![]() | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(June 2024) |
The News Agents | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Presentation | |
Hosted by | |
Genre | daily news podcast, podcast, news commentary podcast, political podcast ![]() |
Language | English |
Production | |
No. of episodes | 523 ![]() |
Publication | |
Original release | 30 August 2022 – present |
Ratings | 4.4/5 ![]() |
Related | |
Website | globalplayer |
The News Agents is a British daily podcast produced by Global Media & Entertainment. It is presented by Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall. It launched on 30 August 2022, with episodes released every weekday afternoon. [1]
Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel had both previously worked for BBC News, and it was announced in February 2022 that they would both be leaving to join Global Media & Entertainment. Prior to her departure, Maitlis had been the main presenter for the BBC current affairs programme Newsnight , and before he left the BBC, Sopel had been North American Editor; they had both previously worked together on the BBC podcast Americast. On 22 August 2022, Global announced that The News Agents would launch the following week. Hosted by Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodal l, The News Agents presented itself as an alternative to mainstream media outlets, such as the BBC. The initial schedule was for Maitlis and Sopel to present daily shows on Mondays to Thursdays, and Goodall presenting on Fridays. [2] [3]
The podcast received extensive pre-launch publicity, which James Marriott, writing in The Times , has described as a "weeks-long publicity blitz" that promised a "suave up-to-date show that would blast aside the staid, fuddy-duddy stuff on Olde-Worlde radio". [4] [5] Maitlis delivered the 2022 MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival during which she spoke of what she believed to be a threat posed to journalism by populist politicians, suggesting a role for The News Agents against this. [6]
On 27 June 2023, Global announced a deal with HSBC which saw the bank become lead sponsor of The News Agents. [7] On 11 January 2024, HSBC and Global announced the sponsorship deal had been extended for a further 12 months. [8]
The opening edition, titled Trump – Prison or President?, focused on the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of presidential documents and the subsequent raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate, [9] with Anthony Scaramucci, the Trump critic and former White House Director of Communications, appearing as a guest. [10]
In January 2023, the podcast obtained a leaked letter from Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in which she recommended the government reverse its plans to privatise Channel 4. [11] In an episode released on 27 January 2023, which contained an interview with Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, she accused some opponents of the Scottish Government's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill of using women's rights as a "cloak of acceptability" for transphobia. [12]
On 26 May 2023, it was announced that a weekly US version of the podcast would launch on 20 June. The News Agents USA is hosted by Maitlis and Sopel. [13] On 29 September 2023, Global announced a further spin-off podcast, The News Agents Investigates, would launch on 1 October and be presented by Goodall. [14] On 7 February 2024, Global announced plans to launch The Sports Agents, presented by Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman, and available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the spring. [15] The Sports Agents was launched on 5 March 2024. [16] On 26 April 2024, it was announced that Tesco had signed a deal to become headline sponsor of The Sports Agents. [17]
On 4 September 2022, it was reported that The News Agents had topped the Apple UK Podcast Chart. [6] On 8 December, it was reported by Press Gazette that The News Agents had reached 10 million downloads. [18]
The first edition received a mixed reception, with reviewers praising the quality of its content but expressing concern about the informal approach of its presenters. James Marriott of The Times described it as "slick but a little baffling" with "tantalising glimpses of the much better show that will doubtless be constructed from all the beautiful, uber-professional moving parts that are welded together so oddly in this first episode". [5] Sean O'Grady of The Independent felt it was "balanced, informative and analytical" but was less impressed with the presenting style: "The thing I actively disliked about the podcast was the very thing that is supposed to make these exercises so refreshing and fun – that terrible forced chumminess and informality, supposed to be like three old friends gossiping in a bar". [19]
Mark Lawson of The Guardian suggested the edition "most resembled the post-show Newsnight green room cool-down, with presenters and contributors speaking slightly more loosely", and that it "is bold of Global" to launch the podcast, but concluded "It remains to be seen, though, if the best use is being made of these latest big-money signings". [9] Judith Woods of The Telegraph was critical of the episode for choosing to focus on an international story rather than focusing on UK news topics "on a day when the [British Medical Association] warned of a doctors' strike, a police investigation was reopened on an alleged child grooming gang in Hull and Goldman Sachs suggested inflation could top 22 per cent next year". [20] The topic choice was also highlighted by Fiona Sturges of The Financial Times , particularly as the Mar-a-Lago raid was by then an old news story; she highlighted other problems as well: "a surfeit of interviews with commentators you've never heard of; phoney-sounding listener questions; and, Lord help us, the small talk" which "comes over as forced and unfunny". [21]
Fiona Sturges of The Financial Times has suggested "its real rival is The Rest Is Politics ", a political podcast presented by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. [21]
Newsnight is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 22:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also available on BBC iPlayer.
