Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. We all want to work on projects we're passionate about, but sometimes compromises need to be made. This is particularly true in the current media environment. Is there a way to turn that passion into profits and, therefore, a sustainable media business? Peter Houston from Media Voices and Magazine Diaries/Grub Street Journal comes back on the podcast to discuss it all. Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the need for the WSL to get more competitive if it is going to maintain media interest. This weekend was very illustrative. The managers like to emphasise how difficult the league is. Tottenham's Robert Vilahamn called the WSL "crazy competitive" in a press conference on Friday. Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor has said similar. However, only Vilahamn's team ended up in a...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. What's this? A newsletter on a Thursday? Yes! I thought that you might appreciate your second dose of independent media reporting and analysis earlier in the week, so I'm now going to publish on a Thursday instead of a Friday. Not that long ago, I revealed the strain hacks at Reach are under as their bosses impose ever more demanding targets on them. It’s all in the name of traffic. Of course. Since then,...
17 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. In the The Times, Martyn Ziegler reported that the rules that prevent football being shown live in the UK between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on a Saturday might finally dropped. Thanks goodness for that - it has been a bug bear of mine for a while. We're probably going to have to wait until 2028 to get there though. As Ziegler noted, the basis of the rules was to encourage people to both go to games and play the...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. This week, Dylan Jones announced he was stepping down as editor of the London Standard, 18 months into his tenure and just two months after he turned it from a daily newspaper into a weekly one. He will become editor-at-large on 19th December, with a successor set to be announced. This is all no surprise. One Standard insider, who described Jones as “a lovely guy”, previously told me that “senior people are...
22 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. I don’t like making the newsletter about me, but today I must. I have resigned from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). It has become a hostile environment for Jews, and I can no longer be a part of that. (Sadly, this is not the first time I've had to leave an organisation over such issues.) I remember the first time I joined the NUJ and received my Press Card. I felt so proud. Coming from the world of...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. Advert Newsrewired is a conference for innovators in digital publishing run by journalism.co.uk. Since its launch in 2010, it has become a crucial event on the media industry calendar. The next conference takes place on 27 November. The schedule is packed with fantastic speakers and sessions. I'm very much looking forward to attending and hope to see you there. More details here. As I’ve written before,...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. Ben Mullin of The New York Times joins the show once again to discuss coverage of the US presidential election and Donald Trump, and what it means for the media going forward. He feels the media did a good job of holding all the candidates to account. I'm not so sure. We also discuss the growing power of podcasts when people are preparing to go to the polls. Coverage of Trump and the 2024–The Addition –...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. Last week, I reflected on the news that Gary Lineker is leaving Match of the Day at the end of the season and will leave the BBC after the 2026 World Cup. Many people noted, quite reasonably, that this means he can focus solely on his very successful Goalhanger Podcasts company. One somewhat overlooked element is that Lineker’s The Rest is Football show is going to be hosted by the BBC. It will be...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read