Recently the Guardian included content creation as part of its training for a new cohort of journalists. Now Axel Springer, owner of The Telegraph and Business Insider, has launched Axel Springer Creators, a new initiative that lets journalists develop and grow their own branded formats within the publisher's media network. So, have influencers with their fluffy mics and podcasts influenced publishers?
Axel Springer said it "wants to enable successful journalists and new talent to build their own journalistic offerings and share in their financial success. Axel Springer will support them with production, technology, marketing, and the reach of its media brands. Creators will have greater editorial and entrepreneurial freedom and will share in the financial success of their formats."
Paul Ronzheimer, who runs a successful podcast, will be the first creator. As part of the new focus, he will spend more time on additional audio and video formats.
“With Axel Springer Creators, we want to open up this path to other journalists as well," said Claudius Senst, Axel Springer’s executive board member for publishing. "We give them the freedom to pursue their own ideas, support them with the resources of our company, and give them a share in the financial success.”
I do wonder what the financial split will be. But is this a way to keep the journalists who have successfully created their own 'brand' and to help stop them from taking a leap to start their own newsletter/podcast etc?
Publishers are moving into a space that has seen influencers with their social media videos and podcasts become a key part of people's online consumption while media companies are quickly following suit. Take Gary Lineker’s UK podcast studio Goalhanger, which focuses on creator-led media. It's just hired former Guardian columnist Marina Hyde, with her venture, Always On with Marina Hyde, set to be the first creator-led media project developed through Goalhanger X. It will will run across editorial, social, long-form and short-form video, before moving into further formats. Meanwhile, I recently included in a past newsletter that the Guardian is training new staff to be content creators.
Maybe I need to invest in a microphone.