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4 things Axios did right — simonowens.substack.com

Why didn’t Axios suffer the same fate as many other digital media startups? That's what Simon Owens is asking in this in-depth look at the rise and rise (and sale) of the newsletter-based digital news outlet. There's a lot to digest in this one, not least the fact that what started as a niche-based publisher has grown to the point that it is on parity in terms of valuation with the deliberately mass-market BuzzFeed.

Owens' most interesting point is related to Axios' subscription and pricing strategies. He notes that it built out free products in high-value verticals first - which never went behind a paywall but instead remained accessible as a lure for its other sections:

"Rather than taking its free content and placing it behind a paywall, it created a differentiated service for the subscriber-only content. As a news consumer, nothing’s worse than being denied access to content that you previously read for free, so this was a great strategy for introducing a paid product without alienating the core audience."

News Corp results: News business sees growth but company quiet on radio performance — pressgazette.co.uk

News Corp has recorded its revenue grew by 11% to reach £8.6 billion for the year to June 30th. Always worth taking a look at the financials for one of the most influential news companies in the UK - which is still struggling with costs related to phone hacking and the launch of TalkTV.

NYT plans advertising expansion into non-news products — www.axios.com

The New York Times is planning to aggressively expand its advertising business across its bundled products. This makes sense - a lot of its subscribers come into its ecosystem via its Crosswords, Cooking etc products, so small wonder the NYT would look hungrily at the advertising potential.

Liz Truss rebuked for ‘cheap’ jibes at hustings after criticising media — www.theguardian.com

This drives me absolutely spare for any number of reasons, but rather than go into any I'll say this: the populist attacks on the press aren't going away any time soon. If we want to counter the lack of trust in newspapers we need to push back - hard.

Podcast throwback:

Mash Media Portfolio Director Duncan Siegle on the synergy between magazines and events — voices.media

While Duncan's great, I'm recommending this episode more because it contains our early takes on the UK government's plans to regulate online content. It will shock - shock - you that those plans were ill thought out and woolly. Oh how times have changed...

First look! Agenda & Speakers - The Publisher Podcast Summit — publisherpodcastsummit.com

Our Publisher Podcast Summit is coming up rapidly! And we're absolutely delighted to be able to share this early look at the speakers and agenda. Come along, we'd love to see you there.