The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

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 free content like the newsletter and their new podcast, The Juggernaut Interviews: Founders. In the news roundup we discuss all the news that occurred while we were off on our hiatus. We ask whether Musk's mooted takeover of Twitter will have an impact (no in short-term, yes in long-term); examine the launch of TalkTV and its subsequent fail to register any viewers; and the rushing revival of the advertising market. In the NIBs we explore whether local news sites do local news any more, the end of Facebook's podcast support, and Le Monde stretching itself into the US. 

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, shortlisted both for Best Limited Series and Best Science & Medical Podcast. Peter spoke to Nature's Senior Multimedia Editor Benjamin Thompson about Coronapod. He talked about planning a dedicated Coronavirus podcast with a team all working from their homes, the importance of maintaining audience's trust, and keeping coverage of the pandemic going after Coronapod had been folded back into the main podcast. This year’s Publisher Podcast Award winners will be revealed on April 27th at a live event in London, as well as streamed online. See our tickets page for more details. Entries for next year’s Publisher Podcast Awards will open in September. Think you’ve got what it takes to win an award? Sign up to our mailing list at www.publisherpodcastawards.com

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 host and review editor at The Art Newspaper. He talked about how the podcast and its format came about, why they chose a single sponsor per season revenue model, and what value The Week in Art brings to the publisher's wider audience. This year’s Publisher Podcast Award winners will be revealed on April 27th at a live event in London, as well as streamed online. See our tickets page for more details. Entries for next year’s Publisher Podcast Awards will open in September. Think you’ve got what it takes to win an award? Sign up to our mailing list at www.publisherpodcastawards.com

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 role as Head of Podcasts had come about at DC Thomson, the value podcasts bring to a publishing company, and more. He also shares six essential reasons publishers should look at podcasting, and how to warm editorial staff up to being in front of a microphone. We're releasing it as a special bonus episode as part of our mini series looking at lessons publishers can learn from award-winning podcasts, showcasing best practice, hints and tips from the best in the industry. This year’s Publisher Podcast Award winners will be revealed on April 27th at a live event in London, as well as streamed online. See our tickets page for more details. Entries for next year’s Publisher Podcast Awards will open in September. Think you’ve got what it takes to win an award? Sign up to our mailing list at www.publisherpodcastawards.com

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 discussed how their signature three story format had to evolve during the pandemic, the importance of varied points of view within the episodes, and why the podcast is addressing an audience in its own right rather than just being the magazine in audio form. Note: This episode was recorded prior to Future PLC’s acquisition of Dennis Publishing, owners of The Week. This year’s Publisher Podcast Award winners will be revealed on April 27th at a live event in London, as well as streamed online. See our tickets page for more details. Entries for next year’s Publisher Podcast Awards will open in September. Think you’ve got what it takes to win an award? Sign up to our mailing list at www.publisherpodcastawards.com

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, and yet more bad behaviour from Facebook.

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 was for collecting the interviews and going deep into the topic, and the role of music in enhancing the narration. He also gave his advice for publishers looking to create their own narrative podcasts. This year’s Publisher Podcast Award winners will be revealed on April 27th at a live event in London, as well as streamed online. See our tickets page for more details. Entries for next year’s Publisher Podcast Awards will open in September. Think you’ve got what it takes to win an award? Sign up to our mailing list at www.publisherpodcastawards.com

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. In the news roundup the team discusses the news that BuzzFeed investors are pushing Jonah Peretti to shutter the award-winning but loss-making BuzzFeed News. We ask if the investors are missing the appeal to advertisers, lament the loss of longform investigative work, and ask if this is the nail in the coffin for digital news pureplays (no). In the news roundup we look at why journalists should aim to be their own brands, why Future PLC has acquired two social media companies, and discuss the news that Michael Grade is set to be the new chair of Ofcom. Peter couldn't get his mic to work for 20 minutes before we started recording, if you're wondering.

Immediate Media have featured numerous times on the shortlists and as winners of categories both for 2020 and 2021's Publisher Podcast Awards. Olive magazine podcast was the winner of 2021's Best Sponsored Podcast. We spoke to Immediate Media's Head of Podcasts Ben Youatt. He works across the publisher's whole portfolio of podcasts, including the olive magazine podcast and 2020 winner History Extra. He talked about scaling up the podcast team, facilitating audio operations, and getting to be the 'engine' that enables editorial teams to implement their ideas. This year's Publisher Podcast Award winners will be revealed on April 27th at a live event in London, as well as streamed online. See our tickets page for more details. Entries for next year’s Publisher Podcast Awards will open in September. Think you’ve got what it takes to win an award? Sign up to our mailing list at www.publisherpodcastawards.com

In this week's episode we hear from Hannah Storm, founder and director of the Headlines network, an organisation working to improve the mental health of people working in the media. She tells us about why mental health can be bad among media professionals, what organisations and individuals can do to make things better and about Headlines’ new podcast and their incredible first episode featuring Lyse Doucet and Lyndsey Hilsum talking about mitigating the risks involved in frontline journalism. In the news roundup the team asks if The Times is right to keep its Ukraine war coverage paywalled and if we are in a constant state of Trump Bump. In the news in brief we discuss Australian indies being cut out of the news media bargaining code, Substack's anti-internet changes, and the FT's latest milestone. Donate to aid journalists at the Kyiv Independent here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kyivindependent-launch