Episodes
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Monday Oct 05, 2020
This week, we hear from Anna Bassi, Editor in Chief of The Week Junior. They’ve had a milestone couple of months, recently releasing their 250th issue and increasing circulation during lockdown by 22% year on year. She talks about why a print magazine for children is doing so well in 2020, how they approach really difficult topics like protests and pandemics, and how their podcast is doing a year on. In the news roundup we take a look at the recent launches from Future plc, Reuters, Bloomberg and more, before rattling through the news in brief. Get well soon, Donny!
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: Olive magazine’s Janine Ratcliffe
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
The winner of the 2020 Publisher Podcast Awards Lifestyle category was the Olive Magazine Podcast from Immediate Media. Deputy Editor and podcast host Janine Ratcliffe says your podcast doesn’t need to be super slick, but it does need to be a pleasant listening experience, care about commercial content every bit as much as you care about your regular episodes and the best publisher podcasts develop a life of their own.
Monday Sep 28, 2020
Monday Sep 28, 2020
This week we hear from Director of Cognitive Publishing Roy Rowlands on what it’s like to be in a family publishing business with a trillion-pound audience, going all-digital with their B2B titles, and the benefits of being in Manchester. He also outlines how they've adapted in lockdown, including the reasons behind their decision not to go virtual with events. In the news roundup the team examines why so many journalists are leaving to form their own newsletter-based businesses, ask whether the rumoured changes to British broadcasting's top brass are good for the country, and discuss the latest developments in the TikTok trade war. Bonus discussion: is Media Voices a tiny enough business to be called 'cute'?
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: History Extra’s Dave Musgrove
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
The winner of the 2020 Publisher Podcast Awards Specialist podcast category was History Extra from the BBC’s History Magazine, published by Immediate Media. Publisher and podcast host Dave Musgrove says publishers new to podcasting should choose a format that they will be able to deliver on a regular basis. The key to success is to commit and give a podcast the time to grow and find its unique voice.
Monday Sep 21, 2020
Monday Sep 21, 2020
This week, we hear from Tobi Oredein, Co-Founder and CEO of Black Ballad, a UK-based lifestyle platform for Black British women. She talked about what drove her to found the site, why they decided to launch memberships ahead of the curve in 2016, and the impact of their recent HuffPost takeover. She also outlines how their Future News Funding will help them better serve and grow their audience outside London. In the news roundup, the team goes deep into Trump v. TikTok and its implications for publishers, looks at what good news means for The Telegraph around subscriptions, and discusses the BBC failing to close its gender pay gap. A slip of the tongue leads 'directors' to become 'dictators'.
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: The Atlantic’s Katherine Wells
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
The winner of the 2020 Publisher Podcast Awards Technology category and our Publisher Podcast of the Year 2020 was Crazy/Genius from The Atlantic. Executive producer Katherine Wells says talk to writers and editors for new podcast ideas and train your writers to be talkers. Remember your listeners aren’t necessarily your readers, make your brand values clear and consistent.
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
This episode Josh Schollmeyer, co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief of online men’s magazine MEL, takes us through working at the legacy print behemoth Playboy, why that convinced him men’s magazines needed to change and the branded media business model that is at the heart of MEL’s success. In the news roundup, we discuss growth and success at The Atlantic, The Athletic, El Pais and Future plc, and come away hopeful for once.
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: Digiday Podcast's Brian Morrissey
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
The winner of the 2020 Publisher Podcast Awards B2B category was the Digiday Podcast. Digiday President, editor-in-chief and podcast host Brian Morrissey says build your podcast around what you do best, but be adaptable. Be clear on the job your podcast does for your business; think of it as a feature of your brand, not as a separate product.
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Media Voices Special: 6 things you missed over summer 2020
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Monday Sep 07, 2020
In this first episode back following an... eventful summer for media, the team discusses six topics you might have missed over the past month: • Facebook goes to war with Australian publishers • Amid many magazine closures, some green shoots emerge • Vulture attempts to create a vertical around podcast criticism • Which global megacorp deserves your support, Apple or Epic? • Vogue business and the unstoppable rise of reader revenue plays (at least until they stop working) • Ecommerce booms - but can publishers take advantage of it? Guest starring the planes that flew an inch over Chris' flat.
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: Pilot TV Podcast’s Terri White
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
The winner of the 2020 Publisher Podcast Awards Entertainment category was the Pilot TV Podcast from Bauer Media. Editor-in-chief Terri White says podcasts are integral to a publishing brand and need a clear, easy to understand proposition. But, don’t be scared to evolve and don’t forget the long term goal of making money.
Monday Jul 27, 2020
Monday Jul 27, 2020
This week Chris Waiting, chief executive of The Conversation UK, tells us about the lessons his team is taking forward from its record-breaking corona coverage, why newsletters and live events are its focus for the near future, and what other news publishers can learn from its policy of marrying journalistic flair with scholarly insight. In the news roundup the team discusses magazine closures and launches, whether the Taboola/Outbrain merger will improve the internet, and ask whether a punk fanzine by a 10 year old is the beginning of the end for newsstand magazines. See you after the summer break!
