Thursday 17th June: Find your zig while everyone else is zagging

June 17, 2021

Good morning! Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Esther.

Given that the pandemic has taken a wrecking ball to the entire travel industry, it's no surprise that American Airlines has joined a long list of companies ceasing publication of their in-flight magazines. Killing off the print publication seems like a sensible move. Everyone else is doing it, and it's easy, right?

But Joe Pulizzi argues in this piece that now is the time to "zig when everyone else is zagging." He points out that most content entrepreneurs who find long-term success are ones who go against the flow, attracting attention precisely because they aren't doing it like everyone else.

"What if one of these airlines thought like The New York Times and Buzzfeed and looked to create the most amazing print experience on the planet?", he asks. "They could offer advertisers something that wasn’t being offered anywhere else... Find your zig, double down, and create something truly remarkable."

"Only" 963 newsroom jobs have been lost so far this year - down 91% from the 10,576 cuts during the same period last year. Axios have cheerfully framed this as 'Media on the mend'. Honestly, although it's great that things aren't nearly as catastrophic as last year, we're still a way off any sort of growth. A cynic might even question how many more jobs there are to lose. But anyway...it's nearly the end of the week, so let's take the positive view.

I'm 29, and this piece made me feel ancient. However, if you're involved in any sort of consumer commerce, it's worth reading. A gen Z-er gives an overview of how their generation is shopping online today, and how #tiktokmademebuyit is growing in influence.

Podcasters will be able to link their RSS feed to their page directly, allowing people to listen to episodes as they’ve published on Facebook. They're also planning to roll out a dedicated tab for podcasts, with the aim to be 'the place where people can enjoy, discuss, and share the podcasts they love with each other'. All great for creators, until they decide to turn down the dial in favour of your uncle's cat pictures again.

This week's episode:

This week, we hear from Mohamed Nanabhay, Deputy CEO of the Media Development Investment Fund. He talks about his work in the early days of online publishing bringing ‘new media’ to Al Jazeera, how the MDIF decides which businesses to invest in, and why he thinks the pandemic has provided an opportunity for independent media to thrive.

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