Friday 28th July: Anger from nominees at podcast awards ticket prices

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The Media Voices WhatsApp chat has been buzzing off the hook over this story… and it has to be said, our sympathies are somewhat split. As events organisers ourselves we scratch our collective heads sometimes at the indignation nominees display when they’re asked to pay for awards tickets: organisers rely on interested parties buying tickets. Who else would go?

That said, we try really hard to keep our awards as accessible as possible. We don’t charge for entries, which many media awards do, and we keep our ticket prices as low as possible (below £150), offering discounts to individuals and small publishers to make sure they can attend.

People don't appreciate the amount of work and cost involved in organising awards, and as great as it would be to have sponsors pay for the lot, that's less realistic these days. But sky-high entry and ticket prices seem to be a remnant of an old-school media model that doesn’t consider independents and freelancers. If you’re a smaller outfit, maybe check out The Independent Podcast Awards and The International Women’s Podcast Awards.

Byline Times co-founder Peter Jukes has been talking to Press Gazette about its success in print and answering allegations from Dick Dan Wooton that Byline Times is a ‘hard-left blog’. The alternative news outlet has around 29,000 paying subscribers - 15,000 in print and 14,000 taking the digital PDF version. Jukes describes the paper’s print success as a ‘happy accident’: “People just like the idea of a newspaper.”

Two stories for the price of one here. First off, this is a great deep dive into the ins and outs of choosing a publishing platform that works for you. The bonus is that this is an incredible example of a sponsored newsletter post - aligned perfectly with the audience, delivering content with real value and a personal testimonial for the sponsor. Perfection!

We’re going to have to get used to calling our friends over at What’s New in Publishing by a new name. Following its acquisition by Di5rupt in April, the media analysis website will settle under the Media Makers Meet (MX3) umbrella, placing WNIP features and reports alongside Di5rupt’s research and in-person events.

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