Monday Jul 20, 2020
Monday Jul 20, 2020
This week, we hear from Julia Dennison, the Executive Editor of Meredith's parenting brand Parents.com. She talks about how they're supporting parents who are trying to juggle childcare and their own jobs during the pandemic, how they use SEO to anticipate their audience's needs, and their explanatory approach to polarising topics. She also highlights the recent launch of their podcast on diverse families. In the news roundup the team discusses why the Guardian is cutting its weekend edition, Twitter's no good very bad week, and pit Pink News and Cosmo against one another in the first ever Membership Smackdown.
Monday Jul 13, 2020
Monday Jul 13, 2020
In this episode, the BBC's Specialist Disinformation Reporter Marianna Spring takes us through the responsibilities of broadcasters to counter disinformation, whether it's a losing battle to engage with conspiracy theorists, and the role of platforms like Google and Facebook when it comes to the spread of lies, damn lies. In the news roundup the team debates whether the B2B events industry is about to have its print advertising moment, discusses the 550 jobs set to be lost at Reach, and ask if anyone will pay for a subscription to the Media Voices' Twitter feed. Special guests: dogs.
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Anorak Magazine's Cathy Olmedillas on making magazines collectible
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Monday Jul 06, 2020
On this week's episode of Media Voices Cathy Olmedillas founder of independent children’s magazines Anorak and Dot, explains how she learned about the collectability of magazines from her time at The Face and turned that into a style of publishing that owes more to books than disposable magazines culture. In the news roundup the team discusses France's tax credits for news subscriptions scheme, the launch of Skift Pro and the NYT pulling out of Apple News. Yeezy 2020.
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Strong Words' Ed Needham on his corporate past and solo future
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
This week Ed Needham, founder, editor and sole staffer of book review magazine Strong Words, explains how tech is enabling him to do what he does, and how digital makes it a challenge to capture and keep people's attention. He also discusses his previous career at FHM, his current workload and what the future of magazines might look like. In the news roundup the team uncynically discuss Google paying publishers to license content, examine why advertisers are pulling spend from platforms,(without cynicism), and aren't cynical at all during news in brief.
Monday Jun 22, 2020
Monday Jun 22, 2020
Jim Bilton of Wessenden Marketing tells us about how the pandemic has impacted newspaper and magazine retail, about who might be left standing after the dust settles and how they will need to reboot their distribution strategies. In the news roundup the team does a deep dive into the latest Digital News Report, examine whether social media platforms are finally getting it right around hate speech, and overuse the term 'mushy middle'. This episode is dedicated to Dead Kennedys.
Monday Jun 15, 2020
Monday Jun 15, 2020
This week, we hear from Adriana Lacy, Audience Engagement Editor at the LA Times. She launched a dedicated Instagram account for the LA Times’ archival photos late last year, so we talked about where those images are sourced from, what the response has been, and how they’ve used historical images of protests to add context to the events of the past few weeks. She also discusses the LA Times’ wider social media and audience engagement strategy, as well as her own Journalism Internships project and the importance of mentoring. In the news roundup, the team tries desperately to stay cheery around some good news for publishers. We don’t succeed.
Monday Jun 08, 2020
Monday Jun 08, 2020
This week, we talk to the Wall Street Journal's Newsroom Innovation Chief Robin Kwong. He talks about how his team develops features to help the WSJ's wider goals, how he helps facilitate innovation across teams in the business, and how his background in reporting and data journalism has helped his approach to this role. He also explains some of the features and tools they have developed for the publication, and how they explore this on their WSJ DXS Medium blog. In the news roundup the team discusses coverage of Black Lives Matter at the Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Times at length, then rattle through some news in brief. Stay angry, everybody.
Monday Jun 01, 2020
Monday Jun 01, 2020
This week Will Gore, Head of Partnerships and Projects at the National Council for the Training of Journalists, tells us about the NCTJ’s role in the Facebook-backed Community News Project which has funded about 80 journalists in local news rooms across nine publishers. He also speaks about journalism education, trust, the future of local news and - of course - shorthand. In the news roundup the Media Voices team discusses a week of tests for social media platforms, layoffs and internship opportunities. This is the sweariest week since the 100th episode, I counted.
Monday May 25, 2020
Monday May 25, 2020
This week, we spoke to Ella Dolphin, CEO of the Stylist Group. She talked about the acceleration of the title's plans to adopt a reader revenue model as the free print magazine distribution was put on hold, how that has affected the team's workflow, and what the focus will look like for the group post-pandemic. She also talks about what her role as CEO has involved since closing Shortlist and driving the expansion of Stylist. In the news roundup, the team discuss the role of data in making decisions and immediately date the episode with mentions of current political events. #StayAlert