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2021’s Publisher Podcast Awards revealed, and a new podcasting conference for 2022 — voices.media

We couldn't meet in-person for the Publisher Podcast Awards this year, but yesterday afternoon we held a virtual event, bringing as much of the magic as we could to the living rooms of podcasters around the world.

From over 200 entries and an exceptionally strong shortlist of 114 podcasts, our judges marked the podcasts on a range of factors, including production quality, how well the podcast reflected the publisher’s brand, and growth strategy.

We’re so pleased to have been able to continue with the awards this year, despite Covid. The response has been far better than we expected, and we’re already looking forward to extending with a Summit and an in-person ceremony again next year. It’s been so heartening to see the quality of publisher podcasting increasing despite geographical and technical challenges throughout 2020.

How newsrooms can do less work – but have more impact — www.americanpressinstitute.org

Most publishers have a fraction of the staff and resources they once had. So to do more meaningful work, they need to figure out not how to do more with less, but how to do less with less. This piece from API helps you take stock of the things you're doing that simply aren't worth the effort.

Instagram audience growth: Reach drives regional reader referrals up 500% in one year — www.pressgazette.co.uk

Instagram might not be worth the effort for some publishers, but for Reach, it seems to be paying off. Over the past year, they've pushed to grow audience and revenue from 50 regional Instagram accounts, and have been rewarded by a 30% increase in website referrals. Core to their success: "The strategy came after 18 months of testing different ideas on individual Reach titles, before bringing all the best practice together".

Apple wants you (and it) to get paid for your premium podcasts — www.niemanlab.org

Apple has announced that it is launching subscriptions within the Apple Podcasts app. People will be able to subscribe to content for extra perks like ad-free and bonus content, as well as early access. Nieman Lab takes a look at what you need to know about the announcement, and the opportunities for publishers with podcasts.

This week's episode:

WSJ Editor of Live Journalism Kim Last on virtual events as a live magazine — voices.media

This week, we hear from The Wall Street Journal’s Editor of Live Journalism and Special Content Kim Last. She talks about the role of live journalism at the publication, how they adapted when the pandemic hit, and what they are doing to bring events and networking to life virtually.