Podcast
Splice Pink
Pink is where we have quick conversations with people across the global media ecosystem: media startup founders, tech, data, and design folks, investors, journalists, media development funders and donors, product managers, and academics.
Our latest episode
Other ways to listen to Splice Pink
Listen to sessions from Beta 2023
More episodes
Beatrice Go's journey creating Atleta Filipina and helping to build a future in sports for Filipino women
Philippine journalist Beatrice Go launched Atleta Filipina in January 2024 — a feat for the sports reporter turned solo media entrepreneur. Atleta Filipina serves as a beacon for women's sports in the Philippines, or, as she put it in this interview, "the purpose is for women to have a future in sports." She spoke about how the first couple of months have gone, the needs she wants to meet, and some of the partnerships she's trying to forge.
Kassy Cho on how she built Almost, an Instagram-first media startup for young people in Taiwan
Three years ago, disappointed with the legacy media landscape, Kassy Cho started Almost, an Instagram-first news startup focused on young people. The Taipei-based journalist saw an opportunity to deliver news to both Chinese and English audiences who were left underserved — and ignored — by mainstream media. In this episode, she spoke to us about the opportunities to serve younger audiences and ways to monetise that.
Myanmar journalists in exile still need support. Here's what you can do
These are some of the best sessions from Splice Beta 2023. This episode features December Khaing.
Exile Hub started soon after the coup in Myanmar when hundreds of journalists started flowing across into Thailand for refuge. Exile Hub's multifaceted approach includes psychosocial support, offering shelter and mental health services, as well as personal safety, border safety, and digital safety workshops.
At Splice Beta 2023, December Khaing talked about the organisation’s work and the challenges faced by Myanmar’s journalists living in exile.
How journalists and a drag content creator are working together to fight disinfo in the Philippines
These are some of the best sessions from Splice Beta 2023. This episode features Your Tita Baby and Jen Aquino.
In response to the rise of fake news on social media, Philippine media startup Probe launched a fact-checking campaign called Tsek/Eks. To engage the younger demographic, they collaborated with influencers, in an initiative that was unheard of in the media space. One such partnership was with Your Tita Baby, a drag queen content creator. Your Tita Baby emphasised her unique perspective as a Gen Xer with a foot in both the millennial and baby boomer generations.
How Joey Chung of TNL Mediagene acquires media companies… as a media company
We're putting together some of the best sessions from Splice Beta 2023. This episode features Joey Chung of TNL Mediagene in Taiwan. Joey talks to the Beta 2023 crowd about his strategy of acquiring media companies — as a media company.
“Our overarching strategy has resulted in 50 to 60 million monthly unique readers across multiple languages. Regarding monetisation, one-third stems from media advertising, another third from data analytics, AI, SaaS, and tech services, and the remaining third from e-commerce, agency communications, paid events, and memberships.”
How Tanmoy Goswami of Sanity by Tanmoy builds products for his mental health journalism startup
We're putting together some of the best sessions from Splice Beta 2023. This episode features Tanmoy Goswami of Sanity by Tanmoy. Tanmoy talks to a large crowd about how — and why — he builds products for his mental health journalism startup.
He also discusses his unique approach to success metrics, emphasising the importance of consistency and recognising that people support the creator rather than the product
Nishant Lalwani from the International Fund for Public Interest Media on where media funding is going
We're putting together some of the best sessions from Splice Beta 2022. This episode features Nishant Lalwani, the CEO of the International Fund for Public Interest Media, which exists to enable media to work for democracy. Nishant spoke to why the fund was necessary now, and discussed the gaps between the funding that journalism needs — and what has so far been available.
The Daily Aus's Zara Seidler on how they built a modern news business for young people on Instagram
We're rounding up some of the best sessions we've had at Splice Beta 2022. This episode features Zara Seidler, the co-founder of The Daily Aus, which is a media startup based in Sydney. Zara talks about how TDA has built a modern news business for young people on Instagram, where they have more than 425,000 followers.
Jom's Sudhir Vadaketh talks about a sea change in Singapore's media startup landscape
Jom has been on the Singapore media scene for less than five months. The digital magazine, as its co-founder Sudhir Vadaketh explains, is trying to fill a unique position in explaining Singapore through a critical eye to both local and foreign audiences. Perhaps more interestingly, it's on the scene at a time when government agencies are more open to engaging with small and independent media startups.
Newsreel Asia's Anupama Chandrasekaran on building documentary stories in audio
Anupama Chandrasekaran is an audio documentary producer at Newsreel Asia, based in Chennai. We spoke about the opportunities behind audio stories and the challenges of building a documentary business.
Project Multatuli’s Devina Heriyanto on running a membership program with empathy and curiosity
Devina Heriyanto is the membership manager at Project Multatuli, a public service journalism collective in Indonesia.
In this Splice Pink episode, we spoke with Devina shortly after we met her at Splice Beta in Chiang Mai in November 2022. She talked us through the intricacies of bringing ‘depressing’ reporting around marginalised peoples to a community that supports Project M’s mission.
BackScoop's Amanda Cua on what makes a creator different from a journalist
What makes a creator different from a journalist?
In our latest Splice Pink episode, we spoke with Amanda Cua, a newsletter media creator in the Philippines. Her daily email — BackScoop — keeps you updated on the top stories in tech and business in Southeast Asia.
“One big focus I have is distribution. And I don’t think that most journalists have that in their job description. How do I get this to more people? What kind of platform should I be using?”
Myanmar's exiled media finds a home in Chiang Mai
Myanmar's media, fleeing the military's crackdown on journalists, have found a new home in Chiang Mai.
The creation of this new hub represents an important milestone for this region. For the first time, we're seeing an ecosystem built around media startups coming together in Southeast Asia.
Splice's co-founder Alan Soon talked to Sonny Swe, the founder of Frontier Myanmar, about how Frontier made the move, and what's in store for 2022.
Coconuts turns 10... and it's finally profitable
Coconuts just turned 10. We spoke with Byron Perry, the founder and CEO of Coconuts, about the decade of lessons he's had in building one of Asia's most recognisable media startups. And they're finally making a profit this year.
Playlogue’s Simon Vincent on lessons for journalists from the world of games
In this episode, we're talking with Simon Vincent, a journalist-turned-game-developer. Simon is the co-founder of Playlogue, a game development services team based in Singapore. He talks about the lessons he's learned about the transformation of media from what began as a board game.
FactorDaily’s Pankaj Mishra on breaking free from the news cycle and the tyranny of key performance indicators
Five years in, FactorDaily pivoted to a non-profit entity this year. Its cofounder Pankaj Mishra figured the change would allow him the freedom to stay closer to mission: "To make sense of technology’s impact on the society around us."
"No ads. No paywalls. No venture capital funding," Pankaj proclaims on the website. That means some hard decisions on building new business models in an incredibly tough space.
One more thing: Pankaj has also demolished the traditional news cycle. He and his team will only publish when there's a story.
FactorDaily is the anti-media, and that's why we love it.