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June 14, 2026Episode 41144 min
The Guardian's Toby Moses on shaping a successful newsletter strategy
This week's guest on The Publisher Podcast is Toby Moses, Head of Newsletters at The Guardian. Toby has been in charge of newsletters at The Guardian since 2021 - the first person in the role.
Just five years ago, there was no real unified newsletter strategy at The Guardian. Now, after many launches and relaunches, newsletters are a key part of how the publisher builds relationships with its readers, with journalists front and centre, and newsletters as content in themselves rather than as just a referral tool.
Toby talks about which metrics signal success for them depending on the type of newsletter, what they've learned from a variety of pop-up series, and how newsletters are playing a strategic part in their US growth.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
June 8, 2026Episode 41031 min
The Conversation's Gemma Ware on turning academic research into compelling audio stories
This week's guest on The Publisher Podcast is Gemma Ware, Head of Audio at The Conversation UK. She joined as the publication was launching in the UK as Education Editor, but soon spotted an opportunity to develop a podcast offering.
Over the years, The Conversation's podcasts have grown in sophistication, earning them two trophies at last year's Publisher Podcast Awards. Gemma takes us through their journey in audio, from early experiments in monthly shows to the full portfolio of limited series on a wide range of topics, as well as their weekly show.
She also explains what they've learned about podcast best practice, how they put together narrative shows, and what podcast success looks like for The Conversation as a nonprofit.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
June 1, 2026Episode 40940 min
Highlights from Monetising B2B 2026
At Flashes & Flames' recent Monetising B2B Information and Events conference in London, leading B2B publishers shared their priorities, opportunities and concerns across the day.
Held at London’s historic Stationers’ Hall, the event featured more than 30 industry-leading speakers and 210 delegates from three continents. The speakers showed that the B2B industry is going through another transformation, moving away from passive information delivery towards becoming essential to the workflow of their customers.
This episode draws out the common points discussed from some of the main stage speakers. Three common themes emerged: building 'moats' to protect businesses against AI disruption, publishers building intelligence ecosystems, and becoming indispensable infrastructure to customers.
See more coverage from Monetising B2B at flashesandflames.com
May 28, 2026Episode 40836 min
The zero-click content shift
What is zero-click search, and does it really pose an existential threat to the publishing business?
Our new report, The Zero-Click Content Shift, aims to answer exactly that question. Produced in association with Woodwing and authored by MediaVoices' Peter Houston, the report gauges the impact of Google's AI Overviews on publisher traffic, and tries to get a sense of how big the threat really is. We also take a closer look at the reality of zero-click search for the publishing business, from its effect on content discovery to brand visibility, referral traffic, and revenue.
This episode is a special accompaniment to the report, featuring interviews with Barry Adams, SEO & Audience Growth Consultant at Polemic Digital, Clara Soteras, SEO for News Publishers and Audience Growth Consultant, and John Fong, Managing Director of APAC and Digital Services at Woodwing.
The podcast explores:
How AI Overviews are transforming how content is discovered, consumed and monetised;
The notion of Google Zero as an industry bogeyman versus the current reality;
Existential anxiety in publishing, and how the data shows a more nuanced picture;
Google's continued dominance and changing search dynamics;
Strategic responses for publishers;
What AI overviews hurt, and where the opportunities lie.
Download The Zero Click Content Shift report for free at voices.media/zeroclick
This report and podcast episode is sponsored by WoodWing.
WoodWing empowers publishing ecosystems by uniting technology with deep industry expertise. For 25+ years, we’ve helped teams create, manage, and deliver content across print and digital channels with greater efficiency and consistency. Our portfolio spans multi-channel production, digital assets, quality, knowledge, and information management. Founded in 2000, we operate globally from our headquarters in the Netherlands.
