SCA’s LiSTNR and Schwartz Media have announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership for Schwartz’s existing podcast titles, 7am and The Culture, along with co-production opportunities between the companies to develop and publish new journalist-led podcasts.
Schwartz Media publishes The Saturday Paper and The Monthly magazine, and produces the daily news podcast 7am and weekly arts and entertainment show The Culture.
Hosted by award-winning investigative journalist Ruby Jones (pictured), 7am is Australia’s most popular daily news podcast. It takes the key story of the day and unpacks the background, the main players and why it matters. The Culture, which launched in May, has built on the success of 7am with a weekly deep dive into the latest movies, music, television, streaming, books and art, hosted by Schwartz Media’s head of audio, Osman Faruqi.
Osman Faruqi
LiSTNR is one of Australia’s fastest growing digital audio platforms that offers all Australians radio, podcasts, music and news. Partnering with Schwartz Media provides the opportunity to develop and create new, news-based products across both short form and longer form journalist-led podcasts.
Schwartz Media chief executive, Rebecca Costello, said: “Schwartz Media has never had a larger audience than it does now. Whether it’s through our print or digital products, or our podcasts, our audience has come to trust and rely on our journalism. Partnering with SCA gives us an even larger platform to present intelligent and independent coverage of the issues that matter.”
LiSTNR general manager of digital audio, Grant Tothill, said: “LiSTNR has a strong commitment to news and information and has developed a number of successful original podcasts with The Briefing and Australia Today and a series of local news shortcasts for communities right across Australia. To be able to add 7am and The Culture podcasts to LiSTNR, coupled with the opportunity to develop new podcasts in collaboration with Schwartz Media editor-in-chief Erik Jensen and Osman at Schwartz, and our new our head of news, Melanie Withnall, is very exciting.”