“I’m not on air to talk about myself, I’m there as a conduit for what people want to hear. So that’s the first tool in my toolbox.” Cathy Newman looked at home in the Channel 4 News studio, connected via video link to Leeds Trinity University as part of their Journalism & Media Week series of talks. “You have to have empathy.”
“One of the first requirements of my job is: I’ve got to be impartial. You can’t let your personal agenda show.”
Cathy Newman, Presenter and Investigations Editor, Channel 4
Newman has forged out a niche at Channel 4 as Presenter and Investigations Editor, but it is her interviews that she is now most known for. Particularly the ones that occasionally go viral, like her interview with Jordan Peterson which now has nearly 50 million views.
“The trolling was pretty extreme. It was death threats, people sending pictures of knives dripping with blood. I was doxxed.” Though the fallout from the Peterson interview was harrowing, Cathy has learned from it: “You do have to develop a resilience.”
Images of Cathy Newman’s appearance at Leeds Trinity University’s Journalism & Media Week 2024
Along with social media, technology has other threats to journalism, like Artificial Intelligence (AI). Newman conducted an investigation in March 2024 into deepfake AI porn which discovered over 250 famous Britons were targeted.
“My investigative colleagues found out that there was a deepfake porn video of me that I didn’t know about” Cathy has an iconic, charismatic steel to her character, but her voice did waver a little at this point, “A deepfake porn of yourself is a huge challenge to us as human beings and as journalists.”
“This is an incoming President who joked about ‘training his fire on journalists.’”
Cathy Newman on President Donald J Trump
Despite the ever-changing landscape of journalism, Cathy believes the metaphorical toolbox for journalists comprises universal tools required to do the job well.
“What you’ve got to have in your toolbox is: empathy, ability to listen, agility, persistence, but I think also being firm but fair – I keep coming back to that. I think Jon Snow was really, really good at that. He knew when to push someone, and when to just hold back.”
Jon Snow was one of Cathy Newman’s idols before she got to work with him. The pair co-hosted Channel 4 News together and Snow made the headlines during the time of their working relationship by taking a 25% wage cut to help reduce the gender pay gap.
“We’re a bulwark against the genuine fake news that circulates online.”
Cathy Newman on Channel 4 News
Cathy has been an ardent feminist throughout her career, so when the news of the US election result broke, she had to remind herself of the basic rules of journalism.
“One of the first requirements of my job is: I’ve got to be impartial. You can’t let your personal agenda show.” But Newman doesn’t flinch from the dangers of Trump, “This is an incoming President who joked about ‘training his fire on journalists’. ‘Fake news’ was a term he coined. And when elected the first time, our battle to be trusted as broadcasters got that much harder.”
Cathy Newman’s solution to Trump is simple. “Our challenge is to get our trusted content out on as many different platforms as possible. So that people know we’re a bulwark against the genuine fake news that circulates online.”
With a Donald Trump Presidency, AI, social media, and a myriad of other threats to journalism on the horizon, it is journalists like Cathy Newman who are leading the way in demonstrating how industry can answer those issues.