weekly shows on LBC on Brexit have provided widespread debate and he is a regular on Sky’s newspaper review.

Charles Allen

Chairman, Global Radio

Allen left school at 17 to become an accountant, and has since become chairman of Global Radio, the UK’s largest commercial radio company. He has led buyouts of competitors to create a stable including Capital, Classic FM and Heart. Before Global, he was chief executive of Granada Group and then ITV. A media man at heart, now a peer, he is a sought-after chairman and has positions including the Labour Party and the Red Cross.

Lionel Barber

Editor, Financial Times

Not many people can say they have sat down with Donald Trump and had a productive interview. Barber, however, produced a compelling interview after he grilled the President of the United States. Since the title was taken over by Nikkei in 2015, Barber has handled the transition smoothly, and under his stewardship, the FT now has 650,000 digital subscribers and maintains a strong print presence.

Sam Barcroft

Chief Executive, Barcroft Media

Barcroft Media regularly outpaces ITN, the Press Association and the Guardian on YouTube with its videos showing “the amazing side of life”, often featuring unusual people around the world. The agency sells to many formats, including newspaper exclusives and TV documentaries, recently including Channel 5. Barcroft started the agency in 2004 in the back-bedroom of his flat in Tottenham — he had previously worked as a Fleet Street photographer.

Emma Barnett

Broadcaster

Barnett’s mid-morning show on Radio 5 Live has become required listening for Westminster groupies. She got the scoop on Theresa’s tears on general election night, persuaded Tim Farron to open up about his Lib-Dem leadership problems, and forced Jeremy Corbyn to get his iPad out on air after he got into a pickle over Labour’s childcare policy. When not skewering politicians she also doubles as an agony aunt for the Sunday Times Magazine.

Dave Benett

Celebrity Photographer

The consummate party photographer, Benett has been snapping celebs for over three decades. He is invited to all the best parties in London and beyond, as the stars know he gets their best side, both in candid moments and posed snaps. He joined Getty Images in 2004 after many years with Alpha Photographers. He is treasured by the Evening Standard, and his work is regularly in other papers too.

Guy Black

Executive Director, Telegraph Media Group

The Tory peer was named Pink News’s peer of the year for his work on LGBT rights last year, which included campaigning against “gay cure” therapy and work on HIV prevention. Baron Black was also awarded the Journalists’ Charity Award at the Press Awards for 2016. He used to work as a Conservative Party researcher and at the Press Complaints Commission before joining the press full-time. Black oversaw as long-serving Telegraph CEO Murdoch MacLennan moved upstairs this year.

Karen Blackett

Chair, MediaCom UK

Moving from CEO to chair of MediaCom in 2015, Blackett went from directly managing £1billion worth of media spend for clients to a more overarching role. As president of NABS, she has been leading on in well-being among advertising and media professionals. She became chancellor of her alma mater the University of Portsmouth this autumn. In 2014 she was named the most influential black person in the UK by Powerlist.

Tom Bradby

Anchor, ITV News at Ten

The ITV lifer took over as the main face of the channel’s news bulletin last October following a 10-year stint as political editor. Bradby has introduced a somewhat more chatty style to compete with rival channels and regularly conducts exclusive interviews with the most influential figures in the UK.

Rebekah Brooks

Chief Executive, News UK

As Rupert Murdoch’s voice in the UK, Brooks’s revival as a major media player now seems complete. Since The Sun scrapped its online paywall, a surge in online traffic means it is now the second-most read paper in print and online. The Times’s paid model, recognised for its high-quality reporting, continues to attract new subscribers.

Christian Broughton

Editor, Independent Digital

Since the print Independent closed last year, Christian Broughton has been navigating the brave new world of digital only journalism, and made the publication a must read, in particular during the election campaign. Broughton has overseen the huge growth of independent.co.uk since taking the helm in 2012, and launched i100. He's been an Indie stalwart since working there as a student, with sojourns at the Daily Mirror and Time Out.

