Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Chris.

New York Times reaches 9.1 million subscribers — www.nytimes.com

Two things are very clear from the latest NYT results. The first is that the newspaper dearly needs to get a new standard stock image of its HQ, as it's been using the one above for at least five years. The second is that we were absolutely right that it is attempting to just buy a bigger audience rather than growing organically. That's not a criticism, just an observation that the amount other titles can learn from the cash-rich NYT is limited.

The purchase of The Athletic helped the company get closer to its new subscriber goal, but the sports site lost $6.8 million over two months, eating into overall profits. It now has 9.1 million subscribers, but we need to have a conversation about the ARPU of the audience members brought over from The Athletic sooner rather than later.

The strategy is also on display with the paper's purchase of Wordle. Meredith Kopit Levien said Wordle had attracted tens of millions of new users to the Times Company, “many of whom stayed to play other games, which drove our best quarter ever for net subscriber additions to Games.”

Progress being made in diversity of journalists, reveals new NCTJ report — www.nctj.com

Despite the headline, there's some backsliding happening here. As Robyn Vinter said: "There is something very worrying happening in journalism. Last year, 80% of journalists came from the top social classes (compared with 75% in 2020). That's an absolutely atrocious figure that we should be completely ashamed of. We simply do not represent the people we serve".

Facebook ads have a problem. It's called digital redlining — mashable.com

You'll be astonished to learn that Facebook's ad practices aren't always above board. This Mashable article provides a good look at the potential discrimination that comes with digital ad targeting - though it's notable that many issues are endemic to online ads, not just Facebook.

IPSO refuses to investigate Mail misogyny — www.ipso.co.uk

Genuinely, what is the point of IPSO? Its deliberate choice to choose inaction at all times demonstrates how toothless press regulation in the UK is. No getting into debates about freedom of the press here (unless you fancy replying to this email!), just to point out that if you fancy an easy ride and three-hour lunches - go to work for IPSO.

Podcast Awards

Publisher Podcast Insiders - Marketing & Audience Development — docs.google.com

Media Voices are starting the first in a series of Publisher Podcast Insiders sessions focused on the challenges and opportunities you see as podcasters. The first session will be a mini masterclass on marketing and audience development for your podcast. The Podglomerate's Joni Deutsch will lead a 20 minute presentation, followed by a 40 minute Q&A. Please note spaces for this session are capped.

Become a supporter of Media Voices — ko-fi.com

We may be on Easter break from the podcast, but you may have noticed it's not much of a break! We've needed a LOT of coffee this week. If you're able to contribute anything either as a one-off or a subscription to keep us going, we really appreciate it.

The podcast will be back next Monday featuring an interview with Snigdha Sur, Founder & CEO of The Juggernaut.