This week we hear from Substack UK's Head of Writer Partnerships Farrah Storr. Over the past decade she's worked in leading editorial roles at some of the biggest lifestyle magazines in the UK before leaving ELLE to join the newsletter platform. She tells us about why more mainstream media brands should be investing in Substack, why she doesn't believe you need a huge profile to start out on the platform, and what problems with the wider internet ecosystem Substack is trying to solve.
In the news round-up, the team dissect some unfortunately-timed stories about Reach plc, and why the national and regional publisher's woes are only likely to increase as the ad-stuffing strategy plays out. In the news in brief section, we explore increasingly troublesome links between the Conservative government and senior BBC executives, BuzzFeed's edict to staff to increase story output, and Meta's subtle de-emphasis of its metaverse project.
Thus endeth the season. We'll be back in May for the next one!
Special: Which publishers won the pandemic?
Mental Floss EIC Erin McCarthy on the title's 20-year mission to make readers smarter
Twitch's Creative Strategy Lead Jack Woodcock on building communities through livestreams
The Fat Zine co-founder Gina Tonic on being an activist vs. being a publisher
WSJ Editor of Live Journalism Kim Last on virtual events as a live magazine
Shado co-founder Hannah Robathan on the magazine as an outlet for activism
The Big Issue CEO Paul Cheal on the magazine’s fight to survive lockdown
Wareable.com's James Stables on surviving a catastrophic loss of search traffic
The Delicate Rébellion's Hannah Taylor on supporting her community's creative passions
The Bureau Local director Megan Lucero on the collaborative future of news
Director of the Reuters Institute Rasmus Kleis Nielsen on why we get news subscriptions wrong
Quartz CEO Zach Seward on charting a new course for the business lifestyle brand
Mr. Magazine Samir Husni on why magazines are new media
Yahoo Lifestyle Southeast Asia Editor in Chief Reta Lee on identifying emerging content trends
Media Voices Conversations: Pugpig's Jonny Kaldor on the state of the digital publishing market
Think Publishing CEO Ian McAuliffe on perfect staff and clients
Axios' Media Reporter Sara Fischer on crafting informative newsletters and media coverage
The Economist's Deputy Editor Tom Standage on why newspapers should predict the future
Special: Highlights from Media Moments 2020
Prima Editor Jo Checkley on meeting increased demand for print magazines
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