Philippa Brown

Chief executive, Omnicom Media Group, UK

As chief executive of the UK arm of Omnicom Media Group, Brown is one of the most high profile women on the UK media scene. Beginning her career as an accountant at KPMG, not known for being the traditional route into advertising, her advice for women to succeed is to be authentic and step out of your comfort zone. “Sometimes being driven has got me in trouble, but I’m proud of being competitive.”

Tina Brown

Media executive

The former Vanity Fair editor hosted the annual Women in the World summit in April, which included guests such as Hillary Clinton and Scarlett Johansson in New York and celebrates the most influential female role models of the year. Her much-awaited memoir, The Vanity Fair Diaries, is set to be released in November.

Kay Burley

Anchor, Sky News

Commended for her central role for Sky News during this year’s general election, Burley remains one of the key women in political journalism, never afraid to ask the tough questions, whether during an on-the-screen broadcast or one of her Twitter sessions. She has been broadcasting on Sky since its first day and continues to inspire many women, old and young, to get in front of the camera.

Martin Clarke

Publisher, MailOnline

The world’s most-popular news website continues its dominance over its rivals and Clarke is the mastermind behind it. The site generates 15.3 million web browsers a day — up from 14 million in the previous year — around the world. Clarke’s decision to hire the controversialist Katie Hopkins has divided opinion but with MailOnline’s revenue figures continually on the rise and it becoming more of its own brand by the day, Clarke’s reputation continues to grow.

Paul Dacre

Editor-in-Chief, Daily Mail

The editor of the Daily Mail, the UK’s most influential newspaper and scourge of the Establishment, marked his power in the British media by helping the Leave camp to victory in the EU referendum. With Brexit on the horizon, Dacre has fought vehemently against the Remain camp’s attempts to secure another referendum. Now at the helm for a quarter of a century, he remains the most powerful and highest-paid editor in the land.

Matthew d’Ancona

Columnist, London Evening Standard

A former editor of The Spectator, d’Ancona’s name is truly emblazoned in the world of political commentators. After initially praising the audacity of the Conservative Party manifesto, d’Ancona took the party to task over its deal with the DUP and failure to address Grenfell in a compassionate manner. His articles on Brexit have sparked wide debate and his hard-hitting style of writing makes him a valuable asset to the Evening Standard’s Comment section.

Jeremy Darroch

Chief Executive, Sky

Jeremy Darroch opened Sky’s Silicon Valley-style redeveloped HQ in west London last year, a nice way to mark a decade at the helm. He heads the European arm of Sky, meaning his decisions affect 22 million customers and more than 30,000 staff under his control. Northern boy Darroch worked at Procter & Gamble for a decade before joining Sky as chief financial officer and then CEO.

Evan Davis

Newsnight Presenter

Davis doesn’t do confrontation like Newsnight predecessor Jeremy Paxman, but he gets the answers. Davis started as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, then turned to journalism, becoming economics editor for the BBC. He was a presenter on Radio 4’s Today before being poached by Newsnight in 2014. He also presents Dragons’ Den, and wrote a well-received book on the Post-Truth era this year.

Tracy De Groose

UK CEO of Dentsu Aegis

Has been at the forefront of building a diverse workforce at her agency. She has launched a standalone business staffed primarily by people from disadvantaged backgrounds and has founded a development programme to help female executives progress their careers. She says: “Diversity isn’t a gimmick or simply something that is nice to have. Rather, it is a necessity for any business, and it is a driver of innovation.”

Richard Desmond

Chairman, Northern & Shell

The owner of the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, Desmond flexed his muscles last year, slashing cover prices and investing in websites. The billionaire tycoon, who made his fortune in adult TV channels, has been a mainstay in the UK media since buying the Express for £125 million in 2000. However, with rumours earlier this year suggesting Desmond was in talks to sell the titles, he could bow out in the near future.

David Dimbleby

BBC Presenter

Dimbleby anchored the BBC’s election coverage for the 10th time in June, jolting the nation when he read out the exit poll. The 2015 election had been supposed to be his last hurrah. Nearing 80, he is still one of the Corporation’s big political beasts, hosting Question Time with aplomb each week. Dimbleby joined the BBC as a news reporter in Bristol during the Sixties, and started at Question Time in 1994. He got his first tattoo, of a scorpion, at the age of 75 — he’s young at heart.

