Media Unscripted, presented by FIPP

In this episode of Media Unscripted we speak to Julia Kostetska, publisher of Vogue Ukraine, and fashion director, Vena Brykalin, about the challenges of creating content in a war zone. Their story is an incredible one, which you don’t have to work in publishing to appreciate. It’s a story of survival and resilience and bravery. And also incredible creativity and sensitivity, as they have had to adapt their content to suit the needs of their readers, while war rages on. While fashion still plays its role, Vogue is now focussed on telling humanitarian stories. As Kostetska explains: “We are trying to inspire Ukrainians and find personal stories and remind their readers of our country’s heroic history”. In this podcast Kostetska talks about what she has learnt as a human being and as publisher – and how she has discovered strengths she never knew she had. It is this combination of strength and sensitivity that has helped her lead her team through these challenging and often devastating months. "This war has taught us to be fast, to be flexible, to be fearless and not to stop, even for a minute,” says Kostetska. “Due to this feeling we managed to create many beautiful projects even in the war circumstances.” This really is a tale of true resilience. You do not want to miss this podcast.

In the latest episode of Media Unscripted we talk to Benjamin Cohen, founder and CEO of PinkNews, and so much more. In 2012 Benjamin co-founded and chaired the Out4Marriage, the successful campaign to introduce same-sex marriage in England and Wales. He is also a trustee and non-executive director of Humanity and Inclusion, and a trustee of Wise Thoughts, a London-based LGBTQ+ arts charity. Benjamin started his career in publishing at the tender age of 16, when he launched JewishNet/soJewish, an early social networking product that pre-dates Facebook. He went on to become the youngest correspondent for a UK network news programme, working as an on-screen correspondent for Channel 4 News. In this interview Benjamin talks about why social justice has always been his driving force and how he has made this mission into a successful money-making publishing power house. But he still wants more. More equality, more equity, more of the advertising spend. Benjamin is fearless and full of drive and energy. He’s also incredibly savvy, having created the world's most read and watched LGBTQ+ publisher, with a global audience of more than 100 million unique users every month. But as well as a business for brain, he has a good heart and stays true to PinkNews mission: to inform, inspire change and empower people to be themselves. There is so much to be learned from PinkNews, in terms of: Putting your audience first Adapting your content strategy to suit their needs Being flexible and forward thinking. You do NOT want to miss this! We hope you enjoy this episode, and please don’t forget to like and subscribe

This episode takes a slightly different direction as it's less about the person and more about the product. We are talking all things AI with Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project (AJP). AJP is a venture philanthropy, working to rebuild local news in the US. The non-profit's mission is to Empower communities Preserve democracy Rebuild local news Since launching in 2019 AJP has raised more than $157m and it works with a network of 41 local news organisations. A recent cash injection of $5million has come from OpenAi, the AI research and deployment company behind ChatGPT. This new partnership will look for new ways to support local news through artificial intelligence. In this interview we talk about why this partnership came about, how AJP plans to use the investment and what role Sarabeth sees AI playing in the future of news. As she explains, it’s only by working with AI that we can control its outcome and its impact. Sarabeth is passionate about protecting and promoting local news, so she makes a very convincing argument for embracing this new tech. Or at least experimenting with it and seeing how media can harness the power of AI to enhance journalism, rather than imperil it. We hope you enjoy this episode - and please don't forget to like and subscribe!

We are excited to bring you season two of Media Unscripted. To kick things off in style, we have an interview with Emma Tucker, the newly appointed editor of the Wall Street Journal – and the first female to ever lead this prestigious title. This isn't the first time Tucker has made journalistic history, as she was named the Sunday Times first female editor in January 2020. During her two years there, The Times and Sunday Times digital subscriptions rose from 320,000 to 450,000 at the end of September 2020, seeing pre-tax profits triple. Emma is passionate about constructive journalism, which contextualises news rather than just giving the facts. It’s this innovative storytelling which she says is key to the success of the Sunday Times paywall. In our interview, Emma also talks about the demands and challenges of taking on such a huge title. She says a lot of it is knowing how to delegate, but you also have to be brave about the choices you make in terms of content and sometimes going against the grain. Which Emma certainly isn’t afraid to do. Emma is also open and honest, which makes for a great interview. We really hope you enjoy this podcast and are inspired by her passion for good journalism. It’s exciting to see what she will bring to her new role as editor of the wall street journal. And we hope to get her back on again in the near future to talk about her experiences. Watch this space… If you enjoy the interview. If you do, please don't forget to like and subscribe.

