London news renaissance | Bauer driving digital growth with knowledge sharing
Plus: Chief revenue officer of US publisher Gallery Media Group on social-first publishing and its value to brands
It’s not over yet: digital transformation continues apace at many publishers, especially with major developments ongoing in areas like AI, Google Discover and Apple News.
But Bauer worked out that you don’t need to pay a load of expensive external consultants to come in and tell staff what to do. The knowledge is probably already in the business hidden away at different titles or departments.
I love this interview by Richard Headland with Bauer’s digital content director Tim Pollard about the publisher’s Next Level Knowledge training. Not only does it reveal what is possible without a penny of investment, he also shares some great titles for training sessions within your own business too.
Meanwhile, I spoke to the chief revenue officer of a very different business: Gallery Media Group in the US.
Chris Anthony told me about what they’re doing with their social-first brands that make them different, and better to work with for brands, compared to legacy publishers that still may not have fully evolved their thinking.
And finally, is news in London having a renaissance? Last year’s closure of the daily Evening Standard was a major loss for the city’s news scene, but some great journalism has sprung up to make up some of the deficit.
Dominic Ponsford spoke to Jim Waterson who founded London Centric and Dave Hill who’s been running On London for eight years. I’ve seen both of them praised for their efforts on r/london (that’s on Reddit for any uninitiated among you) which is really reassuring to see.
In addition Mill Media has recently launched paid subscriptions on The Londoner and The Times has upped its coverage of the city itself with Andy Silvester as London editor.
Although a lot of this journalism is paywalled and therefore not accessible as a service to everyone, it is undoubtedly adding to the sum of human knowledge about the city and encourages the excavation of information more widely.
If you want to hear the full interview with Jim, check out our podcast as well.
On Press Gazette
The publishers leading a renaissance for London news
Jim Waterson's London Centric on Substack already has thousands of paying subscribers.
Gallery Media Group has built $50m a year social-first publishing business
Chief revenue officer Chris Anthony explains how the PureWow publisher has worked with clients on social and experiential.
How Bauer UK unlocked digital growth through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing
No financial investment was needed to make the most of Bauer's Next Level Knowledge training.
Also this week on Press Gazette
Magazine ABCs 2024: Half of print titles see distribution drop 10% or more
ABCs: 55% of digital magazine circulation comes from Spotify-style services
News and current affairs magazine ABCs 2024: Prospect digital growth offsets print decline
Women’s interest magazine ABCs: Four out of 60 titles see print growth in 2024
New London newspaper launches with promise to revitalise Fleet Street
Latest podcast: Local News Renaissance with Jim Waterson
With three major London-wide local journalism launches in the last few months, is journalism about England's capital city bouncing back after many years of decline?
London Centric founder Jim Waterson explains how his Substack-based title has already gained thousands of paying subscribers since launching in September 2024.
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Big up Jim! A good listen, today's pod. Loads of good original reporting in London, just mostly buried in bad websites.