Oliver Duff

Editor, i

It is very rare in modern times to see a newspaper growing in terms of revenue and readership, but Duff has succeeded by identifying the niche area of print which could still be dominated. Since its launch in 2011, i has marvellously reported news in a condensed form and has generated a daily readership of more than 267,000. Duff has assembled an excellent team and the paper continues to go from strength to strength after Johnston Press purchased the title for £25 million last year.

Alan Edwards

Founder and Chairman, Outside Organisation

Edwards left school at 15 and got into showbiz by blagging his way into a Who gig at the age of 17 by chatting to the publicist. Starting with the Rolling Stones, he’s represented everyone from the Spice Girls and David Beckham to David Bowie and Naomi Campbell. Edwards founded and ran Outside Organisation, becoming chairman in 2015 and bringing in former Sun man Dominic Mohan.

Nima Elbagir

Reporter, CNN

An award-winning war correspondent who has been stationed from Africa to the Middle East in some of the world’s deadliest places, the Sudanese reporter has been recognised for her tireless efforts in reporting about the plight of Nigerian schoolgirls captured by terror group Boko Haram. Elbagir is very much regarded as one of CNN’s best in the field and has been compared to the network’s veteran Christiane Amanpour.

Guido Fawkes/Paul Staines

Blogger

Guido Fawkes remains a must-read in the Westminster bubble, getting political scoops online before other political journalists. The blog’s Sun on Sunday column ended last year, with Staines admitting he wouldn’t miss the deadline. But order-order.com goes from strength to strength, getting the delicious stories about goings-on in Downing Street and Whitehall. Started in 2004 by Staines alone, it now employs a crack team of well-connected journos.

Nick Ferrari

Presenter, LBC

An experienced tabloid journalist, Ferrari can never be accused of sitting on the fence. His outspoken views often spark debates on his breakfast show, where high-profile guests are subjected to no-holds-barred interviews — just ask Diane Abbott after her car crash interview in May when Ferrari asked for an exact costing for Labour’s proposal to recruit 10,000 police officers.

Janine Gibson

Editor-in-Chief, BuzzFeed UK

It’s not just cat pictures — Janine Gibson has made BuzzFeed a formidable news organisation, with politics and investigative work. Gibson was previously deputy editor at the Guardian, running its American operations when the paper led on Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. She has been a media journalist, editing Broadcast magazine, before coming to the Guardian and later taking charge of its website. The Leftie paper’s loss is BuzzFeed’s gain.

Geordie Greig

Editor, Mail on Sunday

Dubbed Britain’s most connected man by the Observer, Greig is reigning editor of the Mail on Sunday. He was previously in charge of the high-society bible Tatler and the Evening Standard, having started out in local papers after Eton. Greig’s friend Nicholas Coleridge called him “50 per cent courtier, 50 per cent old-school hack”. His books include one about his friendship with Lucian Freud.

Tony Hall

Director General, BBC

Lord Hall has navigated difficult waters at the helm of the public broadcaster, including a Government white paper on charter renewal, funding cut backs, and the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson. Hall joined BBC from his job as chief executive of the Royal Opera House. He had previously been a corporation man, producing a host of news programmes and then launching TV channels and radio stations such as BBC News 24.

James Harding

BBC Director of News

The BBC’s highly respected Director of News is stepping down after four and a half years at the helm which has seen him guide the Beeb through the Scottish Referendum, the Brexit vote and President Trump. After negotiating the tricky impartiality tightrope, Harding has decided to launch his own media company which will offer opinions and analysis. Harding, also previously editor of the Times editor, has both the experience to run a new venture and the ingenuity to rethink how media works best.

Jonathan Harmsworth

Chairman, DMGT

Viscount Rothermere is the controlling shareholder of a small media empire at DMGT, with total worth over £2 billion. This includes DMG events, information, and minority stakes in the Zoopla housing website, Euromoney and the mighty Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. Harmsworth has been training up DMGT chief executive Paul Zwillenberg since June 2016. The Daily Mail won newspaper of the year at the Press Awards, while the Mail on Sunday won the year before.