In this episode of Media Unscripted we are talking all things innovation, to tie in with the launch of FIPP’s invaluable Innovation in Media world report, which is available to buy here. To kick things off we hear from Ciara Bryne, Director of New Business, Condé Nast, UK, who talks about the opportunities and obstacles of Web3. Ciara also talks about how this new technology can help convert your audience into a community. Continuing the theme of building communities Ralph Büchi, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Axel Springer talks about how Web3 is creating a new wave of content creators, who are individuals rather than organisations. According to Ralph big publishers need to work out their role in this new landscape, in order to survive. However, despite all this talk of the disruption of new technology, the good old newsletter is having a renaissance. We hear why from Brian Morrisey, former editor in chief of Digiday and founder of the weekly newsletter, The Rebooting, who explains why he believes newsletters are a backlash to the tech-driven publishing world. Brian also talks about the recipe for a successful newsletter. There are some really interesting insights into the future of publishing in this episode, so we hope you listen and learn! If you enjoy what you hear, please don't forget to like and subscribe.

Hello and welcome to another Media Unscripted special, which features key interviews from Congress 2022. In this episode we are talking about digital transformation. We speak to: Industry expert Lucy Kung, who is a strategic advisor, professor and writer, explains why we are still talking about this important topic – and why so many media companies still haven't achieved it. Arvid cheevejel Tchivzhel, managing director of Digital Consulting Practice at Mather economics, who talks about why he thinks creating life time value should be your North Star and how to achieve it. Arvid also talked about news fatigue, the benefits of data driven content and why less is more in terms of content, when it comes to subscription numbers Tom Armstrong, VP Global Advertising at The New York Times, who talks about their subscriber-first strategy, the roll of first party data in streamlining their ads, and what smaller businesses can learn from their model. Will page, author of Tarzan Economics and former chief economist of Spotify and PRS for Music. Will talks frankly about why publishing is getting subscriptions wrong, and what we can learn from the music industry. He also talks about, fixing churn, Substack and why FIPP could be the industry’s saviour. Yep, you heard it here first. We loved speaking to these interesting, industry experts and we hope you enjoy listening. If you do, please don't forget to like and subscribe!

Hello and welcome to the first of three podcasts specials, bringing you highlights from FIPP Congress 2022. It was the first in-person Congress for three years – and I think it’s safe to say it was a huge success with over 400 attendees and 81 fantastic speakers from major corporations and exciting start-ups, from all around the globe. Top of the agenda was diversity and inclusion, which is the focus of this podcast. We kick things off with a chat with Yulia Boyle, FIPP’s first female chair for 100 years, who talks about her plans for FIPP’s future and the changes she wants to make. Yulia also spoke out about making sure FIPP is accountable for its promises in terms of diversity – which includes doubling the number of women on the board by 2024 – and why diversity in media isn’t just a moral imperative, it also makes good economic sense. We then caught up with the inspiring Nkiru Balonwu, who is the founder and creative director of the Africa Soft Power Project in Nigeria. Nkiru spoke about the African stereotypes that frustrate her, how Africa is a continent and NOT a country and why we need to change the stories around the diverse people there. Finally, in this podcast we speak to Tanya Isler, director of global licensing at Netflix, USA, and Erica Lovett, head of diversity and inclusion at Cartier North America. Tanya and Erica told me what diversity means to them, what companies can do to achieve diversity, as well as battling their own biases. We loved speaking to these powerful, passionate and proactive women who are fighting for change. We hope you enjoy listening. If you do, please don't forget to like and subscribe! Happy listening.

Welcome to episode 6 of Media Unscripted. That’s right, 6 episodes in the bag. To celebrate this momentous moment we are joined by Frederic Kachar, managing director of print media and radio at Grupo Globo in Brazil, which is the biggest mass media group in Latin America. Freddie has worked there for 25 years, and he knows the industry inside out, having started as a financial analyst for Infoglobo and now charged with the responsibility of transforming the digital business. In this interview we talk about the decline of the print industry in Brazil and the challenges of changing the culture at Grupo Globo in terms of getting them to embrace digital content. As well as the challenges, Freddie talks about what excites him most in the publishing industry in Brazil and how fiercely proud his is of the content they create and the impact it is having on Brazilian society. We also talk about: We really enjoyed speaking to Freddie and hope you enjoy listening to this podcast. If you did, please don't forget to like and subscribe!

