The Media CEOs Betting Big on Journalism’s Future: Jim Bankoff & Meredith Kopit Levien
6/29/202653 min
In a challenging decade for media, New York Times President and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien and Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff have bucked trends and found ways to grow their respective organizations. Meredith has overseen a massive expansion of the Times’ digital subscriber base since becoming CEO in 2020. And after spending decades scaling up Vox Media, Jim is splitting the company between James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and Penske Media Corporation.
In a live interview recorded at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, Kara talks to Jim and Meredith about how they’ve adapted to a changing media landscape and the effects of AI on the publishing business. They also talk about the importance of independent journalism, the waning public trust in media, and how news organizations can earn it back.
(A note to listeners: Vox Media is the parent company of the Vox Media Podcast Network, which produces “On with Kara Swisher.”)
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsKara Swisher· Host0:00
We are doing a podcast, and we would ask you, if you fucking talk back there, I'm coming back and doing things to you that I used to do to Mark Zuckerberg before he stopped talking to me. [upbeat music] It's on. Hi, everyone. From New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network, this is On with Kara Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher. On today's show, I'm talking to two huge names in the media business, Meredith Kopit Levien, president and CEO of The New York Times, and Jim Bankoff, CEO of Vox Media, which produces this very podcast. Both Meredith and Jim have successfully led their companies through huge changes in the industry. Jim spent decades building Vox Media into a big media company, but now he's splitting it up. He's selling the Vox Media podcast network, Vox, and New York Magazine to James Murdoch's company, Lupa Systems. Jim will serve as the CEO of a new company that carries the Vox Media name under Lupa. Penske Media Corporation is acquiring Vox Media's remaining brands. Meredith originally joined The New York Times as its head of advertising, but since becoming the company's CEO in twenty twenty, she's led a huge expansion of The Times' digital products. Last year, The Times added nearly one and a half million digital subscribers. I really wanted to pair Meredith and Jim, not because I wanted to kiss up to someone who used to be my boss or someone who used to be my boss, both of them were in some ways, um, but because they're really at the cusp of real changes in media and actually