Camilla Harrisson

Chief Executive and Partner, Anomaly London

The ad guru left her job at M&C Saatchi in 2014 in a surprising move after only one year to lead Anomaly London. Harrisson was charged with making the London office compete with New York, Toronto and Shanghai, and started strongly, picking up work for Johnnie Walker, Budweiser and thetrainline.com. This year Harrisson has helmed a big campaign for Freeview. She’d previously worked at Wieden + Kennedy, Leo Burnett and WCRS.

John Hegarty

Co-Founder, Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Advertising legend Sir John spotted “Vorsprung durch Technik” on a faded German poster in the early Eighties, and made it the ubiquitous slogan for Audi cars. He founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty with partners John Bartle and Nigel Bogle in 1982, and has been at the forefront of the industry for decades. He is famously contrarian and recently advised creatives to get out of brainstorming meetings and away from screens to find moments of inspiration.

Polly Hill

Head of Drama, ITV

On the back of being poached from the BBC, Hill faced a huge challenge to fill the void left by popular series Downton Abbey. Drama remains an imperative part of ITV’s scheduling and Hill has wasted no time in commissioning new dramas such as Girlfriends, Desire and the eight-part series The Widow for 2017 and 2018, with a number of established writers involved.

Chris Hirst

European and UK Group CEO, Havas

After a decade in CEO positions Chris has a proven track record of leading transformation – guiding his businesses through significant change to deliver reputational change, growth and a culture of enduring success. Chris is currently CEO and chairman of Havas UK and Europe. He leads 1,800 people across both creative and media disciplines working within the European HQ in Kings Cross. As European CEO he manages a further 1200 people across all major European markets.

Johnny Hornby

Founder, The&Partnership

Hornby has worked in every big advertising agency in the UK. Starting at Ogilvy & Mather, he went to CDP and then TBWA, where he sold Labour’s 2001 election campaign. Later that year, Hornby set CHI&Partners with Simon Clemmow and Charles Inge, which now boasts large corporate clients. His The&Partnership, started in 2013, is a cross-discipline communications group that operates worldwide.

Mishal Husain

Presenter, Today

The first Muslim presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, multi-lingual Husain is known for her unflappable style and politely persistent interviewing technique. Having worked in journalism around the world, she offers a fresh perspective on important global events such as the growth of Islamic State in the Middle East and has been a huge asset to the Today line-up since joining four years ago.

Faisal Islam

Political Editor of Sky News

There has been plenty of politics since Faisal Islam succeeded Adam Boulton as Sky News political ed in 2014, and the new man has dealt with it admirably. Islam spent a decade at Channel 4 News, joining in 2004 after time in print as economics correspondent for The Observer. In March 2016, he won the Royal Television Society’s Interview of the Year for quizzing David Cameron before the Brexit vote.

Martin Ivens

Editor, The Sunday Times

With his wealth of experience after almost two decades as deputy editor of the paper, Ivens was the obvious candidate to take over the reins of the Sunday Times when John Witherow joined the weekly edition in 2013. Circulation has remained at a respectable level under his guidance and the bold decision to merge with the daily sister title for four online editions a day to keep up with breaking news has worked a treat.

Maya Jama

TV Presenter

Jama is a TV presenter, DJ and mental health advocate. Her first major presenting job was on MTV but she currently hosts the Drive-Time Show on urban radio station Rinse FM. Jama recently landed a co-hosting role on new ITV gameshow Cannonball and like her grime star boyfriend, Stormzy, she uses her social media platform to promote awareness and conversation around mental health issues, as well as body positivity. A rising star.

Ian Katz

Editor, Newsnight

Katz joined Newsnight in 2013, steering the ship through difficult waters after the Jimmy Savile scandal. He had previously spent more than two decades at the Guardian, with stints in charge of the website, G2 culture section and as deputy editor. Katz nearly returned to the Guardian to take over as editor from Alan Rusbridger but was pipped by Kath Viner. Having poached the Guardian’s Nick Watt for political editor, Newsnight remains a must-watch for stories and interviews. Katz has called for the media to regain the public’s trust.

