Belgium may be a small country of just 10.5 million people but it’s home to a powerful media empire that understands its market’s every desire. Monocle meets its co-owner and CEO Christian Van Thillo, who took the helm…
As editor of ‘The Zimbabwe Independent’, Trevor Ncube became all too familiar with the consequences of criticising the government. Now based in South Africa, where around 35 per cent of people live in poverty, he has plans…
An explosion of state-funded English-language news channels are attempting to transmit not just the news but their country’s brand. From Moscow to Mumbai we report on the new broadcast empires and ask if this is just pro…
America has the vestiges of a patchwork of local media barons. The ones that thrive have managed to mix tradition with cutting-edge technology. The 80-year-old owner of the ‘Free Lance-Star’ is still a pioneer and the owner…
Since resigning as design editors-in-chief at Taschen, husband and wife Peter and Charlotte Fiell have been plotting their own publishing empire. After two years of hard work, they are ready to make their splash. But don’t…
This month we start a new series looking at the lives and empires of media barons. First is Michael Ringier who, in 1991, became the fifth generation of his Swiss family to head their eponymous empire. Since then Ringier…
The ‘Rutland Herald’ is the second-largest daily paper in Vermont and the oldest family-owned newspaper in continuous operation in the US. Over the years it has grown more liberal and, in 2001, won a Pulitzer prize for its…
Austrian rural-living magazine ‘Servus in Stadt & Land’ is a showcase for just how the public’s thirst for ink is being stirred and sated. Monocle meets the title’s creative team to discover the simplicity in its success…
Husband-and-wife team Martine and Prosper Assouline have built their luxury publishing house by doing what feels natural. Since starting in their Paris apartment nearly 20 years ago, Assouline is now a US-based market…
Publishing dynasty MDS is growing faster than at any time in its 205-year history, but the man leading its charge into the digital arena is determined that the firm stays close to its founding principles.
João Moreira Salles is the publisher of Piauí, a new monthly magazine in Brazil. With his brother and business partner Walter, he is half of the well-regarded Salles brothers film-making team. Monocle visited João in Pia…
The second outing of our new series takes us to Istanbul, a city undergoing rapid change that is transforming the media landscape. Monocle explores the city and its multiple media offerings that are influencing the nation…
To counter dipping audience figures and falling advertising revenues, TV news increasingly offers a diet of soft stories, banal banter and Identikit blondes. Who is to blame, a public unwilling to engage with global affairs…
Evolving news coverage, new lifestyle shows and perennially popular soaps; it’s impossible to take your eyes off the Portuguese-language television that’s emanating from Brazil and taking the world by storm. Do not adjust…
Covering everything from entertainment and spirituality to politics and crime across a staggering 56 daily editions, the ‘Times of India’ is the most widely circulated English language newspaper in the world. Read all about…