The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

Black Ballad Co-Founder and CEO Tobi Oredein on growing a membership-driven media business

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'.

Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: The Atlantic’s Katherine Wells

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.

MEL magazine Editor in Chief Josh Schollmeyer on changing the conversation around men's magazines

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.

Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: Digiday Podcast's Brian Morrissey

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.

Media Voices Special: 6 things you missed over summer 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.

Lessons from award-winning publisher podcasts: Pilot TV Podcast’s Terri White

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.

The Conversation UK's chief executive Chris Waiting on building community around expertise

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!

Parents.com Executive Editor Julia Dennison on creating content to support families

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.

The BBC's Specialist Disinformation Reporter Marianna Spring on proactively countering conspiracies

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.

Anorak Magazine's Cathy Olmedillas on making magazines collectible

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.

Strong Words' Ed Needham on his corporate past and solo future

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.

Wessenden Marketing's Jim Bilton on how the pandemic has impacted newspaper and magazine retail

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.

LA Times Audience Engagement Editor Adriana Lacy on using archives to contextualise current events

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.

WSJ Newsroom Innovation Chief Robin Kwong on developing features for a news brand

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.

The NCTJ's Head of Partnerships and Projects Will Gore on local news and journalism training

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.

Stylist Group CEO Ella Dolphin on transforming the free print magazine to digital subscriptions

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

FT Senior Data Visualisation Journalist John Burn-Murdoch on graphing coronavirus data

This week we spoke to John Burn-Murdoch, a Senior Data-Visualisation Journalist for the Financial Times who has been at the forefront of their famous coronavirus trajectory trackers. He talked about the challenges of working with data this complex, how the FT's approach to trajectory charts has evolved as the crisis has continued, and why data journalists are the new rock stars of journalism. [JOHN'S INTERVIEW BEGINS AT 16:40] In the news roundup the team takes a look at how publishers are adapting to evaporated ad spend due to Covid-19, a horrendous week of media layoffs, and Apple's plans to produce audio versions of Apple News Plus articles. For some reason.

Flashes & Flames founder Colin Morrison on surviving digital transformation and the pandemic

This week Colin Morrison - founder of Flashes & Flames - takes us through his path into the industry, what makes for smart media analysis, and who will be the big winners and losers from the coronavirus crisis. In the news roundup the team takes an in-depth look at what COVID-19 means for our relationship with tech giants

The Atlantic International Editor Prashant Rao on bringing the publication to a global audience

This week we spoke to The Atlantic's International Editor Prashant Rao about taking The Atlantic's voice to an international audience, the importance of diversity in writing stories for that audience, and what the global Atlantic angle on coronavirus looks like. He also talks about The Atlantic's surge in subscriptions following its decision to take its paywall down on COVID-19 coverage, and why he sees the publication as a 'second subscription'. In the news roundup the team discusses subscription success in the face of coronavirus and takes a brisk tour through the week's news in brief.

Media Voices Live: Publishing in a Pandemic Special

The media industry has had a turbulent decade when it comes to technology, transformation, and changing consumer habits causing disruption to businesses. But for many of us, these challenges seem trivial compared to what we are now all up against with the coronavirus crisis. Publishers and media organisations of all shapes and sizes have had events and shows that they depend on for their revenue cancelled, advertising spend plummeting as the travel industry hits major issues, and print runs reduced as commuters stay home. But the crisis has also provided a unique opportunity for publishers to build trust with their audiences and provide them with the vital information they need to keep themselves and their families safe. Not only that, over the coming weeks, the public appetite for quality content will continue to grow as isolation takes effect. In this special live episode from the Media Voices team, Chris, Peter and Esther overcome technological challenges of their own to take a look at examples of publishers who are adapting to the pandemic, and what these changes will mean for the industry in the years to come.