In episode five of Media Unscripted we are joined by Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next. DCN, as they are known in the business, is the US cousin of FIPP, and the trade association represents some of the biggest brands in digital content, guiding them through the murky media waters. Jason is a 25-year veteran of the digital media industry, having led the evolution of CBS Sports into a multi-platform brand. Prior to that he worked in various executive roles launching and leading all of the Times Mirror Magazines’ flagship websites. In this interview Jason talks about what DCN brings to the industry, the changes he has seen, current trends and what the future looks like for online content, which he believes is pretty positive. We also talk about: We really enjoyed speaking to Jason and hope you enjoy listening to this podcast. If you did, please don't forget to like and subscribe!

This week we are excited to be joined by Yulia Boyle, Senior VP of international media, image collection and content operations at National Geographic. Yulia is also FIPP's first every female chair. Nat Geo really needs no introduction. It’s is one of the most widely read magazines of all time with a total readership of around 43 million. In the last seven years it has won seven National Magazine Awards, two Webby Media Company of the Year honours and has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist three times. The publishing power house now has a podcast, a TV channel, live events and more, and is constantly evolving and developing its content to suit its broad audience and meet the demands of a constantly changing industry. Yulia has been instrumental in launching National Geographic magazines and books across 52 countries around the globe. She is also passionate about encouraging diversity within the media, and this partly comes from her somewhat unconventional path into publishing. In this fascinating episode, Yulia not only speaks about her own personal journey, but also of the most important macro-level issues facing the industry today. Yulia talks about: We really enjoyed speaking to Yulia and hope you enjoy listening to this podcast. If you did, please don't forget to like and subscribe!

In this episode we are discussing the BBC’s hugely important and influential 50:50 Equality Project. Launched in 2017, by Outside Source presenter Ros Atkins, the project aims to achieve 50:50 gender representation in the media and beyond. Joining us are Lara Joaniddes, the project’s Creative Diversity Lead, and Miranda Holt, who is the External Partners Lead. They are quite rightly proud of all that has been achieved to date, as diversity is now a top priority, rather than an after thought. Lara and Miranda talk about: We really enjoyed speaking to Lara and Miranda and we hope you enjoy listening to this podcast. If you did, please don't forget to like and subscribe!

We are very excited to introduce our second guest to the Media Unscripted podcast, because Katie Vanneck Smith is a true pioneer in publishing. Katie launched the UK’s first ever news paywall at the Times and then made her way to the other side of the pond, to work as President of Dow Jones. During her time there she helped grow The Wall Street Journal subscriber base to 3m readers, which was the largest number in its history. Katie clearly loves a challenge because she left this high powered, high paid, high reward job in new York, for a start up in the UK. And in 2019 she launched Tortoise Media, with James Harding and Matthew Barzun. Tortoise is on a mission to slow news down. It’s not about breaking news, it’s about what’s driving the news. And as with all things involving Katie, it is about sustaining the future of journalism. To all her ventures Katie brings an incredible energy, creativity, positivity and tenacity, which is why she was names pioneer of the year at the 2016 British Media awards. Katie is also great fun, which is something often lacking in the commercial side of media, and refreshingly open and honest, so she gives a great interview. Katie talks about: We really enjoyed speaking to her and we hope you enjoy listening to this podcast. If you did, please don't forget to like and subscribe!

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Media Unscripted. Who better to kick things off than Aarthi Ramamurthy, Head of International at Clubhouse – the app that is part talkback radio, part conference call and part Houseparty. The audio-only app experienced a huge boom during the days of the Covid lockdown, at one stage receiving a US$4bn valuation. Since then, downloads have fluctuated, however the numbers are still pretty impressive, and the company recently reported 10 million weekly users. Aarthi has been brought onboard to build global communities at Clubhouse. Aged just 37 she has already made quite an impact on the tech industry. Aarthi comes from a small village in India, and was recruited by Microsoft a year before she graduated from college, as one of their youngest product managers. She went on to build products such as Xbox LIVE and Netflix’s video streaming software. Before her new appointment at Clubhouse she was director of product at Facebook where she led communities products, creator monetisation, and digital payments products. In this interview Aarthi talks about: · What inspired her to get into tech – and offers advice for women wanting to follow in her footsteps. · How Clubhouse is challenging gender and racial gaps in technology · What makes Clubhouse different to other social media platforms and why audio is so inclusive. · How she went from engineer to creator, as host of the The Good Time Show, arguably the most influential show on Clubhouse, which has featured the likes of Elon Musk and Kanye West · Those rumours about Clubhouse’s falling numbers · How Clubhouse plans to monetise its audience We hope you enjoy this conversation with Aarthi, and if you do, please don't forget to like and subscribe.