The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

For our latest season of the Media Voices Podcast, kindly sponsored by  Poool , we’re be publishing ten episodes exploring the biggest trends of 2022 and how they affect publishers; from subscriptions and membership to local news, platforms, emerging technology and more. Our second episode explores how the advertising market has had its post-pandemic recovery dented by economic uncertainty, and ho...

For this next season of the Media Voices Podcast, kindly sponsored by  Poool , we’ll be publishing ten episodes exploring the biggest trends of 2022 and how they affect publishers; from subscriptions and membership to local news, platforms, emerging technology and more. This first episode explores how key moments in broadcast, streaming and TV have shaped the media landscape this year. 2022 saw  s...

While we’ve been on our summer break from the podcast, we’ve been hard at work putting together the  Publisher Podcast Summit ; the first ever conference dedicated to supporting publishers on their podcasting journey. It’s being held at Proud Cabaret City in London – the same venue as the Publisher Podcast Awards – on October 5th 2022. The Summit will cover four key themes: editorial, marketing, s...

In our final episode of the season, we hear from Medium's VP of Content Scott Lamb. Scott leads the content and creator relations teams at the platform, so we talked about Medium's famous pivots, the importance of putting creators at the core, competing with Substack, and Ev Williams' departure. In the news round-up, Chris, Peter and Esther debate whether MEL magazine was closed (for the second ti...

This week we hear from Sajeeda Merali, CEO of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). We talked about what her publishing background brings to the organisation, what’s top-of-mind for the publishers the association represents as the effects of the pandemic rumble on, and what defines a magazine publisher today. In the news round-up we discuss The Atlantic making 165 years worth of its journ...

This week we hear from Max Towey, Co-Founder and CEO at RocaNews. Roca is a start-up building a community around the news that lowers the blood pressure; they believe alarmist and partisan coverage has been responsible for much of the news avoidance we're seeing today. Towey tells us how Roca is aiming for balanced and informative coverage of just a few stories a day, and are hoping to rebuild the...

On this week's episode we hear from Lance Johnson, CEO of Recurrent Media. You might not have heard of them (yet), but you will have heard of their brands - Donut, Domino, Saveur, Popular Science, and most recently, MEL magazine. He tells us about the group’s acquisition strategy, how they’re different from the usual VC companies we encounter, and what you need to do to get bought by Recurrent. In...

This week, Media Voices co-host Peter Houston is at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. He catches up with attendees at the festival to find out what publishers and agencies are talking about this summer, and how optimistic they are about the next few years. This is the second of a two-part podcast from the Festival; the first centred on the publisher perspective. Medi...

This week, Media Voices co-host Peter Houston is at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. He catches up with attendees at the festival to find out what publishers and agencies are talking about this summer, and how optimistic they are about the next few years. This is a two-part podcast, with the second part going live tomorrow with fresh updates from Cannes. Media Voice...

In this special episode of Media Voices, Chris, Peter and Esther comb through the Reuters Institute’s  Digital News Report 2022  to pick out the key findings for publishers. This year’s report reveals new insights about digital news consumption based on a YouGov survey of over 93,000 online news consumers in 46 markets covering half of the world’s population. Listen now to explore why news avoidan...

Publishing is way behind other industries when it comes to technology consolidation. Compared with five or six key software platforms in most sectors, it is not uncommon to see publishers running their businesses on 50 or 60 separate set ups. There are clear advantages in leaving this ‘Tech Soup’ behind and migrating to a unified technology platform. For this special Conversations episode, we’re j...

This week we catch up with Neal Freyman, managing editor at Morning Brew. Since 2017 he’s been part of the team that’s proved the viability of newsletters as a source of both advertising and audience revenue  - and which was ahead of the curve when it comes to the importance of newsletters to a publishers’ wider strategy. We hear about what’s changed in the newsletter ecosystem this time, what the...

Media Voices co-host Peter Houston has jetted off to Cascais, Portugal for the 2022 FIPP World Media Congress . He catches up with speakers and attendees at the event to find out what they're hoping to learn, what it's like being back in the room, and how optimistic they are for the future of publishing. In this episode we bring you highlights from FIPP CEO James Hewes' keynote speech, Professor L...

