Chris Stone, who I know from the New Statesman, has elevated their podcast operations. He is incredibly generous in sharing his expertise, and he recently highlighted a way for podcast publishers to drive consumption of their podcasts on YouTube, which was just shown to be the primary way audiences consume podcasts.

This weird YouTube podcast growth hack should be illegal

If you’ve been to any of the big podcast events in the past year or so – or indeed if you’re just generally online and thinking about podcasts – you’ve doubtless heard the hype around video podcasts. “Video podcasts are the future!” “You NEED to have a podcast video strategy!” “What do you mean you

Chris Stone

YouTube tops both Spotify and Apple when it comes to podcast distribution now.

YouTube Is Bigger Than Spotify and Apple for Podcasts, Research Finds

YouTube is the go-to destination for podcasts over Spotify and Apple Podcasts, according to new research from Edison Podcast Metrics

TheWrapSean Burch

With this huge reach, podcasts have emerged as an influential platform. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris went on podcasts this year to reach audiences who had tuned out from traditional sources of news and information. Adweek tracks the rise of podcasts.

How Podcasts Emerged as Vehicles of Mass Reach and Influence

Podcasts offered this year’s presidential candidates something no other mass media channel could.

AdweekTeresa Elliott

As if on cue, the Pew Research Center in the US released a report on news influencers. More than one in five Americans get their news and information from these influencers, who are mostly men. Only TikTok has an even gender balance. And slightly more 27% to 21% were Republicans and supporters of Donald Trump. Another interesting data point: Most news influencers are on X. As news organisations decide to de-prioritise X, it is becoming an alternate news source, or at least a home for alternate news sources.

America’s News Influencers

This study explores the makeup of the social media news influencer universe, including who they are, what content they create and who their audiences are.

Pew Research Centerjcoleman

This is going to be more and more common. LLMs are actually pretty good at summarising existing text, and as long as humans are in the loop, the process works pretty well too.

The Wall Street Journal is testing AI article summaries

Gannett is running AI-powered article summaries, too.

The Vergeuse AI tools

Have you left Twitter or X? I haven’t yet, but I don’t use it much. I am contemplating whether to leave. Most of my feelings about it are nostaligic, and X isn’t Twitter. X is an influence vehicle for its owner.

Media organisations and journalists don’t need to make some grand political display in leaving. Frankly, there is a strong business case posting there is a waste of resources. Social media has moved on, and news organisations’ time is best spent elsewhere. I said this in The Audiencers WhatsApp community.

Twitter (before Musk) was more popular with journalists than it was useful as an editorial tool because it was a water cooler/conversational space for journalists and also because journalists could use it to build a profile outside of their publication and network for their next job. Yes, it could be useful to find out what some politicians thought and for sports, but outside of those niches, it didn’t deliver that much for media companies – particularly local publications.

Journalists – is Twitter actually your community?

It is long past time for journalism to abandon Twitter. We ourselves have torn down the wall between editorial and business interests if as journalists, our calculation here is not values-based. To wit: “But I have a large following and neither BlueSky or Threads does.” That is the rationalization of

Working SystemsDamon Kiesow

Vertical video is something I’m about to dive into for one of my next research projects. The BBC started using vertical video in its app in 2017 and saw dramatic results in terms of the number of videos viewed and the number of users viewing video. The data is there to support that vertical video is a no brainer for engaging mobile audiences.

Nine Metros uses vertical video, habit building to capture Olympics audience

The Nine Metros social team approached the Olympics with a dual focus: increase brand awareness and traffic while also cultivating a strong sense of fandom around the event.

INMASophia Phan

A good roundup from INMA about the thinking amongst US newsroom leaders after the election. Misinformation is overwhelming, and a lot of newsrooms are struggling with a lack of resources. This common stood out for me from one editor who wants to focus on “common interests and concerns across the county, across political divisions, and then hopefully start[ing] some conversations around those common areas of concern and interest.” Journalism as a service is a powerful way to re-establish its role in people’s lives.

Fact-checking, AI remain top of mind in post-U.S. election coverage

The U.S. election may be over, but media companies will be addressing many challenges related to it for the foreseeable future.

INMAKatalina Deaven

Exhibit B on the usefulness of short-form, mostly vertical video. Francesca Barber, Politico’s executive director of global newsroom strategy. hit on themes that resonate with what Styli was talking about, namely listening and building a direct relationship with audiences.

Trust is important here: it means listening, not just opining. It means having a direct relationship to audiences in the formats they are consuming (e.g. video, audio, shareable direct messages). And it means being clear who your audience is and building expectations and habit throughout the year, so that during an election cycle, they come to you.

Polls, trust and video shorts: Lessons for news publishers from US election

After the US election, we asked: “What is the biggest thing you think the media needs to learn about connecting with audiences?”

Press GazetteCharlotte Tobitt