The Economist has an unrivalled global reputation and a 1.4mn circulation (30% in print). What it doesn’t necessarily have, though, is a personal relationship between its journalists and audiences – the very foundation of success in podcasts and newsletters. That is set to change as the 182-year-old brand adapts its traditional ways to the needs of these new, personalised media.
Podcasts and newsletters are, by design, personal. They exist in inboxes and apps, in the private spaces to which only the individual has access. They are closer to personally-penned missives than to indiscriminate mass broadcasts: to succeed in that rarefied space, they must be treated and presented as such.
For The Economist, whose magazine articles are presented without by-line as though the analysis originated directly from the stentorian parent newsbrand, that presented a dilemma. Do they continue to present podcasts and newsletters without a singular author, or does the need to be personal supersede that consideration for a new audience in a new time?
The Economist’s flexible, pragmatic response should inspire every other company which might otherwise expect to transfer the same content and treatment ‘as is’ from one media channel to another.
Andrew Palmer**, The Economist’s Britain Editor and author of its business-and-management focused Bartleby column, believes that the need to engage audiences in the way they wish to be engaged answers the question. He explains: “Our column names are totally baffling to anyone who doesn’t read the magazine already or is not familiar with us. So, if you’re in the know, lovely, but if you’re not, it’s like, ‘What the hell is Bartleby?’”
When The Economist team was looking to broaden its suite of podcasts, the team took the decision to rebadge the Bartleby column as ‘Boss Class’ – now about to enter its second season. As with the column, it covers leadership and management that distills the advice and experience from CEOs and profiles of companies that are doing it right.
While the decision to rebadge was partially motivated by a slight shift in how the topic is being covered in text versus audio, it was also as a recognition of the power of personality for building an audience. That has required a period of adjustment, not just for the brand as a whole but also for its journalists.
It is, ultimately, a lighter and more personality-led take on the Bartleby column, a shift that the team believes justifies a new sub-brand rather than coasting on the equity of the Bartleby column name. He explains: “[We ask] what are the three points that we’re trying to make that are helpful? What’s the nugget that a subscriber of The Economist wants? That’s a honed-over-years instinct… and then taking that personality and amping it up a little bit.”
It is the fifth limited series for Economist Podcasts+ ( The Economist’s podcast subscription ) which also includes shows like Scam Inc, a limited series on the world of online fraud, and Babbage, a weekly podcast on science and technology. With a suite of content that is extremely diverse in genre and coverage, the thing that remains consistent is the focus on being more personable in audio than in text.
To build on the work of the Boss Class podcast as it entered its second season this week, The Economist is also launching a companion newsletter – albeit under the original column’s name. Just as other organisations including the Financial Times have discovered, the intimate appeal of podcasts translates to newsletters too, so Palmer and the team are experimenting with having named bylines and more personal content for the companion newsletter.
Palmer says: “It’s subscriber only so, although it fulfils the function of ‘here’s the latest column, don’t forget to listen to the latest podcast episode’… that sense of engagement [with] the author is really important to the newsletter.”
He notes, too, that the newsletters are the only place The Economist’s journalism is by-lined, making it all the more important that the team nails that feeling of a personal relationship in inboxes. To that end, the Bartleby newsletter allows its audience the chance to email Palmer directly, offering ‘direct access’ in a way that is also relatively new to The Economist’s output.
He says the ultimate aim of opening that relationship, and adding the new touchpoints for audiences, is to develop a new type of community for the title: “There is no other way to form a community. And that is the intent. So, if you find your place and your person, it’s really powerful.”
The Economist also faces another issue in growing audiences around its podcasts: discovery. That is a perennial problem for many titles but, even with the exceptional power of the brand behind it, The Economist’s efforts to attract listeners must overcome an obstacle most other news outlets do not face.
Back in 2023, The Economist’s podcasts went behind a paywall.
That has implications for how the team promotes those podcasts. Ahead of the Boss Class second season, for example, the entire first season is coming out from behind the paywall for a limited time. Additionally, the first two episodes of the second season – and the first company profile developed as a part of it – will be available to all listeners, not just paying subscribers.
Palmer says that it is designed, in part, to give would-be subscribers a taste of what is different about The Economist’s audio journalism. He also points out, however, that it is based on the team’s recognition of different consumption habits among its audience: “Firstly and most obviously, we’re meeting people where they’re consuming content, right? And, if we’re not doing podcasts, we’re just not getting to them. “And we see that also in the way that people consume the weekly magazine, right? A whole bunch of people listen to the audio version of it – and don’t read it.”
The Economist has, therefore, grappled with the universal issues relating to building a successful podcast and newsletter business. Compared with many of its peers, however, it has had to do so from almost the opposite direction: it has unparalleled brand equity and a sterling reputation for in-depth analysis, but a by-design obfuscation of personality in its coverage.
With Economist Podcasts+ shows like Boss Class and its attendant newsletters, it is having to prove it can deliver upon developing that personality in order to reach new audiences.
- 217mn Economist podcast plays in 2024: “We are keen to find new ways to serve our audience and widen it. These efforts are bearing fruit. Not long ago, podcasts were peripheral to our main offering. They are now an award-winning collection and, as of October, the basis for Economist Podcasts+, the first standalone podcast subscription from a major news organisation. The Intelligence, our daily news show, remains free to all. At a time when the vast majority of news podcasts remain free, we have retained more than 80% of our total listener numbers since introducing the paywall. Other shows and limited series are in the works, underpinned by the storytelling and analysis for which our podcasts are now known.” (The Economist Group annual report 2024)
| SnapShot The Economist | |||
| £mn | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| Rev | 367 | 377 | 346 |
| Subs | 64% | 60% | 61% |
| Op profit | 47 | 42 | 46 |
| Margin | 13% | 11% | 13% |
| Subs mn | 1.22 | 1.18 | 1.18 |
| P’cast plays | 217mn | 344mn | 301mn |
| People | 1,643 | 1,641 | 1,578 |
**Andrew Palmer will be joining a panel at the upcoming Publisher Newsletter Summit exploring how personalities can supercharge publisher newsletters. Explore how podcasts and newsletters can work for your publishing business, and connect with fellow professionals in podcasts and newsletters at The Publisher Summits on June 10-11 June in London.
This article is also published this week by our partner Media Voices, organiser of The Publisher Summits.
