LiSTNR celebrates international recognition with silver and bronze in the 2024 Signal Awards
LiSTNR is celebrating international recognition from the 2024 Signal Awards, which were recently announced in New York, for two of its owned and original podcast titles, Gripped: Second Son and The Briefing. Created by the Webby Awards team, the Signal Awards recognise excellence in podcasting that define culture and honour podcasts that stand out for their storytelling, production quality, creativity, and influence on audiences.
LiSTNR’s Gripped: Second Son, a gangland-crime audio fiction series, won silver for Best Scripted Fiction (Limited Series), while a special investigation into online medical certificate providers in Australia, from LiSTNR’s The Briefing, was awarded a bronze medal in the Limited Series and Specials category, which focuses on podcasts that were created to discuss or facilitate political change, public participation in civics, government policies/pursuits, or social activism.
The Signal Awards garner entrants from all over the world, are judged by experts in the field and celebrate both established and emerging voices, offering accolades for podcasting across the spectrum of creators and genres. The Signal Awards help set standards and showcase the talent within the podcasting world, underscoring the medium’s growing cultural impact. Recognition from such a prestigious international body is testament to the outstanding teams and the calibre of the storytelling from LiSTNR, which is a leader when it comes to Australian podcasts being recognised on the global stage.
“It is outstanding that LiSTNR Original podcasts continue to be recognised on the world stage,” reflected executive head of LiSTNR audience and growth, Grant Tothill. “To see the Drama team of Jennifer Goggin, Tina Matolov, Stephanie Van Schilt, Matt Nikolic, Holly Mitchell, Mat Dwyer along with Bob Campbell be rewarded for their work along with The Briefing team is credit to them and LiSTNR’s continued investment in Australian audio storytelling and journalism.
“As Australia’s number 1 podcast sales representation network* the calibre of our original content continues to grow our known audiences and. when combined with our industry-leading Adtech Hub, delivers best-in-class advertising opportunities for our clients,” continued Tothill.
LiSTNR head of factual, Clair Weaver, said: “The LiSTNR Factual team’s strong principles that accurate journalism, combined with powerful and immersive audio storytelling, can have a lasting impact on society, ensures we deliver our audiences compelling investigations that challenge the status quo.
“In particular, The Briefing team’s three-part investigation into online medical certificates shed light on safety issues and medical duty of care in this risky new frontier of Australia’s healthcare system. To have this type of deep, considered investigation and reporting acknowledged with such an esteemed international award is an outstanding achievement for the team and we are honoured to be recognised in this way.”
Rules Don’t Apply: Breaking barriers – Poppy Reid’s path from intern to editor-in-chief
As part of its presence at SXSW Sydney in 2024, The Growth Distillery hosted a series of 10 vodcasts hosted by Dan Krigstein and branded Rules Don’t Apply.
The special guest for this episode sub-titled “Breaking barriers” was Poppy Reid.
In his introduction to the episode, Krigstein welcomed his guest: “Poppy is the co-founder of The Brag Media. She was formerly the editor-in-chief of The Brag Media, which includes Rolling Stone, Australia and New Zealand, Variety Australia, Tone Deaf, The Industry Observer, The Brag and The Music Network across the portfolio.
[Mediaweek is now part of Vinyl Group which also owns The Brag Media.]
“Poppy is a multi-award winning journalist and commentator, having won the Music Journalist of the Year Award in 22 at the Australian Women in Music Awards. She received the publishing accolade at last year’s Mediaweek Next to the Best event.”
The discussion talked about starting a media business and Reid spoke frankly about the early trials and tribulations:
“We made every single mistake that you could possibly make in starting a company. The three biggest mistakes? One, we naturally had hardly any budget, so we hired a lot of entry-level very young people. We hired kids, and so they weren’t super experienced. They wanted to be led by us.
“Two…we didn’t know what the fuck we were doing. We were still learning how to be managers, how to be leaders. We were terrible. We were terrible managers. So, we hired young people, we did not have experience as leaders.
Uncomfortable Growth Uncut podcast: Episode 7 – Daniel Willis, Rising from Ruin
In this episode, we peel back the layers to reveal ‘The Person Behind the Profile’ with Daniel Willis (CEO of Claxon and founder of 103).
In this episode, we peel back the layers to reveal ‘The Person Behind the Profile’ with Daniel Willis (CEO of Claxon and founder of 103).
In our latest podcast episode, we dive deep into the remarkable journey of Daniel Willis, the dynamic chairman and CEO of Claxon and founder of 103. Daniel’s life story is a testament to the courage to start over, even when faced with the most daunting setbacks.
From the promising beginnings of a professional soccer career in New Zealand, Daniel’s path seemed set for greatness. Yet, just before signing a significant contract in Greece, a devastating injury changed everything, forcing him to rethink his future from scratch.
What followed was a whirlwind of experiences in the hospitality and nightlife industries, where Daniel quickly rose through the ranks, learning invaluable lessons about leadership and adaptability. But his entrepreneurial spirit truly shone when he launched his first major business—a clothing brand that reached international acclaim in just three years. However, inexperience and a failed deal in the U.S. brought it all crashing down.
With the fortitude to learn from both his previous rise and fall, Daniel transitioned into sales and finance, gaining the skills and experience that would later fuel his success with Claxon, a rapidly growing advertising agency. His resilience was tested once again when he had to step back into the CEO role after taking some time out, facing the challenge of rescuing his company from potential collapse.
Throughout our conversation, Daniel shared how his mother’s unwavering belief in him became a cornerstone of his resilience. Her encouragement helped him navigate the highs and lows, transforming setbacks into stepping stones for growth.
“Over 60% of all millionaires have been broke at least once throughout their life,” he says in the episode.
“It’s easy to be good when it’s easy; the true test is when it’s hard.”