JILeaders Insights to Be Unveiled at Newsrewired: A Spotlight on Innovation in Podcasting

Update: Newsrewired sparked great conversations, and both Jacob Granger and Daniel McLaughlin shared their own highlights from the day. Their posts capture the energy of the session and the growing connection between JournalismUK, Media Innovation Studio, and the JILeaders community.
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Jacob Granger and Daniel McLaughlin share their thoughts on podcast innovation, while Rachel Sibley joins on screen with insights from her research that helped shape the session. (Photo: Mark Hakansson / Marten Publishing)

The Media Innovation Studio will be sharing a first look at the forthcoming JILeaders Insights 2026 publication at Newsrewired in London on Wednesday, 26 November. The announcement will be woven into a special session, “Podcasts That Sell”, hosted by Jacob Granger of Journalism.co.uk, and inspired by research from MA Journalism Innovation and Leadership graduate Rachel Sibley.

What the Session Will Explore

Joining the discussion are two practitioners who exemplify the kind of leadership our programme aims to nurture:

Ivor Price (unavailable to join the session on the day), MA graduate and co-founder of Food For Mzansi, whose award-winning audio work reaches millions.

Daniel McLaughlin, current PGCert participant, podcast series editor at Reach plc, and winner of the Podcast Hero award at the 2025 Publishers Podcast Awards.

Together, they’ll explore what makes podcasts commercially viable, editorially distinctive, and operationally sustainable-bringing Rachel’s research to life through real-world experience at the sharp end of innovation.

Reflecting on the upcoming publication, Dr François Nel, Reader in Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship and founder of the Journalism Innovation & Leadership Programme, says:

“The JILeaders Insights series demonstrates what happens when professionals at the cutting edge of our industry take the time to investigate their practice. These are leaders shaping the future of news, storytelling, and engagement-and their research is already informing how organisations think about innovation.”

Upcoming 2026 Publication

The full JILeaders Insights 2026 publication will be released in Spring 2026, marking the twentieth anniversary of journalism-leadership research and education at the University of Lancashire. It features work from graduates across our flexible, part-time, distance-learning pathway-from PG Certificate to MA and PhD by Portfolio.

Key Insights From Rachel’s Research

Rachel’s chapter, Developing the Narrative Podcasting Framework to Delineate Practice in the Field, examines the fast-evolving craft of narrative audio and offers a practical model for producers and newsroom leaders navigating this expanding space. Her work has already sparked conversations across the industry-and this Newsrewired session builds directly on those insights.

January 2026 Applications

Applications for the January 2026 intake are still open, though time is now very limited. If you’ll be at Newsrewired, Dr Nel and members of the team will be there throughout the day-please do say hello if you’re curious about the programme or keen to discuss collaboration opportunities.