The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

This week, we hear from Jo Holdaway, Chief Data and Marketing Officer at Independent Digital News & Media - home of The Independent and The Evening Standard. She talks about what sort of data is important to publishers, especially when it comes to subscription strategies, why it's important to have a diverse team working with data, and how she's preparing the business for the sunsetting of third-party cookies. In the news round up, Peter and Esther are joined by guest host Adam Tinworth to dissect the findings of the latest Reuters Digital News Report 2021. We look at how people prefer to access news, which existing trends have been accelerated by the pandemic, and whether a brief bounceback in trust can be sustained.

This week we hear from Jasper Wang, VP of Revenue & Operations for Defector Media. Defector was formed after a mass staff exodus from former GO Media property Deadspin after an internal dispute about who knew its audience best. Defector is now an employee-owned and operated news site that has introduced measures specifically to ensure its staff have a say in the business, even as they write for its audience. Now, on the first anniversary of its founding, we hear about the site's ambitions, how it keeps its staff safe and happy, and what other media businesses can learn from an employee-owned outlet. In the news roundup Chris and Peter take a look at GB News' launch one week on, ask if there's a future for The Athletic now that talks with the New York Times have broken down, and suggest that perhaps privatising Channel 4 in the current climate isn't such a great idea. Special appearance from a bird directly outside Chris' window.

This week, we hear from Mohamed Nanabhay, Deputy CEO of the Media Development Investment Fund. He talks about his work in the early days of online publishing bringing 'new media' to Al Jazeera, how the MDIF decides which businesses to invest in, and why he thinks the pandemic has provided an opportunity for independent media to thrive. Their latest initiative, MDIF Ventures is accepting applications now for media companies located in countries where access to free and independent news and information is under threat. In the news roundup the team discuss whether Apple's changes to privacy will impact publishers who depend on newsletters, ask what led to The Sun being classed by Rupert Murdoch as a WORTHLESS ASSET, and ask if now is the time to slip half-human half-animal hybrids into the public.

In this week's episode we hear from Decanter's Editor in Chief Chris Maillard about the challenge of refreshing Future's newly-acquired wine brand - without alienating its incredibly loyal readership. In the news roundup we discuss whether local news has reached a turning point, ask if we'd pay for Twitter Blue, and laugh at Trump closing his blog due to low readership. Chris fills in for Peter in the outro, to mixed success.

For publishers with a well established content workflow, adding podcasts can seem like a daunting task. But, as this Conversations episode demonstrates, those publishers already have what is needed to create and distribute podcasts that add value to your audience and business alike. Media Voices co-founder Chris Sutcliffe talks to Eurosport’s Aude Baron and Podinstall's Sarah Toporoff to discuss: What are the biggest challenges for publishers trying to get into podcasting? How did Eurosport overcome these challenges? What is best practice for repurposing video as audio content, and what are the benefits of distributing podcasts directly from your own website? Visit https://www.podinstall.com for more information.

In this week's episode we hear from Robbie Kellman Baxter, an author and consultant with over twenty years of experience in subscription pricing, digital community, and freemium. Robbie started working with membership and subscription models like Netflix while they were still sending out DVDs, and has written The Membership Economy and The Forever Transaction exploring the membership models of the industry giants, and how organisations of any size can take a slice of the subscription pie for themselves. Robbie is currently working with FIPP on an online event exploring the world of direct-to-consumer revenue models for media businesses.  In the news roundup we speak about a report that local publishers are set to lose tens of millions from the demise of the third-party cookie, ask if The Athletic's mooted sale to the NYT was always a cynical scale play, and examine what the likely features of Twitter Blue are. Esther sings Eiffel 65.

This week we hear from Bo Sacks, lecturer and media expert, about trends that have come and gone, why he thinks there’s strength in print as a niche product, and why we’re currently in the golden age of publishing. In the news roundup we discuss the vampiric Alden Global Capital acquiring Tribune Publishing (née Tronc), Snapchat's push into augmented reality, and Axel Springer's "sudden" and "inexplicable" partnership with Facebook. Watch Peter floss over at the Media Voices TikTok channel.

In this special episode, the Media Voices team take a look at which media companies and personalities have been the biggest winners and losers of the lockdown-era. From The Big Issue to almost every event company, we try to find the silver linings for publishers in what's been a mostly awful year.

This week Mental Floss editor in chief Erin McCarthy tells us about how its celebrating its 20th anniversary, how the magazine started in a university dorm room, its mission to help people feel smarter and how the team decides what to cover. In the news roundup the team discuss a good week for a business-savvy Twitter, a bad week for Facebook and Snapchat, and the worst few years of all time for Yahoo & AOL. Peter has emails older than Esther.

This week Twitch's Creative Strategy Lead Jack Woodcock tells us about the opportunities for publishers around livestreaming, what lessons we can learn from the success of individual streamers, and how the team at Twitch looks to the community when creating new features. In the news roundup the team discuss the rise of subscription products for podcasts, ask why local news isn't reaping the digital ad boom, and discuss Gannett paying some women nearly $30,000 less than their male peers. The team critique Steve Jobs' fashion choices.