On this week's episode we hear from Lance Johnson, CEO of Recurrent Media. You might not have heard of them (yet), but you will have heard of their brands - Donut, Domino, Saveur, Popular Science, and most recently, MEL magazine. He tells us about the group’s acquisition strategy, how they’re different from the usual VC companies we encounter, and what you need to do to get bought by Recurrent. In the news roundup the team does some digging into the disappearing Times story about Boris Johnson offering his then-mistress a job. We take a look at the timeline, the 'legal issues' that might have caused the story to be pulled, and asked what The Times' strategy of silence is doing to its reputation and trust in the media. In the NIBs we discuss Substack cutting its headcount, say goodbye to the print edition of Time Out, and ask why Bonnier News and Amedia are launching a digital newspaper in Russia. Read our letter to find out about how you can help us during this make-or-break year.

This week, Media Voices co-host Peter Houston is at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. He catches up with attendees at the festival to find out what publishers and agencies are talking about this summer, and how optimistic they are about the next few years. This is the second of a two-part podcast from the Festival; the first centred on the publisher perspective. Media Voices at Cannes 2022 is sponsored by Sovrn, a leading publisher technology platform. Day 2: Cookies and clean rooms are front-of-mind Hear from James Prudhomme, CRO at Optable, Jessica Jacobs, Global Director of Partnerships & Growth at Incubeta, Barry Adams, EVP of AdTech at IPONWEB, Matthew Papa, SVP of Business and Corporate Development at Captify, and Jonnie Moyes, Director of Buyer Development at Sovrn. They all explain what the pressing challenges and opportunities everyone is talking about at Cannes. These episodes are made possible by the support of our sponsors Sovrn. Sovrn provides advertising tools, technologies and services to tens of thousands of content creators, helping them make money, grow their businesses, and access a massive data commons that provides extraordinary insights.  Learn more on their website, Sovrn.com, or follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter for more updates.

This week, Media Voices co-host Peter Houston is at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. He catches up with attendees at the festival to find out what publishers and agencies are talking about this summer, and how optimistic they are about the next few years. This is a two-part podcast, with the second part going live tomorrow with fresh updates from Cannes. Media Voices at Cannes 2022 is sponsored by Sovrn, a leading publisher technology platform. Day 1: Data and diversity top the agenda Hear from James Florence, Head of Advertising Technology at Immediate Media, Brian Morrissey, Founder of The Rebooting newsletter and podcast, and Dominic Perkins, Managing Director of UK and Europe at Sovrn as they give their impressions of Cannes so far. These episodes are made possible by the support of our sponsors Sovrn. Sovrn provides advertising tools, technologies and services to tens of thousands of content creators, helping them make money, grow their businesses, and access a massive data commons that provides extraordinary insights.  Learn more on their website, Sovrn.com, or follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter for more updates.

In this special episode of Media Voices, Chris, Peter and Esther comb through the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2022 to pick out the key findings for publishers. This year’s report reveals new insights about digital news consumption based on a YouGov survey of over 93,000 online news consumers in 46 markets covering half of the world’s population. Listen now to explore why news avoidance is up and trust is down; the relief we felt that climate coverage is on top of everyone's agenda; how the news habits of younger generations are growing more distinct; and what the report's first ever chapter dedicated to email newsletters had to say. See the full shownotes at https://voices.media/special-key-findings-from-the-reuters-institutes-digital-news-report-2022 

