Welcome to a midweek edition of Unmade.

Tomorrow is Unmade’s third birthday and we’ll be sharing a post with some updates on how we’re travelling, and where we go next. So our usual, audio-led episode is a day earlier than usual, featuring the team at Man of Many at a point when independent digital publishing is a front page political issue.

Further down in the post, the Unmade Index hits another all time low as the valuation of ASX-listed media and marketing companies falls to the lowest point since we started the index two-and-a-half years ago.

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Scott Purcell and Frank Arthur’s trip into the independent media establishment with Man of Many

Man of Many has a different founding story to most digital titles.

Neither of its two founders Scott Purcell and Frank Arthur came from a publishing background. Purcell was a credit analyst at Westpac and Arthur was an industrial designer for a street furniture company.

The then housemates started Man of Many as a way of talking about the men’s lifestyle products that interested them.

From something which was essentially a blog, Many of Many has become a company of increasing substance. With a staff of just under 20, the company now talks mental health and carbon neutrality, as well as continuing to champion luxury consumption.

Through persistence and participation, Many of Many has become a significant voice within the publishing ecosystem. If there’s such a thing as an establishment within independent media, then MoM is a member.

They’re signed up for The Digital Publishers Alliance, the Online News Association and the Australian Press Council. Man of Many has been a long time entrant (and sometimes winner) in Mumbrella’s Publish Awards. They’re shortlisted for website of the year and brand of the year amongst other categories this year.

Man of Many says it is now Australia’s largest men’s lifestyle site (albeit, as is discussed in the interview, with much of their traffic comes from overseas).

In today’s podcast conversation with Unmade’s Tim Burrowes, Purcell speaks not just the language of watches and whisky but also brand values and carbon neutrality.

Pragmatically, MoM has successfully applied to be on the Australian Communications & Media Authority’s register of news businesses. Depending what the governmenrt chooses to do about designating Meta or other platforms, that could be crucial for publishers.

Not that Purcell necessarily welcomes the prospect of a Meta designation by Treasury minister Stephen Jones: “We're hoping that there won't be one because I think the impacts of that will be quite detrimental to the broader market. We are an ACMA registered news organization, which was meant to be a requirement under the code for negotiation. But unfortunately, that hasn't really resulted in any further bargaining power for us.” So far, anyway.

If the government does decide to create a digital levy on the platforms, Man of Many will inevitably be one of the voices arguing that lifestyle journalism is a form of public interest journalism that deserves funding. “I think that it is important for it to be quite a broad definition of public interest journalism and that the funding goes towards independent and a diverse set of media,” argues Purcell.

Further reading:

* The business book recommended by Purcell in the interview is Traction, by Gino Wickman;

* See more about Man of Many’s credentials on their About page;

* Man of Many’s advertising page

Unmade Index hits a new low

The Unmade Index hit a new low point yesterday, dropping by 1.06% to 465.2 points.

The previous low came when the index dipped to 465.9 points on July 5.

The Unmade Index, which covers the market capitalisation of all the local ASX-listed media and marketing companies, began at the start of 2022 on a nominal 1000 points. Yesterday’s number marks a fall of more than 53% of their collective value.

Among the larger stocks, Domain saw the most movement, losing 3.1%. Stocks in Domain have lost 15% since it updated the market on its full year numbers last week. Ooh Media lost 2%.

Enero dropped by another 5.2% yesterday, to its lowest point since the early weeks of the Covid crisis in April 2020. Enero lost one of the zeroes from its market cap after falling below a $100m valuation.

Today’s podcast was edited by Abe’s Audio.

I’ll be back tomorrow with Unmade’s three year birthday update. As is the annual tradition, I’ll be sharing details of our financial performance and audience numbers. And we’ll also be announcing a big upgrade on the privileges for Unmade’s paying members.

If you’re interested in retail media, don’t forget that discounted earlybird tickets are on sale for another four days for the next edition of REmade on October 1. And our call for entries for the REmade Awards is live for just another fortnight.

Toodlepip…

Tim Burrowes

Publisher - Unmade

[email protected]

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