More with Less Media with Brian Morrissey - [Making Media, EP.36]

Making Media

Today we're sitting down with Brian Morrissey and getting back to the guts and glory days of the media industry. In 2021, Brian founded The Rebooting - a newsletter publication focused on the mechanics of building sustainable media businesses. Prior to The Rebooting, he spent a decade building Digiday and had a nice stint as editor at Adweek. We get into Brian's own experience launching his business and unpack his view that we're in a "more with less" era in media.

Please enjoy this conversation with Brian Morrissey.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

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Show Notes

(00:03:23) - (First question) - How media is adapting to the "more with less" era amidst challenges

(00:06:08) - Efficiency's impact on media brand identity and content quality

(00:08:21) - The benefits of niche focus in media for building sustainable brands

(00:10:25) - Media companies' failure to adapt and the impact of misaligned incentives

(00:13:30) - The power law effect on media business size and advocating for lean operations

(00:16:22) - Starting narrowly versus broadly in the media business

(00:18:57) - Leaving Digiday to build a personal, autonomous, trust-based media brand in The Rebooting

(00:22:27) - Using his year away from work to strategize personal media product creation

(00:23:52) - Leveraging connections to sell ads, avoiding paywall to grow faster

(00:28:12) - Understanding the essence of sales and the role belief plays in it

(00:30:41) - How niche markets and personal connections can serve as media business moats

(00:33:43) - Valuing passion and expertise over market trends when starting a media business

(00:36:53) - Why questioning industry norms can be beneficial

(00:37:52) - Creators using autonomy and audiences for better deals

(00:40:57) - Pat McAfee's leverage as an entity, not just talent

(00:42:56) - Analyzing the Barstool-Penn breakup and its implications for the media business

(00:46:27) - Why ad agencies continue to survive despite being dysfunctional

(00:50:23) - Debrief

(01:01:17) - Live Event