The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

Never say we at Media Voices don't know how to treat you right - in this special end of year celebration, we hear from eight of our past guests about what they want (and don't want) to see from the media in 2018. In the feature-length news round-up Chris, Esther and Peter discuss the highlights and lowlights of 2017, and their own personal hopes for next year. Happy holidays! Subscribe to Media Voices on iTunes here - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/media-voices-podcast/id1181998402?mt=2 - or search 'Media Voices' in your favourite podcast app. Help us improve Media Voices! Complete our first ever listener survey - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VTVZMWM

In this week's episode Nic Newman, Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, takes us through his and Dr. Richard Fletcher's latest report, entitled 'Bias, Bullshit and Lies: Audience Perspectives on Low Trust in the Media' - http://bit.ly/2juSyAZ In the news round-up, Peter and Esther discuss the pivot FROM video, BuzzFeed's e-commerce proposition, and YouTube's plans to eat the music industry. They begin with fully 30 seconds of snow puns. We're reading: • ‘You have to love the complexities’: Publishers confront challenges in growing events, via Digiday - http://bit.ly/2z0PvVT • The decade of display that wasn't, via Medium - http://bit.ly/2AK8Rhd

In this week's episode, the Financial Times' audience engagement strategist Alyssa Zeisler takes us through how the team uses engagement metrics to identify a need for new products that benefit new audience segments. In the news round-up the gang attempts the first-ever Media Voices Blitzcast, rounding up as many news items as they can in two minutes each. Among other things, they examine changes to Wired and the FT's paywall strategies, disappointing news for BuzzFeed and the Daily Mail, and a discussion on diversity in the media. The team burns 30 seconds with a discussion of Peter's pelvic floor muscles. We're reading: • How to survive the media apocalypse, via The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/media-apocalypse/546935/ • The scary tale of the Washington Post's counter-sting investigation, via WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/a-woman-approached-the-post-with-dramatic--and-false--tale-about-roy-moore-sje-appears-to-be-part-of-undercover-sting-operation/2017/11/27/0c2e335a-cfb6-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html?utm_term=.b6263a87440d • Killing TIME: Requiem for an Empire, via Josh Quittner: https://medium.com/@twittner/killing-time-1362ca01e9f3

This week, visiting lecturer in digital journalism at City University Adam Tinworth takes us through the history of platform dependence. We look at the rise of the intermediary, the tragic loss of focus on building direct relationships, and even touch on Second Life. In the news roundup, Chris and Peter discuss managing director of Times Newspapers Ltd Chris Duncan's declaration that "no more than ten" global English-language news brands will survive from subscriptions, and puzzle over whether journalists should be involved in the marketing material for their newspapers. It's a very sweary episode. We're reading: • The right loves free markets - except when they hurt the Daily Mail, via New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2017/11/right-loves-free-markets-except-when-they-hurt-daily-mail • I Interviewed a White Nationalist and Fascist. What Was I Left With?, via NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/insider/white-nationalist-interview-questions.html Help us improve Media Voices! Take this quick survey and let us know what to change - surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VTVZMWM

In this very special episode of Media Voices, we discuss the conflux of news about BuzzFeed, VICE, Mashable and many more and ask whether the dream of a digital future for publishers is over before it began. It's Media Voices' first birthday! The team briefly reminisce about the travails of launching the podcast, their favourite episodes, and their plans for the future. We're reading: • Newsonomics: The New York Times’ Mark Thompson on regulating Facebook, global ambition, and when to stop the presses (forever), via Nieman Lab - http://www.niemanlab.org/2017/11/newsonomics-the-new-york-times-mark-thompson-on-regulating-facebook-global-ambition-and-when-to-stop-the-presses-forever • A mission for journalism in a time of crisis, via Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/16/a-mission-for-journalism-in-a-time-of-crisis

