Media Voices Podcast

In this episode of The Publisher Podcast, People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel talks about the power of print - as long as you're not sentimental about scale - how advertising is very much alive, and why Google is 'the worst guy' when it comes to publishers and AI. He also discusses the rebranding from Dotdash Meredith and why it's important to have a name which resonates with human experiences.   This episode is produced in partnership with FIPP, who are 100 years old this year. With only 25 tickets remaining, this is the final opportunity to secure your place at the FIPP World Media Congress 2025 – the premier global event bringing together the foremost leaders, innovators, and strategists from across the international media landscape. Read the write-up of this interview over on voices.media or by signing up to our weekly newsletter.

In this episode, Peter Houston interviews Irene Smit, the co-founder of Flow Magazine. As you’ll see from this episode’s title Irene’s founding philosophy for the mag was that of paper over print. What’s the distinction? Well, for Irene print is effectively a vector for information – it’s commodity news, or glossy lifestyle features, or whathaveyou. It is 99% of what’s on newsstands. By contrast paper is an experience, and she tells Peter about what drove her to mix and match types of paper within the same magazine. She also tells us about how the magazine changed hands between publishing companies, what that taught her about the pros and cons of being an indie title supported by a larger operation, and how the magazine came out of the other side of those transitions stronger for it. Irene will be speaking at Magazine Street in a few weeks time on 3rd October. If you want to be there, use the code MV75 for £75 off tickets, which you can book at internationalmagazinecentre.com. Read the write-up of this interv

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newsletter Summit - Passendo and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their newsletters to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode features a fantastic panel from the Publisher Newsletter Summit where Reach plc’s Audience and Content Director Jenna Thompson discussed why they looked to Substack for new newsletter launches, and what they’ve learned over the past two years of free and paid experiments. Get the learnings from this episode written up in article form straight into your inbox by signing up to The Publisher Newsletter at voices.media.   

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newsletter Summit - Passendo and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their newsletters to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode features a fantastic panel from the Publisher Newsletter Summit where The Economist’s Andrew Palmer and Dominic Rech and the Financial Times’ Sarah Ebner joined Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobitt to discuss personality-powered newsletters – the good and the bad. Get the learnings from this episode written up in article form straight into your inbox by signing up to The Publisher Newsletter at voices.media.   

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher App Summit - Pugpig, and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their apps to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode features a fantastic panel from the Publisher App Summit where Hearst UK’s Emma Peagam and Stylist’s Felicity Thistlethwaite joined Esther Thorpe on stage to talk about how games and added extras help enhance relationships with their subscribers, and boost those all-important retention rates.

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newsletter Summit - Passendo and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their newsletters to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode features two sessions from the Publisher Newsletter Summit exploring pop-up and limited run newsletters. Publishers are seeing success with pop-up and limited run newsletters, from educational courses to sporting events and elections. But what happens to subscribers to a pop-up newsletter after the newsletter has run its course? Katie Binns, Deputy editor at Times Money Mentor, a free personal finance section of the Times brand, explains in the first session how they nurture subscribers to two of their hu

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher App Summit - Pugpig, and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their apps to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode features a session with Muj Ali, Group Product Manager of Acquisition, Retention and Apps at the Financial Times. He talks about where the app fits in at the FT in terms of the subscriber funnel, how they’ve adapted what they publish to people’s mobile browsing habits, and why the app is increasingly proving itself to be one of the FT’s most vital retention tools.

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Podcast and App Summits - Crowdfindervideo, Pugpig, and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their magazines and newsletters to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode features insight from Aleena Augustine, who is Audience Growth Manager at The Observer. Now this is a bit special as The Observer brand was acquired by Tortoise Media in April of this year, so there was an awful lot to talk about there. Aleena spoke specifically about how the team is combining podcasts and apps for a powerful subscriber proposition – and what comes next for native audio within its app. Get the learnings from this episode written up in article form strai

This special episode of The Publisher Podcast is an audio teaser for our Inside the Print Revival report, published by Media Voices. If you haven't already got the report, you can download it from voices.media/printrevival. We at Media Voices had been wondering for some time about what is really going on in the print magazine market as we watched the number of stories shared about print launches and relaunches grow from a trickle to, if not quite a tidal wave, a fairly fast-flowing stream. Talk of a print comeback has been increasingly common in the magazine market. But at the same time, news about magazine circulations dropping, print operations being scaled back and regular closures have continued. With these two seemingly contradictory narratives competing for our attention, we decided to try and find out what is really going on. Inside the Print Revival is made possible with the support of our sponsors: Freeport Press, Warners Media Group, Atex, FIPP, Piano, and Manson Group.

This is the first of a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newsletter and Print Summit - Passendo, Piano, Warners Group Publications, FIPP, and Syno. Find out more about them and how they help publishers take their magazines and newsletters to the next level at publishersummits.com. This episode brings together two sessions from the Publisher Newsletter Summit stage looking at newsletter marketing and discovery. The first talk is from Sophie Laughton, Newsletter Editor at Metro.co.uk, sharing how a site redesign helped their team drive newsletter sign-ups, and what other publishers can learn. Then you’ll hear from Hannah Tomes at the Spectator, interviewed on-stage by Esther Thorpe, discussing which marketing and growth strategies h

It was standing room only at the inaugural Monetising B2B conference, organised by Flashes & Flames, at London's historic Stationers' Hall on 20th May. Peter and Esther went along to fly the flag for Media Voices. The conference was focused not on the difference between pureplay events and information companies, but on the data-fuelled intersection and growth potential between them. The breadth and depth of the day's content echoed the mission of Flashes & Flames and of the change underway in B2B companies in the era of AI and revenue diversification. Although there were a wide range of topics discussed during the day, this episode brings out highlights from three hot-topic areas:  AI's profit potential: How B2B's application of AI is moving to commercial reality; Data with purpose: Why proprietary data can define the future of B2B; Events re-imagined: From trade shows to festivalisation - why the future of events belongs to those who curate memorable (and valuable) experiences. For the full event r

