Tortoise Media, the news website launched by former BBC News director and Times editor James Harding, has announced a multi-show partnership with Podimo, an audio entertainment platform and production studio that originated in Copenhagen. Their first venture will be a weekly podcast titled The News Meeting.
The partnership between news outlet Tortoise Media and Podimo, which creates podcasts and audiobooks, will see the companies’ podcast production teams working together to develop a range of ‘always-on and narrative limited series’, scheduled for launch throughout 2023.
The first fruit of that partnership, The News Meeting, will feature three ‘influential voices’ from the world of news examining headlines from the preceding seven days and making a case for which one they believe is the biggest story. The discussions will be chaired by Harding, who will have final say over the running order of the news items.
This approach to current affairs podcasting has also proven popular for The News Agents, which follows a similar thesis of dissecting how news is covered, as discussed in the latest episode of PodPod by News Agents creator and another former BBC News alumnus, Dino Sofos.
Describing the way his new podcast will work, Harding said: “People say a newsroom is an argument on the way to a deadline. In all the newsrooms I’ve worked in, that argument has happened behind closed doors. So, who decides what leads the news? And why? For what reasons do we decide this is the ‘top story’? And why do others slip down the newslist? The News Meeting opens up the newsroom to you.”
In keeping with his company’s stated ethic of attempting to provide a different way of looking at the news cycle, Harding believes the format will help listeners gain a greater understanding of how the world of news works.
“We – Tortoise and Podimo – hope you’ll find it lifts the lid on how journalists think and work,” he said; “and we hope that it’ll make sense of what’s happening in the world; and I hope it’ll give you a sense of how endlessly interesting, challenging and, yes, enjoyable it is to work in the news.”
Podimo’s global head of studios Jake Chudnow, said: “Tortoise has a lot of fans here at Podimo. We love that their shows both inform and entertain listeners, and we look forward to collaborating with their talented team in London. We also share a mutual interest in proving the value of podcasts to those listeners through subscription. We’ve seen great success across Europe, and I’m confident we’ll be able to continue that success with Tortoise in the UK.”