Learn more about WoodWing’s publishing solutions at woodwing.com
May 25, 2026Episode 40741 min
Bauer's Lauren Holleyoake on the business of bookazines
In this episode of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Lauren Holleyoake, Publisher of Bauer magazines Grazia, Empire and Mojo, and also the lead of Bauer's bookazine business.
Bauer has a strong portfolio of print specialist titles in areas like golf, classic cars and angling. They have made bookazines in the past, but part of Lauren's job has been to formalise the process, from coming up with standard ways of working to exploring the market opportunity for these titles.
Lauren talks about using bookazines as a chance for editorial teams to show off their passions, why high production values and premium content still matter for making content pay, and the surprising success of Bauer's bookazines abroad.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
May 18, 2026Episode 40639 min
Axios Local's Liz Alesse on shaping the business to crack sustainable local journalism at scale
In this episode of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Liz Alesse, Vice President and General Manager of Axios Local. She is responsible for building and scaling Axios' local journalism business as a sustainable national platform.
Liz talks about how Axios Local has evolved since launching five years ago, and what they've learned about scaling with market-specific models rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. She emphasises the importance of their reporters as brand ambassadors and key anchors for areas, citing talent as one of the primary factors for expanding into a market.
Axios Local has yet to turn a profit, but Liz is bullish on their prospects for cracking sustainable local journalism at scale, discussing their revenue diversification strategy and how AI has become a force multiplier for them.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
May 11, 2026Episode 40546 min
Bustle's Charlotte Owen on ditching the 'everything for everyone' era
In this episode of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Charlotte Owen, Executive Vice President at BDG and Editor-in-Chief of Bustle.
Bustle is a female-focused media brand aimed at 20-30 year olds who want to live a big life. Charlotte talks about the importance of niche targeting over broad appeal, how the generalist era being over has helped editors hone in on points of view, and how they leverage social media.
She also discusses why Bustle and BDG more widely are seeing revenue growth of 40% and 25% respectively, in a market that other women's brands are finding tough.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
May 4, 2026Episode 40439 min
Global South World's Ismail Akwei on building a creator-led news network across continents
In the latest episode of our spring 2026 season of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Ismail Akwei, Editor of Global South World.
Global South World is a news brand with a mission to build a more informed and nuanced understanding of the Global South, counteracting parachute journalism and condescension with news and opinion from a network of journalists and creators that actually live across Asia, Africa and South America.
Akwei talks about commentary from Western leaders about countries in the Global South, and the issues with minimising whole continents to one negative news story. He also discussed what works well for content distribution, data visualisation, and building active communities, as well as how their creator-led news network approach works in practice.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
April 27, 2026Episode 40341 min
Variety's Dea Lawrence on turning a legacy publication into a cultural brand
In the latest episode of our spring 2026 season of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Dea Lawrence, Publisher and Co-President of Variety.
Variety has transformed from a B2B pure play to a hybrid business and consumer publication. It still does 70,000 copies a week in print for the industry people who are super keen to see themselves on the cover, but online it reaches millions of passionate entertainment fans.
Dea talks about how Variety has weathered the disruption in the entertainment industry itself, the increasing importance of international creators and audiences, and why everything is a content and sponsorship opportunity. She also explains to Peter why microdramas are the next big thing.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
April 20, 2026Episode 40228 min
Semafor's Ben Smith on how the start-up has evolved to thrive in a challenging market
In this episode of our spring 2026 season of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Ben Smith, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Semafor.
Ben has previously worked at publications like the New York Times and Buzzfeed, before joining Justin Smith to co-found Semafor in 2022. The publication, which distills the news for global audiences, has launched industry-leading events, pioneered their own article format, and reached profitability in its third year.
Ben spoke to us about how their audience and approach has evolved since launch, where they see opportunities and red lines for AI, where he sees paid content fitting into their business model, and how their exclusive CEO newsletter is going.
He also shares his advice for anyone looking at launching a news start-up today.
Read the key takeaways from this interview, find our weekly newsletter and more on voices.media
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