In this bonus episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, Chris Sutcliffe, Esther Thorpe and Peter Houston take a look at what’s happened in the world of media in January. A bonus monthly wrap-up of key news is something new we’re trialling following feedback which said you missed the three of us together and our take on what’s going on.

Here we discuss the boost to publisher coffers from post-inauguration donations, the capitulation of tech-bro capitalists to Trump, and ask what on earth is happening with TikTok.

We’re also trialling this as a proper video podcast if you prefer to watch!

Our key stories from January:

Chris – Consumers back journalism in the age of Trump (kinda)

The Guardian saw a 250% increase in donations last week garnering $4 million in pledges. That’s compared to $1.6 million in the same period last year. That’s coming from Semafor which also reports on a number of individual politics-focused Substacks that saw a marked increase in subscriptions and YouTube followers in the wake of the Trump inauguration (shame on you, Snoop Dogg).

Now that could in part be down to the incoming crackdown on press freedom and White House access in the US… But to be perfectly honest I think it’s more likely to be coming from the shrinking subset of people who still tune into the news regularly. I’d love to see a breakdown, for example, of how many of the people donating to the Guardian are new donors vs. returning ones. 

And, of course, there is still an ongoing trust crisis in many countries (not all, thankfully). I read an interview with Aidan White, founder of the Ethical Journalism Network, that offers a good explanation for why that trust crisis is ongoing. He argues that while the press did a good job covering Trump’s many failings, weaknesses and criminal acts, they didn’t connect with the concerns of their readers. Short of ripping up the news industry from the roots and starting again from a more representative beginning, I’m not entirely sure how we go about amending that.

Peter – Billionaire media bros show their true colours… greedy green, cowardly yellow, shirty black and brown

In the wake of Trump’s win, many of the so-called billionaire media bros have completely capitulated. From Zuckerberg’s abdication of responsibility on fact-checking, DEI guideline diteching and claims we need more ‘masculine’ energy in the workplace, to Bezos’ offer of help to further Trump’s anti-regulatory agenda, it has been a downright depressing few months for watching those in power in media.

That’s before we even get to the fascist groove Musk is emulating. To top it off, Google has said it will rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for US users. There’s an excellent Atlantic read here: When fear spreads in a society, powerful people who know better are often the first to show their weakness.

The lesson for publishers here? Every single thing any publisher ever does on a third-party platform from this moment on has to be about driving people to their own ecosystem: newsletter sign-ups, podcast subscriptions, magazine subscriptions. It all has to be about owning the audience again and taking back control from these Maga deathcult-enabling asshats.

I also think, like Chris has said, this is a moment for proper publishers to amp up what Rob Corbidge called the ‘formal process of publishing’, fearless reporting, proper fact-checking , responsible presentation and distribution.  

Esther – the banning and unbanning of TikTok

After a long saga in the US courts, TikTok was given until Jan 19th to be sold to a US buyer or be banned over security and links to the Chinese government. Over the weekend, Trump – who took office the following Monday – said he’d probably give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban. So for around 24hrs, when US users logged in, they were met with a message explaining they couldn’t use the app right now, but “”We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”

He signed an executive order giving them 75 days, and apparently Microsoft are now in talks to buy it…

According to Digiday, data shows the shutdown in the US didn’t have much of an effect on publishers’ site traffic, and publishers have said they’ll focus efforts on their onsite short-form video strategies going forward. Adweek reported days beforehand that publishers had already taken steps to prepare for a potential ban, and have accepted the transient nature of social media platforms. 

My favourite analysis was from Casey Newton at Platformer who called TikTok Schrödinger’s app: “After one of the wildest weekends in the history of tech regulation, TikTok is not dead. But nor is it fully alive. It exists instead in a state of quantum superposition, both there and not at the same time, its fate dependent on a series of random subatomic events that may or may not occur.”

This week’s guest, Which?’s Hannah Ballantyne, thinks TikTok is too popular to be permanently banned in the US. Their core audience is UK anyway, and the UK has given no indication of following with a similar ban (although it’s not allowed on government phones).


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 audience, giving you full full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, podcast episodes, private community chats and more.

Take control of your publishing business this new year with Memberful. Visit memberful.com/publisherpod and get started with a free trial.

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