I’m Anushri Sood, Ette Media's Senior Journalist, and this is Insights From Insiders - a monthly newsletter where we get to know the fascinating thinkers and doers working across media, technology, and the internet to redefine storytelling, rebuild audience trust, create community and influence culture.
This month, Michael West, the O.G. indie media mogul, reflects on a decade of Michael West Media, how the media landscape has changed since he ventured out on his own and what he makes of ending up on Media Watch.
Cast your mind back to 2016: It was when Donald Trump was first elected, and what we now know as the year that kicked off a decade of ideological attacks on the press by politicians. At home, trust in the media was (already!) at record lows; the Media Reform Bill had just been introduced to Parliament, which would further shrink an already-concentrated media market.
That’s the environment Michael West stepped into when he launched his independent media company Michael West Media to focus on “the rising power of corporations over democracy.”