Tuesday 25th June: Setting the tone in podcasts and newsletters

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

Our regular columnist Charlotte Henry — who many of you may have met at our Publisher Podcast Summit the other week — has been out and about at a ton of industry events lately. Don’t worry if you missed any, though. She’s somehow managed to condense some of the most prominent trends around publishers using podcasts and newsletters into this latest article on our site. It’s a great roundup! Give it a read:

“It is obvious how fundamental newsletters are to publishers of all sizes. Almost all cited the importance of the direct connection between creator and consumer that a mailing list can build. It doesn’t matter if you’re the New York Times or a solopreneur, talking to people directly matters.

“Many of the rules of a successful newsletter resemble those for a successful podcast. They require consistency, a strong voice and a purpose. Why should people give up their time for you? Creators know that they have that battle from the start. Traditional outlets need to remember that people are not going to click open or play just because you’re The Telegraph, The Times or The Guardian. Everyone starts with zero subscribers.”

I am so, so sorry for inflicting Jimmy Fallon on you this early in the morning. Even if you haven’t been aware of its ownership structure I’m willing to bet you’ve heard of Hot Ones. That BuzzFeed Inc is actively struggling to sell its publisher First We Feast is a real warning sign that a successful single brand, no matter how popular and attention-grabbing, is still subject to scepticism around its long-term future.

Now that’s a spicy headline! I read a really fascinating post on reddit about how Generative AI is actively getting worse, in that it’s all becoming too similar and homogenised, more easily recognised as being generated by an artificial intelligence even less creative and original than the works of J K Rowling, if such a thing is possible. Well, now Wired has highlighted what that total lack of originality might mean for publishers and artists.

Barring some major development this will be the last time I include a story about Will Lewis’ no good very bad terrible start as WaPo publisher. Journalist Stephanie McCrummen sets out why newspapers simply cannot have any suggestion of impropriety about their conduct if they want to survive. You can’t bury bad behaviour forever, and the public won’t brook being deceived by an outlet that knowingly engages in bad practices.

More from Media Voices