Isabelle Roughol

Journalist, podcaster, media consultant. Telling stories & building better newsrooms. Writes The Lede. Ex- LinkedIn News, Le Figaro, The Cambodia Daily. ๐ŸŽ“ Mizzou '08, Birkbeck '25.

A vintage illustration of a human skeleton sat on a rock, its left ankle on its right knee in a stretching position

Meditation apps won't cure workplace stress

Burnout happens when the demands of a job and the resources allocated to it are out of balance. Self-care won't help with that.

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
The Lede
This is journalism's largest exit interview

This is journalism's largest exit interview

27 journalists (for now) on why they stopped working in news

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
The Lede
The management tool too many newsrooms lack

The management tool too many newsrooms lack

A career ladder is a roadmap to promotion.

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
The Lede
Borderline, a podcast for defiant global citizens

Borderline, a podcast for defiant global citizens

Borderline is a (now concluded) podcast with 50+ in-depth interviews exploring lives lived across borders, immigration and globalisation. Guests included Jose Antonio Vargas, Amelia Gentleman, Ian Bremmer, Dina Nayeri, Wade Davis, Qian Julie Wang, Felix Marquardt, Ian Dunt, Geoffrey Cain and many more. Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
Borderline
What does a job offer that self-employment does not?

What does a job offer that self-employment does not?

And other thoughts prompted by the Changing Newsrooms 2023 report

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
Careers
A vintage illustration of mechanical chainlink

Smells like print spirit

Five things you should read this weekend

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
The Lede
A comic illustration in black and white of a middle-aged white man in business wear yelling and gesturing at his staff.

Newsroom culture shouldn't be an accident

We need to train editors as people managers, not just story processors

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
The Lede
"The desert stretches as far as the Earth exists" (Arizona, 2020)

"The desert stretches as far as the Earth exists" (Arizona, 2020)

The eye goes and goes until, almost in Mexico, hills rise as if God pinched up the tablecloth.

Isabelle Roughol
Isabelle Roughol
Essays