podcasting
A look back at stories that shaped the European and global media landscape in 2021
by thefixteam
Editor’s note: Media Insider is the podcast series by The Fix looking into the changing world of media. You can find it on all of your favorite platforms, including Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.
This episode of the Media Insider podcast by The Fix is a collaboration and kind of an experiment with Journalism.co.uk. Together with senior report Jacob Granger we sat down and discussed some of the biggest media stories in 2021.
Hybrid workplace and newsrooms
The impact of the pandemic had a vast impact on many industries and news media was not immune to it as well.
How has covid continued to affect the media industry? How did newsrooms adapt to a hybrid workplace and how did it change the dynamics within?
Related articles:
- 5 tips to make “work from home” work for media managers
- Big Tech lost the WFH battle, newsrooms should give in too: less meetings, more emails and audio
- Hybrid work model for newsrooms means more pressure on media managers, more formal rules and we all should increase our use of emojis
- The legacy of COVID-19 for publishers: 19 developments that publishers, researchers and policymakers need to be aware of
- What is the future of work in our newsrooms?
- #HeForShe: the role of male allies for women journalists
- 13 self-care tips for overworked journalists
- Tom Hourigan, senior journalist, BBC News, on reporters' mental health during the pandemic
- Hybrid working is here to stay but journalists need to be "sensible about it"
- How the Financial Times helped its journalists build resilience during the pandemic
Subscriptions, memberships and newsletters
A few weeks back we published The year 2021 in subscriptions and memberships where we highlighted the biggest stories and developments with subscriptions, memberships and newsletters in their core.
In 2021, the growth continued, compared to 2020 it slowed down but compared to the time before the pandemic it has picked up pace. This year also smaller and medium-sized newsrooms have seen more success with reader revenue.
Also, there are so many tools available to start a new newsroom from scratch than there were before it almost just a question of how much journalists believe their journalism can stand out and don’t have to think about all the technical questions.
Related articles:
- Must-have skills for a media startup CEO: Joshi Herrmann of The Mill
- Quartz bets on newsletters to drive reader revenue
- WaPo and Social Spider use email to showcase the best - not just the latest - news stories
- The Washington Post launches newsletter to help readers understand graphs and charts
- Growing a newsletter from scratch via Instagram – one year later, what I learned
- All the ways publishers are using newsletters to grow paying members
- Subscription pricing strategy for publishers: Data, long-term view, lots of tests and risk-taking
- What if the future of media is only newsletters and podcasts? Axios seems to think that’s right
- 7 potent insights, ideas and resources for your newsroom newsletter
The rise of audio and paid podcasting
More websites have started to include an audio player in articles providing the readers with an option to listen to the text instead of reading, we will see this trend to continue in 2022 and reach also smaller news websites.
If anyone in the future will be looking back at the point paid podcasting went mainstream, 2021 will be the big milestone in history as both Apple Podcasts and Spotify introduced tools for podcasters to go directly after audience revenue.
This year we have also seen the hype behind Clubhouse, the live audio social network that inspired the biggest social media players out there to add a similar feature.
Related articles:
- NYT’s The Daily seems to be beating European English-language news podcasts in popularity
- This podcast became a hit despite tackling an uncomfortable topic. Learnings from its creator
- Why is Sweden the world leader in podcast listening?
- Paid podcasts are here, this is what you need to know
- The ups and downs of Clubhouse
- Axel Springer is betting on audio for long-term sustainability
- Apple and Spotify paid-for subscriptions: what does it mean for publishers?
- Newsquest experiments with audio to boost audience engagement and subscriptions
- How can journalists use Clubhouse to source and report stories
Other topics from the podcast: revenue diversification, trust and what will 2022 bring:
- The next big business for news publishers? Some say books
- Future-proofing your media business. Lessons from bookstores and Netflix
- The Economist creates a new revenue stream with online courses
- Why German newspaper Bild is looking to venture into TV news
- Virtual events: how The Financial Times attracted 250k delegates during the pandemic
- Webinars and chatbots: inside Nikkei's B2B subscription strategy
- Innovation in journalism: two media start-ups booming despite challenges
- "Apologies can be very important, but they’re only a first step to righting a wrong"
- Decolonising journalism: what does it mean, why does it matter and where do you start?
- Will Media is touring Italy to build trust with regional readers
- RISJ trust report: redefine your public image or bad actors will do it for you
- Building audience's trust can help your newsroom become sustainable
- Eleanor Mills: 'Newspapers will become irrelevant if they do not cater to all parts of society'
More from The Fix: More than Pandora Papers. The behind-the-scenes of investigative journalism collaborations
