Jack Peat – The London Economic

Founder/Editor of The London Economic.

WHAT LED YOU TO START WORKING IN DIGITAL/MEDIA PUBLISHING?

I was concerned about the monopolization of the media landscape and the influence a handful of powerful billionaires were wielding on the nation. The London Economic was a response to that, set up to allow people to air their opinions freely without an agenda.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

In my experience there’s no such thing as a typical day in publishing, but if I was to vaguely summarize I would say it starts by looking through the wires to see what stories are going out there, then take a look through contributions and commissions before penning some editorial bits and the making sure all our pages have their fair share of content.

WHAT’S YOUR WORK SETUP LIKE?

I’m old school, but I do use Tweetdeck to manage our social media channels.

WHAT DO YOU DO OR GO TO GET INSPIRED?

Read the Daily Express.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF WRITING OR QUOTE?

“When I was five years old, my Mom told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon

Or any line from Gimme Some Truth, by the same artist.

WHAT IS THE PASSIONATE PROBLEM YOU ARE TACKLING AT THE MOMENT?

As a relatively new publisher, most of our problems stem from being pigeon-holed alongside less reliable sources. We’re a publication made up of fully-trained journalists like any other mainstream outlet, but that doesn’t stop Facebook or Google bumping us down in their algorithms.

IS THERE A PRODUCT, SOLUTION, OR TOOL THAT YOU THINK IS A GOOD MATCH FOR YOUR DIGITAL PUBLISHING EFFORTS?

I know there are a lot that proclaims to be the be-all-and-end-all for digital publishers, but I’ve never found one that I felt we really needed. Unfortunately for publishers such as ourselves, there’s a big difference between “want” and “need”, and often these sorts of solutions fall into the former camp.

ANY ADVICE FOR AMBITIOUS DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND MEDIA PROFESSIONALS JUST STARTING OUT?

Although the media landscape has changed dramatically, age-old good journalism will still always win out. Make sure you are proud of the work you put out and that you are confident of its reliability before you worry about how many times it will get shared on social media.