The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

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.

In this week's episode we hear from co-founder Gina Tonic on The Fat Zine - an independent magazine by fat people for fat people plus those that care. We spoke about the F word, the influence of Pitch Perfect, being an activist vs being a publisher, Fat Liberation and how inside every thin person there’s a fat person dying to get out. In the news roundup we take a look at which publishers have come out of the pandemic in the best shape, ask why there have been so many journalism unions established over the past year, and look at how Reach is using Instagram. Esther questions Peter's tech credibility, regrets it.

This week, we hear from the Wall Street Journal’s Editor of Live Journalism and Special Content Kim Last. She talks about the role of live journalism at the publication, how they adapted when the pandemic hit, and what they are doing to bring events and networking to life virtually as their Future of Everything Festival approaches. In the news roundup we discuss Dollar Shave Club pulling its funding from Mel Magazine, ask if Substack Local can solve the issue of news deserts, and test Peter's knowledge of monthly newspaper subscription prices as Reuters goes behind a paywall. See you on Wednesday for the Publisher Podcast Awards '21!

This week Hannah Robathan, co-founder of Shado, tell us about the realities of publishing a print magazine and online platform that gives people the space to tell their own stories. We spoke about their frustration with the mainstream media, what activism means and what success looks like for Shado. In the news roundup, the BBC and Reach make big announcements about office closures, we ask if an Instagram for under 13s is as crazy as it sounds, and discuss the Telegraph tying its journalists' appraisals and potentially pay to their stories' performance. We desperately need a break - see you on April 12th!

On this week's episode The Big Issue CEO Paul Cheal tells us about the magazine’s fight to survive lockdown, the innovations that got it through and how those changes have spurred new ways of thinking about how the Big Issue will work in the future. In the news roundup the team recaps a week that reflects poorly on the UK media landscape and asks what can be done to improve its bigotry issue. We also look at Google's PPID solution, The Information's five new newsletters, and BuzzFeed gutting HuffPost. Peter sings a song to celebrate a major life achievement.

This week James Stables, founder and Co CEO of tech recommendation sites Wareable.com and The Ambient, discusses the meteoric rise of the business, unknown SEO problems, and the precarious nature of affiliate revenues. In the news roundup it's Peter vs. Esther in the battle of reader revenues. We discuss the Facebook Oversight Board's teething troubles, several new launches, and City AM's return to print. Chris wears out a new sound effect in the space of a single episode.

In this week's episode Hannah Taylor, editor and founder for The Delicate Rébellion, tells us about her print magazine showcasing the work of independent female creatives, the community that has grown out of the magazine and her new online shop. She tells us how crappy teachers led her eventually to start her own magazine to encourage women to follow their creative passions. In the news roundup the team discusses Twitter launching its subscription options for creators, the ongoing saga of Australia and the Duopoly, and why Al Jazeera is launching a platform for conservatives in the US called ‘Rightly’. The team disagrees about Peter's new sandwich idea at length.