Tuesday 11th January: Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions for 2022

January 11, 2022

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

Opening the Reuter's Institue's annual predictions report, lead author Nic Newman says that 2022 could be a year of consolidation, a time for journalists and their audiences to come to terms with the disruption of the last couple of years. "This could be the year when journalism takes a breath, focuses on the basics, and comes back stronger," Nic writes.

That doesn't mean everyone can relax; media's business challenges aren't magically going away. Charging for online news will remain a key objective, especially in the face of generational change and rising legacy operating costs. But a key challenge this year will be to re-engage people who have turned away from the news and to build deeper relationships with regular news consumers.

Publishers must also try to take advantage of a revitalised digital advertising market, while navigating privacy concerns, the promise/threat of reguation and emerging tech that includes unknowns like AI, cryptocurrencies and the metaverse.

The average podcast in the US top 10 is more than seven years old, with new shows struggling to find an audience. The reason is the number of new podcasts is growing more quickly than the podcast audience, so the number of listeners per show is going down - classic digital media fragmentation. It's not a problem if you're a niche player, but for the likes of Spotify spending millions on new content, the arithmetic is decidely problematic.

I wrote about the advertising market for our Media Moments 2021 report and with spending roaring back after the pandemic's peak, advertising’s reputation has been somewhat rehabilitated as part of the revenue mix. The platforms continue to dominate, casting their shadow over growth, but there's enough new money to encourage even subscription-only publishers to reconsider their ‘all ads are bad’ mantra.

It looks like LinkedIn is planning to get busy in 2022. Hot on the heels of the announcement of an enhanced online events and audio play, LinkedIn has said it's expanding its editorial efforts. It is planning to grow its 95-person newsroom to 'cultivate active conversations about news' on the platform. Fingers crossed news chat will push the insane success-routine posts off the timeline.

This week's podcast:

We're releasing the first episode of 2022 on Jan 17th; a special looking at local news start-ups in the US and what they need to become sustainable. In the meantime, here's a throwback from last year:

The Athleticc news reminded me of my interview with Sean Conboy, Executive Editor at The Players’ Tribune; a sports-focused site that publishes first-person stories. We spoke about the editorial process they use to get content from elite athletes, and why the site doesn’t shy away from difficult stories and human rights issues.

Become a supporter of the Media Voices team today! ❤️ Just head over to our KO-FI page and make a one-off contribution or sign up to support us every month. Every contribution help us to keep doing what we do and plan for more in the future.