News podcasts are an incredible opportunity to discover and develop new audiences. Far from being just a standalone digital product, podcasts can drive growth across your entire digital media business.

Chris Stone, head of video and podcasts at the New Statesman, has led podcast businesses for over 12 years, with previous roles at the London Standard and the Telegraph. He also writes the Podcast Strategy Weekly newsletter.

The award-winning podcasting maestro delivers a must-attend podcast talk at our next Newsrewired conference on 13 May 2025, which will delve into how to repurpose your podcast content, convert newly discovered listeners into paying customers, and maximise ROI on your podcasting tech and talent.

Journalism.co.uk caught up with Stone to discuss all things podcasting and what publishers need to know. Answers have been edited for brevity.

Q: What makes news podcasts distinct from other genres?

CS: It's all about what the users are coming to the podcast for, isn't it? It's Dimitri Shishkin's user needs, maybe. But also, where are you meeting people during the day? So often, news podcasts will meet them either in the morning or last thing in the evening.

And what are they hoping to get out of the podcast? If it's updates, then you want to be thinking short, but maybe what they're looking for from you is lengthy news analysis.

Q: Do news podcasts take inspiration from other genres?

CS: If they're not, then they should be, because news has an incredible ego and we tend to think that we know how to do the media........

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