Martha Kearney

Presenter, Radio 4

A popular presenter of the BBC’s World at One show, Kearney is as comfortable with politics and current affairs as with beekeeping and the Brontës. The Irish journalist may have started her career in bizarre circumstances — she was hit by an egg intended for the Liberal Party leader — but there is no doubting her stellar work in grilling some of country’s most important politicians over the past three decades.

Dave King

CEO, Digitalis

When the United States government did not know how to best stop Islamic extremists recruiting supporters online, it was King who went to Washington DC to advise them how to ensure jihadi content did not dominate the first pages of search engines. He and his London-based company Digitalis have a global reputation for managing online reputation and risk for prominent individuals and companies. It’s why the British government, facing the same problem of online extremist propaganda, has now joined the Americans in hearing from King what can be done too.

Steve King

Global CEO, Publicis Media

A founding employee of Zenith Media when it made history in 1988, Steve has more than 20 years’ experience in the provision of media services. He was instrumental in setting up Zenith USA in 1995, and has led ZenithOptimedia in EMEA since 1997. Steve became chief executive officer, Zenith Media Europe, Middle East and Africa, in August 1997. Following the creation of ZenithOptimedia in October 2001, he was appointed chief executive of ZenithOptimedia EMEA.

Jason Knauf

Communications Secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

When Prince William was spotted dad-dancing in Switzerland, Knauf got a call. He protects the public and private lives of Wills and Kate with aplomb, including their inspiring mental health campaign this year. He’s not averse to hard jobs — Knauf rose to director of public relations at RBS after the financial crash. Before that, the American worked at the Treasury, coming over in 2008 from New Zealand, where he advised PM Helen Clark.

Laura Kuenssberg

Political Editor, BBC

Having made history in 2015 by becoming the first woman to hold the position of BBC political editor, Kuenssberg continues to show her knack for news. She was named Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in December 2016 and her first-rate reporting throughout the election campaign highlights how deserved that victory was. Despite being constantly targeted on social media, she has maintained her dignity, and many see her as the key cog in the BBC’s political machine.

Evgeny Lebedev

Proprietor, London Evening Standard and The Independent

More than a year on, Lebedev’s decision to take the Independent digital looks like a success, with the publication returning to profit in late 2016. Meanwhile, the Evening Standard continues to thrive, with a circulation of more than 900,000 — if we say so ourselves. Lebedev showed he knew how to make headlines with the announcement of the appointment of George Osborne as editor in March. The paper’s Christmas appeal for homeless charity Centrepoint raised more than £3 million.

Kevin Lygo

Director of Television, ITV

Since his arrival from Channel 4, Lygo has made a true attempt at transforming ITV’s recent fortune by placing entertainment at the heart of his ethos. So far, it hasn’t gone exactly to plan but there are signs of encouragement. His attempt to boost ratings by replacing the News at Ten with the less formal Nightly Show proved unsuccessful after ratings slumped, but Lygo’s forward-thinking and bold decision-making is exactly what ITV needs.

Alex Mahon

Chief Executive, Channel 4

Mahon took over at Channel 4 this year, following David Abraham’s departure. She came from The Foundry, the design and effects software firm behind Guardians of the Galaxy. Before that she was boss of Shine Group, maker of MasterChef and Broadchurch, before its merger with Endemol. Mahon is the first woman to lead a broadcaster bigger than Channel 5, and will start by talking with some difficult questions, including Channel 4’s possible relocation out of London.

Eddie Mair

BBC Presenter

Quietly one of the best interviewers in the country, BBC Radio 4’s Mair has been presenting PM since 2003. He made Boris Johnson memorably fluff his lines soon after the Queen’s Speech in June, showing that the Foreign Secretary had little grasp of government policy. Previously on the corporation’s Broadcasting House programme, Mair joined Radio Scotland in 1987 as a sub-editor, and quickly became a presenter. Earlier this year his moving conversations with Steve Hewlett as the journalist was dying of cancer were gripping radio.

