Mishal Husain has insisted she is “still the journalist I was at the BBC” despite reports about her breaking free from the corporation’s impartiality rules.
Husain joined Bloomberg this year as editor-at-large of Bloomberg Weekend, a magazine-style weekend offering launched in October 2024, and host of weekly interview podcast The Mishal Husain Show.
She was at the BBC for 26 years, most recently as presenter of the Radio 4’s Today programme in 2013 for 11 years.
Speaking at the NCTJ’s Inclusion in Journalism conference at Bloomberg’s London HQ on Monday, Husain noted that newspaper interviews she has given have been “especially” focused on her being “free from BBC impartiality”.
She said: “I’m still the journalist I was at the BBC. I’m not governed by exactly that same framework, which has certain language around it like impartiality.
“I’m now within a different editorial framework, but one that has very high standards. But I’m still the same person, and therefore, the things that I care about, getting things right, making sure I’m listening to different points of view that travels with me wherever I am, because that’s a part of me.”
Despite this, Husain said interviews at Bloomberg require a different “lens” to BBC.
She cited her interview with Elon Musk which has seen her shortlisted, alongside interviews with Sir Keir Starmer and TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes, for Interviewer of the Year at the British Journalism Awards 2025.
“Had I still been on the BBC, I think that interview would have been probably, at least in part, dominated by his opinions on X,” Husain said.
“It was much more about his actions and his companies, which are a reflection of his views in many ways that you can evidence.”
With Starmer, Husain added, the question for Bloomberg was “what are the most internationally relevant aspects of what he is doing as UK Prime Minister?”
She said: “That’s quite a useful lens, because it forces you to zoom out and think ‘what are the things that are important enough to stand the test of time?’”
On facing friction in interviews with these figures, Husain added: “There’s more than one place where [Musk] turns it on me, and he is doing it at points where the interview is difficult.
“He is doing it to try and demean me… the job in that instance is not to be deflective.”
Last month Husain’s interview with Nigel Farage made headlines after the Reform UK leader said “listen, love, you’re trying ever so hard” in response to being asked about what should be done if Russian jets enter NATO airspace.
“’Listen, love’ is fairly tame,” Husain told the NCTJ event. “I’ve been intimidated, or at least there have been attempts to intimidate me sometimes by insinuation or trying to throw you off your track.”
“There have been times when I thought, ‘actually that deserved a response, and I should have given it’. I don’t feel that about ‘listen, love’.”
Husain shared interview tips for journalists, warning that if they start to think of it as “winning or losing” then they are “reducing what should be a deep and thoughtful conversation – not just an interview”.
She added: “You are trying to, in our world, break news, and if you’re going to think about it as a contest or let it descend into a slanging match, that can be vaguely entertaining in the moment but it’s words and the development of an insight into this person’s mind – that’s what leads to actual news being broken.”
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