For publishers, the conversation around AI has moved on from how to incorporate it into the business. Now, 'Fear of missing out' has been replaced by 'Fear of not being able to measure'. This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes with a senior executive from a vendor working with publishers to make their businesses better. In this episode, we hear again from Bridged Media CEO Maanas Mediratta. Last time we spoke about how Bridged Media was making AI tools more accessible to a broader range of publishers. This time, our conversation was focused on how publisher conversations around AI have moved on, and why measuring ROI is becoming a key part of the discourse. It can be challenging to visualise "Operationalising AI" and what that means for your organisation in terms of people, process and tech. Bridged Media is currently running a survey to help establish an industry benchmark on how to future proof your business using AI enabled tech. Take the survey to help find out if

In this bonus episode of The Publisher Podcast, sponsored by Memberful, we hear from Jen Matichuk, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Memberful. Jen spoke about how membership is a powerful way to diversify revenue, whether you need to introduce membership tiers (spoiler: you don't), and how to deliver value that converts. She also explores the value of community, and why evolution and iteration are key for retention. This episode of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  Memberful lets you offer membership perks and exclusive content to your loyal audience, giving you full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, and podcast episodes. Take control of your publishing business this year with Memberful. Visit memberful.com/publisherpod and get started with a free trial.

On this week’s episode of The Publisher podcast we hear from Alex White, Group Managing Director for Immediate Media’s Knowledge portfolio which includes BBC Gardeners' World, BBC History and Immediate’s parenting business, MadeForMums. We spoke about the benefits that come from the company’s focus on publishing verticals, how the magazine publisher is bringing a culture of innovation into the business by giving staff the space to innovate and how she believes encouraging an ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ is crucial to compete. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  Memberful lets you offer membership perks and exclusive content to your loyal audience, giving you full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, and podcast episodes. Take control of your publishing business this year with Memberful. Visit m

In this episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Sam Baker, Senior Producer of Deutsche Welle's award-winning podcast Don't Drink The Milk. She takes us through the appeal of documentary and narrative podcasts, how the team is experimenting with video and AI, and how overlapping interests allows DW to find new audiences for its audio. And, of course, we discuss where the title 'Don't Drink The Milk' originates from. It's a fascinating story - and one that succinctly explains the appeal of culture podcasts, and why audio is a wonderful medium for explaining history. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  Memberful lets you offer membership perks and exclusive content to your loyal audience, giving you full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, podcast episodes, private community chats, and

On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Marissa Zanetti-Crume,  Bloomberg Media’s Global Head of Product. Marissa talks about how her product team are collaborators, integrating content, technology, and commercial considerations. We also spoke about Bloomberg Media’s newsletter strategy and how its 70-strong newsletter portfolio is a mix of subscriber exclusives and free newsletters positioned to deliver both revenue and reach. Marissa explains how the introduction of a live audio Q&A has given Bloomberg journalists the opportunity to engage directly with their audiences. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  Memberful lets you offer membership perks and exclusive content to your loyal audience, giving you full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, and podcast episodes

This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Tav Klitgaard, Group CEO of Zetland Media. As well as news publication Zetland, the Danish company also has a book publishing business, an AI transcription startup, and has recently launched a Finnish publication called Uusi Juttu, which has attracted 15,000 paying members within the first two months. Tav discusses the importance of designing products to address user needs, and how that pays back in attracting paying younger audiences, as well as taking their subscriber-first business model to Finland. He also explains why audio has been such a pivotal part of making Zetland successful as a member-driven publisher, and what future he sees for video podcasts. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  Memberful is human-first, not software first, so whe

In this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast, Metro.co.uk’s Newsletter Editor Sophie Laughton takes us through… everything newsletter. From how the Metro’s redesign allowed the newsletter team to break silos, through how they’re solving discovery issues, to what newsletters offer that no other medium can, Laughton provides an A-Z on newsletters for publishers. This is both a newsletter strategy 101 and a rallying cry for what newsletters can offer to publishers. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  You can easily set up and manage your membership program with Memberful’s intuitive features, from multiple membership tiers and payment options to cater to different audience segments, and maximise your revenue potential. Take control of your publishing business this new year with Memberful. Visit memberful.com/pub

On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Esther Newman, Senior Editor and Podcast Host at Women’s Running. Esther explains that a recent exercise to create a persona for the typical Women's Running reader led to the realisation that there were a range of audiences accessing the brand in a variety of ways. While running is the banner that attracts readers to the brand, a whole host of women’s interests are what drives the community. From a monthly print magazine through a weekly podcast, to a Patreon Discord and social channels, Women’s Running is ‘so many things’ to its diverse audience. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  Memberful lets you offer membership perks and exclusive content to your loyal audience, giving you full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, podcast e

On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Dan Russell, Reach Plc's Engagement Director (for short). Reach Plc achieved its best ever month for traffic in January, based in no small part on a social strategy that is tailored to each platform - and doesn't rely on chasing huge hits. The teams across Reach's titles have also seen success in building communities on WhatsApp where, as Russell explains, the limited nature of messaging apps can be a benefit rather than a drawback. He discusses why publishers cannot take the rarefied space of messaging apps for granted, and how the engagement team disseminates universal lessons about community growth across the entire portfolio. This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.  You can easily set up and manage your membership program with Memberful’s intuitive feat