Classic FM is one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations and is owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment (Global). The station broadcasts classical music and was launched in 1992.
Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover is a British journalist and presenter who currently hosts a two hour show for Times Radio and the Off Air podcast, for The Times. Before joining The Times in October 2022, Glover worked for the BBC for almost thirty years, most recently presenting the Fortunately podcast, with Jane Garvey, The Listening Project for BBC Radio 4 and My Perfect Country for the BBC World Service.
Matthew Amroliwala is a British television newsreader, who is one of the chief presenters on the BBC News Channel. He has also been an occasional relief presenter of the BBC News at One on BBC One. He also presented Crimewatch alongside Kirsty Young from January 2008 until March 2015.
Emily Maitlis is a British journalist and former newsreader for the BBC. She was the lead anchor of the BBC Two news and current affairs programme Newsnight until the end of 2021, and is currently a presenter of the daily podcast The News Agents on LBC Radio.
Mark Mardell is a British journalist, formerly the presenter of The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4. He had previously served as BBC News's Europe editor, and provided coverage for each United Kingdom general election between 1992 and 2005, before he became North America editor.
The BBC News at One is the BBC's afternoon news programme on British television channels BBC One and the BBC News channel, broadcast weekdays at 1:00pm and produced by BBC News. The programme runs for 60 minutes, including a ten-minute regional news bulletin at approximately 1:35pm. The programme is currently presented by a pool of presenters from across BBC Breakfast and BBC News.
Jonathan B. Sopel is a British journalist, television presenter and podcaster. He was formerly BBC News's North America editor; chief political correspondent for the domestic news channel BBC News; a presenter on the Politics Show on BBC One and the BBC News channel; and from 2013 to 2014, the main presenter of Global on BBC World News. Since 2022, he has been presenting the Global daily news podcast The News Agents.
Louise Mary Minchin is a British television presenter, journalist and former news presenter who currently works freelance within the BBC.
Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media and GMG Radio. Global owns and operates seven core radio brands, all employing a national network strategy, including Capital, Heart, Gold, Classic FM, Smooth and LBC.
Global, styled also as Global with Matthew Amroliwala, was a news programme on BBC World News that premiered on 14 January 2013 with the relaunch of the channel from Broadcasting House. The programme was hosted initially by Jon Sopel who joined the channel from the domestic BBC News channel. Sopel regularly presented the programme on location around the world and in this case it is broadcast in part on the BBC News channel. Sopel was promoted to North America Editor in 2014, and was succeeded in September by Matthew Amroliwala.
The Context, also styled as The Context with Christian Fraser, is a live current affairs programme that airs Monday to Friday on the international and UK feeds of the BBC News channels from 20:00 GMT till 22:00 GMT.
This is a list of events taking place in 2019 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.
Newscast is a British daily podcast and weekly television programme produced by BBC News. It takes a look at the day’s main news, political events and talking points. It is the most listened to podcast on BBC Sounds and consistently ranks as the most popular news podcast in the United Kingdom. It is presented by the BBC's former chief political correspondent Adam Fleming with political editor Chris Mason.
Lewis Goodall is a British journalist, broadcaster and author. He worked as a journalist for Granada Studios before becoming a political correspondent for Sky News. He later became policy editor of the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.
The British Podcast Awards is an annual awards ceremony intended to celebrate outstanding content within the British podcast scene. The British Podcast Awards is owned and operated by Haymarket Media Group, which also owns several media businesses, including Campaign and PRWeek.
This is a list of events taking place in 2022 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.
This is a list of events taking place in 2023 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.
The Rest Is Politics is a British podcast and television series hosted by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. It launched in March 2022, and has since become one of the leading political podcasts in the United Kingdom. The podcast is produced by Goalhanger Podcasts. Campbell and Stewart generally discuss contemporary news and politics, with a strong focus on international developments, such as foreign elections and humanitarian catastrophes. An American edition was launched in April 2024 with Anthony Scaramucci and Katty Kay hosting.
This is a list of events in 2024 relating to radio in the United Kingdom.