Wednesday 23rd March: ‘Fashion Writers Are Now War Correspondents’

March 23, 2022

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There are some horrific stories coming out of the war in Ukraine. But there are also some truly inspirational tales of people leaving behind their regular roles and stepping forward to do what they can to make life safer or more bearable for those caught up in this pointless war.

Chris has been speaking to Marie Claire Ukraine’s editor-in-chief Iryna Taterenko who says her team of journalists – more used to writing about celebrities and fashion trends – have found themselves on the frontline covering the conflict in the country.

Her magazine staff has pivoted from lifestyle content to life-saving advice. Celebrity and fashion news have given way to explainers on how to fire guns and cope emotionally during an armed conflict. "If I can write about this then I want to write about it in the best way possible and be as useful as I can for my readership," said Taterenko.

For more information or to donate to keep Ukrainian media producing journalism, visit the Support Ukrainian Media crowdfunding page.

Several large shareholders have urged BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down the company’s Pulitzer prize winning news operation. With about 100 employees, Buzzfeed News is said to be losing roughly $10 million a year. One shareholder told CNBC that shutting down the newsroom could add up to $300 million in market capitalisation to the struggling stock. Fair enough then, it's not like the world needs reliable news right now.

The trends identified in this piece - the shift away from advertisers and investors and the added value of trust and credibility - are often discussed. But there's any interesting list of what those trends mean for media business models, from quality not quantity to relationships not reach. Worth a read, even if only to remind yourself that there's a change in the wind.

OK, cards on the table, I'm a little scared of the whole AI conversation. Not in a Skynet kind of a way, in a 'what does this mean for our craft' kind of a way. But this piece from Marcela at Journalism.co.uk helps reassure me that AI can be a force for good. With more than 220 podcasts in our back catalogue, anything that makes audio archives more searchable and accessible is a force for good.

This week's episode:

In this week’s episode we hear from Hannah Storm, founder and director of Headlines network, an organisation working to improve the mental health of people working in the media. She tells us about why mental health can be bad among media professionals, and what organisations and individuals can do to make things better.

Building audience engagement with email is high on every publisher’s agenda. But building revenue with email doesn’t get nearly the same attention. In this special Conversations episode, Chris is joined by Passendo's Andreas Jürgensen, Anders Rantzau Rasmussen, and Access Intelligence’s Michael Ring to discuss how publishers are growing their bottom line by optimising and automating in-email ad serving.