Emily Maitlis

Newsnight Presenter

When Andrea Leadsom asked that broadcasters be “a bit patriotic” in their coverage of Brexit in an interview this summer, Maitlis was quick to challenge her. She followed that with well-received coverage of the US election campaign. Speaker of five languages, she worked at NBC Asia in Hong Kong for six years, then Sky, before joining the BBC. With Evan Davis and Kirsty Wark, Newsnight has a formidable team.

Andrew Marr

TV Presenter

Despite stiff competition from ITV’s Robert Peston and Sophy Ridge on Sky, Marr still has his nose in front when it comes to Sunday morning political TV, with his BBC show. Marr was at the The Scotsman and Economist before the Independent, where he rose to editor. He later became BBC political editor. He still finds time to write best-selling books and exhibit his paintings this year, and he is now also a columnist with the Evening Standard.

Kelly Merryman

Vice President, Content Partnerships, YouTube

The Harvard Business School graduate, who previously oversaw the expansion of Netflix across the UK and Europe, has been busy since being lured by Google to become the lead executive at YouTube last year. Managing its relations with media content companies large and small, Merryman launched YouTube Red, an ad-free subscription service, to rival Netflix — ironically the service she helped expand.

Zanny Minton Beddoes

Editor-in-Chief, The Economist

Minton Beddoes became the first female editor of the Economist in 2015 after more than two decades at the financial magazine, making her one of the most influential voices in financial journalism. The magazine ruffled some feathers with its pro-European stance and criticism of Theresa May in the general election. After leaving university, Minton Beddoes was an adviser to the minister of finance in Poland and also worked for the IMF.

Charlotte Moore

Director of Content, BBC

Moore joined the Beeb in 2006 as commissioning executive for documentaries and has risen fast, taking charge of documentaries and then becoming controller of BBC1. In July, she became director of content at W1A, where she is in charge of television’s strategy, ideas and programmes for BBC1, 2, 4 and iPlayer — a big job. Successes this year include Line of Duty and Rochdale drama Three Girls.

Harry Mount

Editor, The Oldie

Mount became editor of The Oldie this spring at the sprightly age of 45. He does have fogeyish credentials, writing books about Latin, architectural history and this year, Brexit. Mount is a journalist of the top drawer, writing on a range of subjects for the Mail and Telegraph, and is well-connected too: his second cousin is David Cameron.

Elisabeth Murdoch

Founder, Freelands Foundation

Since leaving her television production company Shine in 2014 on its merger with Endemol, Murdoch has been campaigning in the art world, launching a £100,000 prize for female artists. Having set up Shine in 2001 she sold it to father Rupert’s News Corp in 2011. She has started new companies Freelands Ventures and Vertical Networks and is often rumoured to be making a comeback to TV.

Fraser Nelson

Editor, Spectator

John Cleese caused waves by calling Fraser Nelson a “tenement Scot” last October — the Speccie editor fired back with typical grace and humour. Since backing Brexit last year, The Spectator has remained essential reading. With almost a decade in charge, Nelson is the mag’s longest serving editor since Alexander Chancellor in the 1970s. His Telegraph column uses data to come up with unusual takes on current politics.

Jonathan Newhouse

Chairman of Condé Nast International

Scion of the Newhouse publishing dynasty, Newhouse has been an honorary Londoner since the mid-Nineties when he jumped over the pond to grow the company’s international titles. Following the controversial firings and hirings at Vogue House this year, the dust is settling, and his foresight in appointing Edward Enninful at the helm of British Vogue, with its renewed modern approach to fashion editorial and an emphasis on diversity, is set to pave the way for a new era for the Condé Nast group as a whole.

Cathy Newman

Presenter, Channel 4 News

Former Lib-Dem leader Tim Farron never really recovered after Newman pressured him about personal views on sin and homosexuality in this year’s general election campaign. Newman is at the top of Channel 4 news, having joined from the Financial Times in 2006. She breaks her own stories, and spoke movingly about an abortion earlier this year.

