Which party gets media vote? | How to make readers pay for podcasts
And the latest national press ABC figures
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Firday 14 June.
The Press Gazette Future of Media Awards celebrate the best websites, podcasts, newsletters and commercial innovation in news media.
Today is the final chance to get your entry in.
Click here for a full list of categories, criteria and link to to the submission form. This year specialist and local media have their specific categories and we have a new award for commercial innovation.
All the manifestos are in - so which party gets Press Gazette's vote, I hear you ask?
Labour and the Conservatives do not have much to say about the media (although, to be fair, the Tories got a lot done in the last Parliament).
The Liberal Democrats call for an increase to 6% on the levy charged to tech giants like Google and Facebook (which sounds sensible to me, especially if some of that cash could support local journalism). They also promise reform of copyright, crucial if journalism is to have a future in the age of AI, and pledge concrete action to tackle misinformation.
So Ed Davey probably gets my future of media vote because his party seems to be the most bothered about this issue (and I have a soft spot for his headline-grabbing embarrassing dad antics). Although, the Lib Dem support for Leveson 2 and Royal Charter-backed press regulation feels like a needless distraction.
That said, in news terms the Conservatives have been the gift which has kept on giving for news media, providing near-constant drama since David Cameron's resignation in 2016.
And looking at the bigger picture, I suspect many in commercial media will be keen to see a return to economic growth above all else after more than three years of relative stagnation for the UK economy and Keir Starmer yesterday set that out as Labour's key priority.
It’s disappointing that all three of the major parties have so little to say about taming big tech. Via the Digital Markets Act the tools are now in place to provide proper regulation of Google and Facebook for the first time and transform the prospects for quality journalism in the digital age, but we will need a government with an appetite to use these powers.
Today we also share insights into growing podcast audience revenue from Immediate Media which currently boasts 20,000 paying audio subscribers. It's not easy, says Immediate podcasts supremo Ben Youatt, and will require investment and a gentle touch with listeners who are long used to getting these things for free.
And we have the national press newspaper ABC figures for May which show the Daily Mail still leading the pack with sales down 11% year on year to 688,783. We can assume that The Sun (which no longer publishes its ABC figure) is in the same neighboorhood sales wise and the Mirror (down 15% year on year) is on 226,000.
Future of Media Awards: Enter now (deadline TODAY)
The Press Gazette Future of Media Awards celebrate the best websites, apps, newsletters, podcasts and commercial innovation in the world of digital journalism. They are free to enter and previous winners have included The Guardian, Telegraph, FT and Business Insider. This year there are separate categories for specialist/local and national media. Find out more and start your entry here.
Jobs of the week
Global Water Intelligence is recruiting a projects editor based in London
Adobe is recruiting a social creative director based in San Francisco
Post and find the latest media jobs on Press Gazette
New from Press Gazette
How Immediate Media is growing its paid podcast audience
“The worst thing you can do as a publisher is start to make users feel penalised for just trying to engage with your content.”
Media manifestos 2024: Labour quiet on press regulation and media policy
The party tipped to form the next government avoids discussing the media in its manifesto.
Newspaper ABCs: Evening Standard distribution decline continues amid plan to drop daily paper
Press Gazette's monthly analysis of ABC national newspaper circulation figures.
PA Media forced to recognise NUJ as official union for editorial staff
The CAC said a ballot was unnecessary as most PA editorial staff are already union members.
Amber de Botton joins The Guardian as communications chief
Rishi Sunak’s former director of communications Amber de Botton is joining Guardian Media Group.
News in brief
Sacked S4C boss Sian Doyle has lost a IPSO privacy complaint against Nation.Cymru over its ‘signed off with stress’ story. (Press Gazette)
After more than a year in jail, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been told he will stand trial charged with espionage. (NBC News)
Ex-Daily Mail CEO Paul Zwillenberg was working with GB News investor Sir Paul Marshall on his attempt to buy The Telegraph but has now reportedly stepped away to work for Accenture. (Financial Times)
CNN has signed a deal with the Associated Press to use its content for the first time in 14 years. The aim is to free up staff to produce more original, investigative and long-form reporting instead of "quick writes". (Newscast Studio)
Washington Post CEO William Lewis is reportedly floating the idea of an extra paid-for offering, Local+, for metro coverage of the city. (Axios)
The New York Times is reportedly cutting nine of 16 positions in its art department as part of plans the union claimed amounted to replacing staff with AI tools. (The Wrap)
Three men have been convicted of murder for their roles in the shooting of Dutch investigative journalist Peter de Vries in Amsterdam in 2021. (The Guardian)
LBC has appointed Aggie Chambre to the newly-created role of political correspondent, starting today. She was most recently a host of Politico's Westminster Insider podcast.
Only a quarter of advertisers are ready for the phaseout of third-party cookies on Google Chrome, according to a survey by Yougov and Taboola. (Marketing-Interactive)
BBC News anchor Clive Myrie has been named chancellor of the University of the Arts London.
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Latest podcast
Podcast 72: Camilla Tominey and Kamal Ahmed on cracking a busy news podcast market
The Telegraph’s new daily news podcast, The Daily T, is the latest entrant to an increasingly crowded audio market.
But days after the show bagged the first election trail interview with Rishi Sunak, Press Gazette spoke with Daily T hosts Camilla Tominey and Kamal Ahmed about how they’re hoping to stand out from the competition with a right-of-centre viewpoint they feel is missing and by leaning heavily on the Telegraph newsroom.