This week, director of the Membership Puzzle Project Jay Rosen takes us through why membership could be the future of funding journalism, and what needs to be done to make it valuable to readers and publishers alike. In the news round-up the team discusses Esquire's controversy for controversy's sake, how journalism can convince the public it's relevant and useful, and ask what the future of Twitter might look like. Chris takes potshots at two beloved authors. We're reading: • Google UK chief Ronan Harris says digital giant is not stealing advertising from publishers, via Press Gazette - http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/google-uk-chief-ronan-harris-says-digital-giant-is-not-stealing-advertising-from-publishers-telling-editors-we-come-in-peace/ • Snapchat will overhaul its app to boost user numbers, via The Drum - http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/11/08/snapchat-will-overhaul-its-app-bolster-user-numbers-it-endures-the-growing-pains • Is Mark Zuckerberg Facebook's last true believer? via Vanity Fair - https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/is-mark-zuckerberg-facebooks-last-true-believer

This week, host and founder of The Tip-Off Maeve McClenaghan takes us through why it's important to celebrate investigative journalism in an age of 'fake news' and limited resources for journalists. https://soundcloud.com/thetipoff In the news round-up, the team takes a deep dive into new ad-blocking stats, laments the closure of Teen Vogue in print, worries about Snapchat's future and celebrates more paywall success. Audio glitches suspiciously kill a discussion on billionaire media owners. What we're reading: • The United States of American Media, Inc - via Popbitch - http://popbitch.com/2017/10/the-united-states-of-american-media-inc/ • In the hunt for reader revenue, publishers give micropayments another look, via Digiday - https://digiday.com/media/hunt-reader-revenue-publishers-give-micropayments-another-look/ • What your site can learn from 100 news organizations with robust membership programs, via Membership Puzzle Project - https://membershippuzzle.org/articles-overview/what-your-site-can-learn

This week, publisher of The Week Kerin O'Connor takes us through the reasons behind the magazine's continued success on the newsstand, and how it encourages a relationship between it and its audience. In the news round-up the Media Voices team talk about the Guardian's membership success, the spectacularly frightening changes to the Facebook news feed, and ask whether we should be nice to the Duopoly. Listener beware, you're in for a scare! What we're reading: • '“News you don’t believe”: Audience perspectives on fake news', via RISJ:https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/news-you-dont-believe-audience-perspectives-fake-news • 'The Gender Trap with Media on Social Channels' via Thomas Baekdal: https://www.baekdal.com/blog/the-gender-trap-with-media-on-social-channels • 'Why bad ads deserve to die, and what might replace them', via LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-patt-morrison-andrew-essex-advertising-20171025-htmlstory.html

This week, Stylist Magazine's editor-in-chief Lisa Smosarski explains how the title has managed to grow its weekly circulation at a time when much of the industry is experiencing print decline. In the news round-up the gang butt heads over the Guardian's new £42 million Venture Capital fund, argue about The Wall Street Journal's new social media guidelines and agree that BuzzFeed UK's success is a good thing (mostly). What we're reading: • 'The war to sell you a mattress is an internet nightmare', via Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/3065928/sleepopolis-casper-bloggers-lawsuits-underside-of-the-mattress-wars • 'Not a revolution (yet): Data journalism hasn’t changed that much in 4 years', via Nieman Lab: http://www.niemanlab.org/2017/10/not-a-revolution-yet-data-journalism-hasnt-changed-that-much-in-4-years-a-new-paper-finds/ • '“De Correspondent” and the blueprint for a successful membership model', via Monday Note: https://mondaynote.com/de-correspondent-and-the-blueprint-for-a-successful-membership-model-3660eba337ba

In this week's episode, the University of Oregon's Carolyn S. Chambers professor in journalism Damian Radcliffe takes us through his latest report into local journalism in the Pacific Northwest: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/22803 In the news round-up, the gang discuss strict new NYT social media guidelines for journalism, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's statement on moderating news content, and whether publishers should 'punish' audiences who come in through social. We can't stop making analogies; we're like sharks who just have to keep swimming. What we're reading: • Medium makes its 'open paywall' available to all writers -https://www.wsj.com/articles/medium-opens-subscription-program-to-all-writers-1507651200 via WSJ • What Facebook did to American democracy - https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/10/what-facebook-did/542502/?utm_source=twb via The Atlantic • Real news about Fake News - http://www.niemanlab.org/collection/fake-news/ via Nieman Lab Background music courtesy of Nicolai Heidlas Music via SoundCloud -https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas