The Addition

There has been a huge amount of news, both good and bad, coming out of the media industry in recent months. Sometimes it is worth taking a breath and looking at where we currently are. There are not many betters guests I could have to do this than Graham Ruddick. He has covered business and media for a number of major publications such as The Times, Telegraph and Guardian, and now runs the Off to...

Local news is the subject of much agonising within the media industry. This traditional route into journalism, learning the craft at local outlets, is increasingly closed to young hacks on both sides of the Atlantic. Numerous publications are being run down or have closed. Yet they are so important to many communities who want to be informed about what is going on around them. The team at 6AM City...

If you think this year is going to be big for streaming and the entertainment industry, you ain’t seen nothing yet. That’s the argument put forward by this week’s guest, Tom Merritt. He explains, convincingly, that a variety of deal deadlines mean that some big decisions will have to be made early next year and this could see meaningful change and consolidation in streaming. There’s the question o...

Many of us take watching the latest hit Netflix series for granted. But how do you enjoy such content if you’re blind? Steven Scott from “Double Tap” joins the show to discuss the various accessibility features that services make available to help with this. He also highlights their varying quality. First, the show goes back to basics. What accessibility features for blind people are already avail...

Big-name glossy magazines still attract plenty of attention, even if newsstand numbers are dwindling. The truth is, many people engage with a magazine brand despite rarely/never picking up a print copy. As I’ve said before, I personally really enjoy settling down with a print magazine one after a day staring at a screen. The world of magazines goes beyond the mega-brands though. There are a pletho...

A new year is always a good time for a reset. It is all too easy for any individual or industry as a whole to keep doing the same old thing. That is no different for publishing, with its ongoing combination of opportunities and struggles. What, then, should publishers be looking to change in 2023? Journalist, lecturer and trainer Adam Tinworth has thoughts. Some of them are going to be controversi...

Since its public launch a few weeks ago, ChatGPT has captured the imagination of many in the media. And scared plenty of others. What does an AI tool that can quickly write paragraphs of (mostly accurate) text mean for journalists, ad copywriters and others? Like the image-generating tool Dall-E, there is no doubt that it will eventually have a major effect, but is it time to freak out? We are see...

One story sucked all the air out of the tech and media space in the final quarter of last year - Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Well, more accurately, it was multiple stories and a variety of incidents that all led back to the same person and the same company. There was a lot to unpack - from the battle for Musk to actually buy the company to his erratic and hypocritical behaviour after the deal...

To wrap up the “2023 Predictions” mini-series, and indeed “The Addition Podcast” for this year, host Charlotte Henry is joined by Kelly Guimont. They look at what Apple will do with its media offerings next year. If you missed the previous episodes in this mini-series, you can still listen to the conversations with Brian Morrisey from The Rebooting and Mark Stenberg from Adweek. A large part of th...

This week, host Charlotte Henry is joined by Mark Stenberg, senior media reporter at AdWeek. We discussed a variety of issues, including why publishers will pivot to video (again), the risk of traffic from Google dwindling, the importance of newsletters and events to connect with your audience, and whether independent publishers can survive and even thrive in a recession.* Newsletters are finally...

To start off a new mini-series predicting the world of media in 2023, host Charlotte Henry is joined by Brian Morrissey, who has seen various peaks and troughs during his career. Amongst other things, he edited Digiday and now runs The Rebooting on Substack. He has a deep understanding of the difficulties that media outlets can face during an economic downturn and the opportunities available to th...

Rachel Cunliffe, Senior Associate Editor at the News Statesman, joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss the work of modernising a magazine that has been around for over 100 years, the art of picking the right medium to tell a story and why print still matters.* New Statesman reaches highest circulation for 40 years as expansion continues - New Statesman* “The Magic of Magazines” with Peter Houston -...

Adrian Weckler, Technology Editor at the Irish Independent, joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss the issues facing Twitter in Europe and what it could mean for the company as a whole. Is Elon Musk taking this as seriously as he should? Elon Muskdate From Dublin, Spotify's Joe Rogan ExperienceStop Pretending You're Going to Quit Twitter Because Elon Musk is Buying itA Revolut mortgage? CEO reveals...