Ore Oduba

Sport Presenter, BBC

“When I got the call I became a jabbering mess,” Oduba says of his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing. In the event it was only after he jived his way to victory with partner Joanne Clifton that the tears arrived. Since then, Oduba has cemented his status as a top broadcaster, keeping his day job presenting BBC Sport as well as hosting the occasional One Show and spinning a car off the Top Gear track.

Sally Osman

Director, royal communications

Osman is head of communications for the royals, having been promoted from Prince Charles’s team when the household consolidated into one outfit in 2014. She has previously worked at the Daily Mail and the BBC. Osman can answer any query — this year she said of Liz Hurley’s TV show The Royals: “It is fiction. We deal in fact.” With Prince Philip retiring and the young royals working hard on mental health projects, she has had a busy year.

Alan Parker

Founder and Chairman, Brunswick

In 1987, Sir Alan founded Brunswick and has since become one of the most powerful corporate and financial PRs in the world in his three decades at the helm. He had deep links with both the Gordon Brown and David Cameron governments, and has been called the “great conduit” between Whitehall and the City. Brunswick has 23 offices in 14 countries around the world. Sir Alan is also chair of trustees at Save the Children International.

Rowan Pelling

Editor, The Amorist

The acceptable face of filth, Pelling is back this year with new magazine The Amorist — which she has called “an erotic version of Woman’s Hour”. The Amorist tackles sex in an intellectual style, suitable for a high-street stockist. Pelling was the driving force behind the Erotic Review before selling it in 2004. She has previously worked at Private Eye and GQ magazine, and writes regular columns for the Telegraph — and not only on sex.

Robert Peston

Political Editor, ITV News

Peston has had his own Sunday politics programme for over a year now, giving Andrew Marr a run for his money. The man with the raggedy delivery left the BBC in 2015 after stints as business editor and then economics editor, coming into his own during the financial crisis with a series of scoops. He also worked at the Financial Times for a decade, and writes books. Peston inspires affection in his fans, an unusual quality among “serious” journalists.

Amol Rajan

Media Editor, BBC

Rajan made waves in 2013 when he was made Independent editor at only 29. After a period of calm when the Indy closed early last year, Rajan made a comeback that November, becoming the BBC’s first media editor. He has already caused trouble, chasing Rupert Murdoch’s car in New York to ask him about a takeover of BSkyB. Rajan also presents the Media Show on Radio 4 and one of the new presenters on BBC2’s Front Row.

Manveen Rana

Journalist, BBC

Radio 4 journalist Rana works on on the World At One, PM, Broadcasting House and The World This Weekend. She was the reporter behind the World at One series that broke the Bell Pottinger-South Africa story. In a series of pieces, Rana investigated the relationship between political power in South Africa, a London-based PR firm, and one of the country’s richest families, the Guptas. She won a One World Media Radio Award and Peabody for her radio documentary A New Life in Europe: The Dhnie Family.

Albert Read

Condé Nast UK Managing Director

Luxury publishing juggernaut Condé Nast has been going through its biggest transition in decades, and as the company’s new UK managing director, Albert Read has been the prime mover. Taking over from Nicholas Coleridge, Read was instrumental in bringing in Edward Enninful as editor of Vogue, a maverick appointment. With further hires earmarked for the near future, the new face of Condé Nast clearly plans to make his mark.

Kate Reardon

Editor, Tatler

Having been editor of the Condé Nast publication since 2010, Reardon has been at the heart of its rise to prominence as the ultimate society magazine. Her prestigious background in fashion, including stints at Vogue and Vanity Fair earlier in her career, led her to become the title’s youngest-ever fashion editor before taking up the top role. Reardon’s influence has brought a more humorous tone to its pages and its digital success with a younger demographic has reflected her mission to make the magazine more accessible.

Nick Robinson

Presenter, Today

Nobody would have been more stunned than Robinson when the BBC decided to snub the 53-year-old’s political nous for a younger presenting team for the general election. Having been a key part of BBC’s political coverage since 2001, Robinson’s ability to dig in and fire questions at leaders is widely known, even if some accused him of partiality when criticising Jeremy Corbyn. Robinson remains the star after hosting the post-election coverage — let’s hope it stays that way.

