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What happens when “journalist brands” involve actual brands? — www.gawker.com

One of the pieces I featured in last Thursday's newsletter was about the benefits of staff building their own 'personal brands'. It allows those who otherwise wouldn't get noticed to get a foot in the door, and can also work really well for publishers with bringing in new audiences.

But as some writers become influencers themselves, things can get tricky. A recent incident involving The Cut and one of their star writers Andrew Nguyen has demonstrated this perfectly, as a particularly lucrative paid partnership with a brand Nguyen covered in the past has led to him being fired.

Regardless of your own feelings on the matter, having a company policy on personal brands is becoming increasingly vital. This piece highlights some of the complexities of not having transparent policies in place early on, and the tangled mess that can ensue.

How to choose the right platform for your live audio conversations (Twitter, Clubhouse, Facebook, Discord) — thefix.media

With Twitter Spaces, Clubhouse, Facebook’s Live Audio Room, Discord and Spotify Greenroom now just a few of the options for audio, which platform should you use for your live audio conversations? David Tvrdon sets out the options and which one he recommends (for now).

Winning magazine subscription marketing strategies from Bauer, Immediate and Readly — pressgazette.co.uk

Bauer, Immediate and magazine app Readly share what's behind their winning magazine subscription marketing strategies. Immediate's segment especially is worth reading for any publishers contemplating the move to subscriptions.

Publishers: Read the comments to find misinformation you need to debunk — digitalcontentnext.org

Comment sections have a terrible reputation. Even if you get good at blocking the spam, abuse is still a very real problem. But this piece from Olivia Collette intelligently sets out a different way of approaching comments. She argues they are the perfect place to identify issues that need to be fleshed out and contextualised, because that's where your audience will go first.

This week's episode:

The Hustle Senior Editor Zachary Crockett on creating a Sunday reading experience via email — voices.media

This week we hear from The Hustle’s Principle Reporter and Sunday Editor Zachary Crockett. He talks about his career path working across radio, newsletters, journalism and data, how he makes must-read long-form Sunday issues for The Hustle’s business audience, and launching a daily podcast.

Lessons from award-winning podcasts: Immediate Media's Ben Youatt — voices.media

Immediate Media have featured numerous times on the shortlists and as winners of categories both for 2020 and 2021’s Publisher Podcast Awards. We spoke to Immediate Media’s Head of Podcasts Ben Youatt about scaling up the podcast team, facilitating audio operations, and getting to be the ‘engine’ that enables editorial teams to implement their ideas.