Publishing is way behind other industries when it comes to technology consolidation. Compared with five or six key software platforms in most sectors, it is not uncommon to see publishers running their businesses on 50 or 60 separate set ups. There are clear advantages in leaving this ‘Tech Soup’ behind and migrating to a unified technology platform. For this special Conversations episode, we’re joined by Markus Karlsson, CEO of Affino, the Unified Business Platform for media, publishing and membership organisations, and Steve Hinds, Digital Editor and Product Manager at leading travel news industry site TTG Media. We discuss the benefits of systems consolidation, from improved operational efficiency to increased profitability, as well as exploring some of the challenges publishers face when looking to consolidate, and how they can get the process started. This Conversations episode is sponsored by Affino. Founded 2009, Affino is the leading Unified Business Platform for media, publishing, events, membership and professional services organisations. The Affino SaaS Platform provides a complete solution for engaging with and monetising audiences. It combines full-range Audience CRM with Sales and Marketing Automation, Ecommerce, Subscriptions and Memberships, Messaging, CMS, Events, Ad Serving, and Recruitment. Affino streamlines organisations for more efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and productivity, as well as delivering numerous new and unique revenue stream capabilities. The fully GDPR-compliant system is built on the principles of Actionable Intelligence – prompting and triggering intuitive rapid responses based on fully accurate and comprehensive first-hand real-time data. Learn more about Affino on their website, or contact Markus on engage@affino.com.

This week we catch up with Neal Freyman, managing editor at Morning Brew. Since 2017 he’s been part of the team that’s proved the viability of newsletters as a source of both advertising and audience revenue  - and which was ahead of the curve when it comes to the importance of newsletters to a publishers’ wider strategy. We hear about what’s changed in the newsletter ecosystem this time, what the rise of the individual journalist-led newsletter means for creators, and what new verticals he wants to launch newsletters in. In the news roundup the team discuss the Mail's latest (poorly-researched) salvo in its war against Google, and ask what the ramifications are for the wider public. In the NIBs we talk about the sad closure of a beloved newsletter, ask whether podcasts are a replacement for magazines, and talk about the future of events for publishers. Peter calls Brian Morrissey "a very handsome man".

Media Voices co-host Peter Houston has jetted off to Cascais, Portugal for the 2022 FIPP World Media Congress. He catches up with speakers and attendees at the event to find out what they're hoping to learn, what it's like being back in the room, and how optimistic they are for the future of publishing. In this episode we bring you highlights from FIPP CEO James Hewes' keynote speech, Professor Lucy Küng drawing out practical lessons from her research into digital transformation, Fortune's Jim Jacovides explaining how Covid made the publisher more flexible, Tortoise's Katie Vanneck-Smith outlining how they are doubling down on audience engagement, Pugpig's Jonny Kaldor sharing the optimism in the room, and Boom Saloon's Rachel Arthur setting out what the big and small publishers can learn from each other.

This week we talk to Sarah Vizard, Editor of Raconteur. She explained what Raconteur's unique angle on business stories is in a crowded field, how it uses its print publication to drive digital expansion, and what their recently launched New Voices programme hopes to do with giving writers from under-represented backgrounds a start in business journalism. In the news roundup the team asks if Dotdash Meredith's approach to cutting back on print is more honest than Condé Nast's - or whether it is just an attempt at massaging the truth around print decline. In the news in brief we talk about payment models for newspapers that allow people on lower incomes access to news; the impact of going online-only on broadcast channels; and the good news that podcast revenue is growing significantly! Become a Media Voices supporter over at voices.media/support.

This episode we hear from Bhanupriya Rao, Founder at BehanBox, an Indian publication whose mission is to centre voices of women and gender diverse people through evidence and data-driven reporting. We spoke about the inequalities in access to media in India, how BehanBox hopes to make real changes for women and gender diverse people, and why data is so important in their reporting. In the news round-up, the team discuss a collection of stories about access and representation in the media, from the 'posh news for posh people' outlook at some publications to the absence of working class voices in news media. In the news in brief section, we look at what makes a company a magazine company, Playboy's push for influencers, and cost-cutting at the BBC.

This week we hear from Charlotte Cijffers, Digital Director at Rolling Stone UK & Attitude Magazine for Stream Publishing. We spoke about launching the iconic Rolling Stone title in the UK, her work on Attitude's digital transformation, and the benefits of developing more localised content for magazines. She also gives advice on what publishers should focus on when looking to grow their own audiences online. In the news roundup we discuss the various reactions to TalkTV's tumbling ratings, and ask whether the British public is rejecting hyper-partisan news in general... or just finding it elsewhere. In the news in brief we discuss whether newspapers are normalising climate change, highlight The Economist's exceptional success with its podcasts, and hear some heartening news that diversity and representation are no longer just buzzwords in publishing.