This week we talk to Sarah Vizard, Editor of Raconteur . She explained what Raconteur's unique angle on business stories is in a crowded field, how it uses its print publication to drive digital expansion, and what their recently launched New Voices programme hopes to do with giving writers from under-represented backgrounds a start in business journalism. In the news roundup the team asks if Dotd...

This episode we hear from Bhanupriya Rao, Founder at BehanBox, an Indian publication whose mission is to centre voices of women and gender diverse people through evidence and data-driven reporting. We spoke about the inequalities in access to media in India, how BehanBox hopes to make real changes for women and gender diverse people, and why data is so important in their reporting. In the news rou...

This week we hear from Charlotte Cijffers, Digital Director at Rolling Stone UK & Attitude Magazine for Stream Publishing. We spoke about launching the iconic Rolling Stone title in the UK, her work on Attitude's digital transformation, and the benefits of developing more localised content for magazines. She also gives advice on what publishers should focus on when looking to grow their own audien...

On this week's episode of Media Voices we hear from Jack Marshall, Co-Founder of Toolkits, a business information and consulting company focused on subscription publishing. We talked about his past life as a media reporter at Digiday and the WSJ, what opportunity he and co-founder Shareen Pathak spotted in the market, and what advice he would give to publishers with subscriptions. In the news roun...

This week we spoke to Snigdha Sur, Founder & CEO of The Juggernaut ; a content and community platform for global South Asians. She talked about founding a media business with a business background rather than a journalism one, and how her knowledge of media VC and funding has influenced how she runs the publication. She also shares what she’s learned from a paywall, and bringing people in through...

Springer Nature's flagship Nature Podcast has been a strong competitor in our Awards. The podcast scooped the Best Science & Medical Podcast in 2020, and in 2021, also won the Best Coronavirus Podcast category with Coronapod. Judges described it as "like listening to smart, welcoming friends," praising its excellent content and truly global scale. Nature Podcast is in the race again this year, sho...

The winner of the Best Hobbies & Special Interest Podcast at 2021's Publisher Podcast Awards was The Week in Art from The Art Newspaper. Judges noted how the presenters made an in-depth topic very accessible, the passion of the interviewees, and strong commercial performance of the podcast, as well as the contribution it makes to the broader Art Newspaper brand. Peter spoke to Ben Luke, podcast ho...

The winner of the Publisher Podcast Hero of the Year award at our first ever Publisher Podcast Awards in 2020 was Christopher Phin. We were constantly impressed by his efforts to not just transform DC Thomson's podcasting efforts, but also to help others in the industry improve through shared knowledge, resources and endless enthusiasm. Peter caught up with him later that year to find out how his...

For two years running, The Week Unwrapped has scooped the ‘Best News Podcast’, fending off competition from some of the biggest names in publishing. Judges for 2021’s awards highlighted the superb audio quality, the skill with which the hosts presented a genuine and insightful conversation, and strong brand alignment. Peter spoke to The Week’s Digital Editor and podcast host Holden Frith. He discu...

This week we hear from President and GM of Consumer at Yahoo Joanna Lambert. She talks about the changes at Yahoo over the last few years - including how Covid forced them to adapt - its 900 million users including a growing GenZ audience, and Yahoo's revenue strategies outside of advertising. In the news roundup we discuss the FT launching its new bite-size app, YouTube's plans for podcasting, an...

The winner of the incredibly competitive Best Limited Series award in 2021's Publisher Podcast Awards was Floodlines from The Atlantic. Judges praised the captivating characters, richly textured sound design and clever storytelling. Peter spoke to The Atlantic's Vann Newkirk, host of the series. He talked about how the idea for a podcast focused on Hurricane Katrina came about, what their process...

This week we hear from The Hustle's Principle Reporter and Sunday Editor Zachary Crockett. He talks about his career path working across radio, newsletters, journalism and data, how he makes must-read long-form Sunday issues for The Hustle's business audience, and launching a daily podcast. He also discusses the skills young writers need today, and whether he thinks we've reached peak newsletter....