Zoe Kleinman joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss being the BBC’s first-ever Tech Editor, the changing nature of tech news and what comes next for some of the biggest firms in the sector. She also reveals what she looks for in a story.* Twitter users jump to Mastodon - but what is it? - BBC* The case for replacing Twitter with Substack - Mike Elgan on Substack* Zoe Kleinman on Twitter* Charlotte...

Simon Owens wrote a fascinating Substack newsletter about Twitter's failure in the creator economy and he joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss the issues, what changes could be made to improve things for creators on Twitter, and whether Elon Musk’s plans for the company will deal with any of this. [The discussion with Catherine Perloff was about Netflix advertising.]* Twitter has never understood...

Esther Kezia Thorpe of Media Voices joined host Charlotte Henry to discuss the growth of newsletters, what’s next for them as a channel, and whether people are already receiving too many. They also discuss the launch of The Publisher Newsletter Awards and why now is the time to recognise innovation and excellence in the space.* Media Voices adds to its awards lineup with a programme recognising ex...

Catherine Perloff, platforms reporter at AdWeek, joined host Charlotte Henry to discuss how marketers and media buyers are reacting to the ability to the prospect of advertising on Netflix, how the streamer is handling the technology to make it happen, and when we might know if it is actually working for everybody involved.* Netflix Starting From £4.99 a Month -Press Release* Netflix's Ad Tier Is...

I'll be honest - this is not the show I planned to put out this week. But those plans have been rather overtaken by events. No, not the chaos in the British government, but the chaos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). More specifically, the season finale of “She-Hulk -Attorney at Law”, which was something of a mic-drop. WARNING - if you have not watched that show or that episode and don't wan...

Peter Houston is a co-presenter of the Media Voices podcast and involved in the fantastic projects that team works on. He also writes the brilliant The Magazine Diaries Substack - a weekly newsletter full of publishing ideas worth stealing. He joined host Charlotte Henry to discuss some of the exciting things happening in the magazine industry, everywhere from small startups to major publishers.*...

There’s been lots of news about Apple’s media operations in recent weeks. Much of it concerns sports coverage. We’ve had a standoff with the New York Yankees over who would commentate on last Friday’s matchup with the Red Sox at which it was thought/hoped that Aaron Judge would hit his historic 61st and 62nd home runs of the season. YES Network, owned by the Yankees, wanted their commentators to b...

Apple announced a range of devices at its ‘Far Out’ event on 7 September, most notably the iPhone 14 range. Nica Montford of the “SnobOS” podcast emptied her bank balance and got an iPhone 14 Pro, an Apple Watch Series 8 and some new AirPods Pro. She joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss just how good those new cameras are and how these new devices can help content creators of all kinds. (Customer...

Former Editor-in-Chief of The Mac Observer Bryan Chaffin joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss the iPhone 14 event. What does the latest batch of iPhones mean for media creation and consumption? In particular, they discuss how the constant improvements in smartphone cameras means they have almost entirely overtaken entry-level DSLRs. There was certainly a lot packed into Apple’s “Far Out” show. As...

Lauren Ingram, the founder of Women of Web3, discusses all things blockchain, crypto and metaverse with host Charlotte Henry. She explains what on Earth Web3 actually is, why female voices matter as it is developed, and what the impact on the media industry could be. Women of Web3Muse's Will Of The People becomes first UK number one album with NFT technology - Sky NewsThe Power of Podcasts in...

Podcast Movement is a major meeting point for people involved in podcasting, on both the creator and business sides. Dave Hamilton works across all aspects of podcasting and has been a regular attendee at the conference for many years. He speaks to host Charlotte Henry about what it was like to be back altogether at the most recent event and what Podcasting 2.0 is. They also discuss the growth pot...

Recently I was asked to be part of the ‘Experiment Week’ that the DTNS crew were running. I enjoyed the conversation I had with Chis Stokel-Walker so much I wanted to bring it to you here at The Addition too. In this special episode of The Addition podcast, originally made for DTNS ‘Experiment Week’ journalist and author Chris Stokel-Walker joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss the TikTok and YouT...