The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices

The podcast delves into the integration of AI in newsrooms, discussing its impact on journalists and the industry. Speakers emphasize the need for experimentation with AI while keeping business goals in mind. Insights are shared on navigating post-opportunity steps and leveraging AI for business goals. The importance of building a collaborative environment for AI teams and addressing challenges in AI integration for publishers is also highlighted.

Experts discuss the use of AI in publishing, including preparations for internal and external changes to media businesses. They explore the impact of AI on productivity, hyper personalization, and business models in journalism. The chapter also highlights the limitations of generative AI as a predictive tool and the opportunities AI presents to speed up and refine outputs in the newsroom. Publishers are advised on successfully integrating AI tools into their workflows and the importance of collaboration. The potential and limitations of AI in journalism are discussed, including its impact on jobs in the newsroom and the future of AI in media.

On this week's episode of the podcast Elaine dela Cruz, co-founder of DE&I consultancy firm Project 23, tells us about what is creating positive change for diversity and inclusion in the industry. We're also joined by guest co-host Joanna Cummings, Editorial Director of The Grub Street Journal and author of the DE&I chapter of this year's Media Moments report. Elaine takes us through why she co-founded the organisation, how the DE&I landscape has changed over the past five years, and why 'resilience' is such a dangerous word. We also discuss how the best media companies are measuring the success of their DE&I efforts. A round-up of publishers' DE&I initiatives and developments will be part of our upcoming Media Moments 2023 report. Find out more and pre-register for the report here.

On this week’s podcast (which is also this week’s edition of The Addition) we hear from author, journalist and broadcaster Charlotte Henry. She creates and runs The Addition newsletter and podcast; an award-winning publication looking at the crossover between media and technology. Charlotte has written the Broadcast chapter of our upcoming Media Moments 2023 report, so it was only right and proper that we got her on to discuss all the broadcast trends of the past year. It’s been a big old year for TV — both good and bad — so it was great to get an expert in to chat it all over. We discuss the role of exclusive content, the doldrums of advertising sales across linear broadcasts, the need to differentiate a streaming service from its competitors, and the longer term impact of the Hollywood actors' strike. We also explore how streaming platforms like Disney+ and Netflix are faring a year after introducing ad-supported tiers.

This week, to help us dissect the year in trust, we're joined by Dr Amy Ross Arguedas, a Postdoctoral Researcher Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Between 2020 and September 2023, she worked on the Trust in News Project, and she’s currently a part of the team working on the Reuters Institute's annual Digital News Report. Amy tells us about the work of the Trust in News Project, and how to go about measuring trust in a way which is useful. She explains how trust is affected by political divisions and whether the impact of publisher mistakes is long-lasting, as well as the opportunities for more traditional sources to engage younger people. We also explore the potential impacts of AI on trust; how transparent should publishers be with their use of it, as well as the risks and opportunities AI presents for the fight against misinformation. Trust, disinformation and how publishers have responded this year will be one of the chapters we explore as part of our upcoming Media Moments 2023 report. Find out more and pre-register for the report here.

Themes from the Newsrewired conference include challenges in journalism, appealing to readers and generating revenue, building strong relationships with communities, diversifying revenue, adapting to emerging tech and platforms. Media Voices podcast offers insights from speakers and discusses their B2B publishing brand.

This week we hear from Jillian MacMath, Audience Editor at WalesOnline. She was chosen by the judges as the winner of the first ever Hero of the Year at the Publisher Newsletter Awards, so what better person to come and discuss everything newsletters with us. Jillian talks about the opportunities she saw to get more strategic about the newsletter portfolio when she joined WalesOnline, what metrics should matter to anyone with a newsletter, and what dedicated newsletters like football and food look like with a local focus. She also tells the story of their pop-up Covid newsletter, explains how to get other members of the newsroom invested in newsletters, and how they're using key names to build more personal relationships via the inbox. Newsletters and publishers innovating in the inbox this year will be one of the chapters we explore as part of our upcoming Media Moments 2023 report. Find out more and pre-register for the report here.

No, Apple doesn’t share customer data directly. But there are some clear pathways for publishers to leverage and drive first-party data capture in the app. In a change from our regular weekly shows and our Conversations panel discussions, this is a short, sharp sponsored episode – just 10 minutes – with a senior executive from a vendor working with publishers to make their businesses better. This episode Peter speaks with with Kieran Delaney, CEO at Apple News specialists FlatPlan, about how publishers can make the most of the platform. Despite its rigid policies on sharing consumer data, there are ways publishers can funnel readers to their own properties to capture data there. Kieran also explains why Apple News is worth investing time into compared to social media, and how to get started. This Media Briefs episode is sponsored by FlatPlan. More than 145 million people read 5 billion articles on Apple News every month and FlatPlan empowers publishers to reach this huge audience in beautifully branded publications, on optimised articles built to maximise growth on the platform. With clients ranging from Bauer Media to ITV, FlatPlan handles all the heavy lifting including delivery, reporting and optimisation. Reduce months of development work to a no-code solution that works with any CMS and maximize the effectiveness of your content with tools built to scale audience growth quickly. Learn more about FlatPlan on their website, or book a demo. 

On this week’s episode of the podcast we take a deep dive into the subscription trends of the past year. To get insight from someone who’s had experience in subscription management, we spoke to Zamir Walimohamed, Head of Digital, Marketing & Subscriptions at Motor Sport Magazine. Zamir has been playing a pivotal role in driving Motor Sport Magazine's digital expansion and marketing initiatives for 12 years now, during which time he’s seen trends come, go, and stay. Zamir tells us about how the magazine has managed bringing print subscribers into its digital ecosystem, and why a growing propensity to pay for digital subscriptions is benefitting magazines across the industry. He also discusses the extent to which off-the-shelf subscription management tools are fit for purpose, and where the smart money is being spent on improving retention. Peter and Chris get very excited about Scalextric.

In this week's episode we hear from LADbible Group's Operations Lead Jake Strong-Jones on how the group's verticals make best use of social platforms. He works with teams across the business on new launches, distribution strategy and operations, as well as the content strategy and insights on LADbible Group's social platforms. He takes us through everything from how they go about making discerning use of platforms to find new audiences, how its use of TikTok allows it to reach two-thirds of adults in the UK, and what trends the group is keeping an eye on over the next 12 months. How publishers have approached social media platforms over the past year will be one of the chapters we explore as part of our upcoming Media Moments 2023 report. Find out more and pre-register for the report here.