James Roscoe

Head of Foreign Office’s Post-Referendum Communications Unit

James Roscoe was poached by the Foreign Office last year from his post as press secretary to the Queen — he had expertly helmed the 90th-birthday celebrations. Roscoe had previously worked for the Foreign Office as a diplomat in the United Nations, posted to New York and Africa, and had a stint as an adviser at Downing Street. He and wife Clemency Burton-Hill of Radio 3 form something of a power couple.

Roland Rudd

Chairman, RLM Finsbury

The passionate pro-European champions lobbying group Business For New Europe alongside giving financial advice to more than two dozen FTSE firms from Sky to AstraZeneca. Rudd has written at length for the Guardian and Evening Standard about the risks of leaving the EU and even criticised his sister, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, for the Government’s “denigration of foreign workers”.

Sarah Sands

Editor, Today programme

Sands became the second woman to edit BBC Radio 4’s agenda-setting Today in spring, following a career on Fleet Street. She started at the Evening Standard editing The Londoner’s Diary column, and became the paper’s editor in 2012. In between she was deputy at the Telegraph for a decade, editor of the Sunday Telegraph, and worked at the Daily Mail. In an interview last year Sands called herself “a journalist with a liking for drama”.

Allegra Stratton

National Editor, ITV News

Still in her mid-thirties, Stratton has already had an impressive career in media. Her current incarnation is as national editor of ITV News — she also appears on Robert Peston’s Sunday political programme. Before that, she had a four-year stint as political editor on Newsnight, was on Woman’s Hour, and political correspondent at the Guardian. Her marriage to Spectator political editor James Forsyth makes her part of a journalistic power couple.

Nick Theakstone

UK CEO, GroupM

Nick started in the advertising industry in 1982 as a sales executive for HTV. He worked at BMP DDB Needham and MediaVest before joining Mindshare as head of investment. In 2004, he became managing director of GroupM Trading which merged Mindshare and MEC’s media expenditure. As CEO of GroupM UK, Nick’s primary purpose is to ensure the company invests in people, content, technology and data to enable its agencies to optimally, effectively and efficiently deliver value for clients.

Katharine Viner

Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media

While redundancies and losses continue to blight the paper, Viner has settled into the role since her appointment as editor of the Guardian in 2015 — the paper’s first woman in the role in its 195-year history. Her influence on the UK title is already evident, as The Guardian continues to produce hard-hitting journalism, with the title breaking some important stories over the past year — some of which were recognised at the Press Awards earlier this year.

Kirsty Wark

Presenter, Newsnight

Arguably one of the BBC’s best interviewers, Wark has presented a wide range of programmes, from the ground-breaking Late Show to election specials, live stadium events and, since 1993, Newsnight. When not interrogating interviewees, she enjoys cameo TV appearances in everything from Celebrity MasterChef to Absolutely Fabulous. She added documentary-maker to her list of attributes after the broadcast of her compelling The Menopause and Me, a candid tale of how she dealt with menopause after having a hysterectomy.

Sharon White

Chief Executive, Ofcom

Running the regulator that has oversight of everything from commercial TV to radio and the Royal Mail was already a big job, but White has experience in this area and it proved useful when Ofcom assumed responsibility for regulating the BBC as well. A former civil servant, White has been praised for highlighting the BBC’s lack of diversity, labelling it “too middle-aged and middle-class”.

Ed Williams

CEO, Edelman

As CEO of global communications marketing firm Edelman, Williams leads its UK and Ireland business. He joined in 2011, having previously overseen communications at the BBC and Reuters. Williams worked as a print and TV journalist after Harvard Business School, so knows the business from bottom to top. He has other interests, serving on the Royal College of Art board and Crisis’s International Advisory Council.

John Witherow

Editor, The Times

Bucking print’s decline, The Times turned a profit again last year and circulation was up five per cent. This good news is down in large part to its canny editor, who took over in 2013 after nearly 20 years at The Sunday Times. Witherow was earlier a foreign correspondent. At the 2017 Press Awards, The Times won Scoop of the Year by Rachel Sylvester on Andrea Leadsom, and Front Page of the Year for its Brexit cover, amongst others.