We’re delighted to release the 2023 edition of Media Moments, our annual report taking a look at key events which have shaped the media and publishing industry this year.
From the maturation of newsletter strategies to a renewed focus on retention, platform relationships turning sour and the opportunities of a print revival, Media Moments 2023 brings together the most meaningful trends together in one place, with plenty of case studies looking at successful – and not so successful – initiatives across the year.
The report covers ten subject areas: print, AI, newsletters, podcasts, subscriptions, platforms, local news, DE&I, broadcast and trust. Each chapter has a corresponding podcast episode, which you can listen to below or by searching ‘Media Voices‘ on your podcast app of choice.
We’re pleased to have Media Makers Meet (Mx3) as partners for the report, following their acquisition of What’s New in Publishing.
This year’s edition of Media Moments is now live. As with previous editions, it is free to download, but as we are without a sponsor this year, any contribution you can make to help us fund its writing and production would be very much appreciated.
Media Moments Briefing Sessions & Workshops
If you would like the Media Voices team to walk you and your staff through this year’s Media Moments report, answering questions and giving our thoughts on how the trends we identified might be opportunities for your publishing business, drop us an email and we’ll schedule a session for a time that suits your team.
Online
One-hour briefing – £250
Half-day briefing – £500
Full-day briefing and workshop – £1,000
On-site
Half-day briefing – £750
Full-day briefing and workshop – £1,500
* Travel and accommodation costs not included
For more information on booking please email peter [at] voices.media
Podcasts:
Print: What kind of idiots still make magazines?
The Grub Street Journal is a B2B title made by and for people who love print magazines. Its co-founders and editors Joanna Cummings and Peter Houston join the podcast to take us through the project from inception to monetisation, and discuss whether a flurry of print magazine stories is a sign of a wider resurgence, or a blip.
AI: Optimism about AI and journalism
In this podcast, we’re joined by Jacqui Merrington, who has her own Substack The Happy Journalist focused on showcasing how new tech can be used positively in journalism. Jacqui takes us through the reasons she’s optimistic about journalists using AI, and what best (and worst) practice looks like in 2023.
Newsletters: Transforming a portfolio of newsletters
Jillian MacMath, Audience Editor at WalesOnline joined us on the podcast to talk 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.
Platforms: Podcast and platform experiments
Chris Stone, Executive Producer at the New Statesman joins us on the podcast to take us through some of his boldest experiments with podcasts at the New Statesman, from consolidating them into one feed to publishing audio and video versions to YouTube.
Subscriptions: Making subscriptions work
In this podcast episode, Zamir Walimohamed, Head of Digital, Marketing & Subscriptions at Motor Sport Magazine 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.
Platforms: The best use of social platforms
LADbible Group’s Operations Lead Jake Strong-Jones joins us on the podcast to discuss how the group’s verticals make best use of social platforms. He takes us through how they go about making discerning use of platforms to find new audiences, and how its use of TikTok allows it to reach two-thirds of adults in the UK.
Local news: Platforms for sustainable local news
This episode we’re joined by Daniel Ionescu, founder of The Lincolnite and new local news platform MyLocal. Daniel talks us through why he got into local news in 2010 and the opportunity he spotted to make local news more up-to-date when compared to the digital efforts of local news organisations still tied to the print cycle.
Broadcast: Changing TV consumption habits
Charlotte Henry joined us on the podcast to 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.
Trust: How to measure trust
To help us dissect the year in trust, we were joined on the podcast by Dr Amy Ross Arguedas, a Postdoctoral Researcher Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. 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.
Sponsorship is the main way we fund our work in order to keep it free to read for our audience. If you’re interested in sponsoring next year’s Media Moments report or your own podcast episode, see the options available to support us or drop Peter Houston a line: peter [at] voices [dot] media
