On this episode of Inside the Media Minds, co-hosts Christine Blake and Madison Farabaugh are joined by Bradley Chambers, author and podcast host for 9To5Mac. Bradley shares how he fell in love with technology 25 years ago during his retail job at EB Games (now GameStop), before moving into subsequent jobs in tech support and running an IT department at a private school. It was while working at the school that Bradley made his foray into blogging and podcasting. Today, he shares his journey with podcasting from the industry’s infancy, his tips for PR professionals and companies looking to pitch their news, writing in the age of AI, and so much more!
Bradley’s Tips For PR Pitching
Bradley draws on his background in tech support and as an IT practitioner to help shape his reporting, noting that his perspectives from those positions inform the way he evaluates new technologies. As a busy reporter receiving hundreds of pitches a day, Bradley also provides his insights into what makes a good pitch, including:
- Come across as human
- Do your research
- Tailor your pitch and showcase its relevance to the reporter’s beat
- Avoid next day embargos
Additionally, Bradley shares how he builds relationships with PR professionals and their respective PR agencies, and the benefits of companies remaining consistent with the agencies they are working with.. Bradley states, “As everything’s gotten automated, I go back to relationships matter. So if there is any company out there listening to this, pick an agency, ride or die, stick with them and don’t expect them to make your news. It’s not for the agency to tell the story, if you don’t have a story to tell on your product side, they’re not going to get you a story in Fortune just that you exist.”
Writing In The Age of AI
During the podcast, we explore how innovation may change the existing technology landscape, and Bradley provides his take on writing in the Age of AI and his predictions for the future. He wonders if we are at the “furthest part of the pendulum swing” of technology innovation, and if we may be swinging back to more old school media as time progresses. He notes that in the age of AI, we should all be asking ourselves, “What can you write that someone wants to read? Creating content is super easy today, but creating content that people read is super hard.”
As for Bradley’s prediction for the future of media as AI continues to churn out seemingly endless content – print magazines are going to make a comeback. He believes that in a world where there is an infinite amount of content on the internet, getting printed magazines for niche topics back in people’s hands may very well be the media we all are craving.
Tune in to the full episode or read the transcript to hear more from Bradley on the areas he covers at 9To5Mac, how he determines what to cover and much more!
Timestamps
0:20 – Christine and Madison preview the discussion
1:42 – Bradley’s Background
3:52 – A Lifelong Love of Tech & Podcasts
5:03 – The Story Of Steve Jobs, Podcasting & ITunes
6:37 – His Background in Tech Support & His Reporting
8:14 – How Bradley Evaluates Media Pitches & Tips for Pitching
12:51 – Inbound Pitching vs. Content Calendar
16:06 – Areas Bradley Covers
18:05 – Bradley’s “That Guy” When It Comes To IT
18:40 – Balancing 9To5 Mac Coverage Areas
21:51 – How the Technology Landscape Is Evolving
26:36 – Bradley’s Top Story
30:00 – His Advice
Want more from Inside the Media Minds? Find all of our past episodes here!
Transcript
Christine Blake (CB): Welcome to Inside the Media Minds, this is your host, Christine Blake. This show features in depth interviews with tech reporters who share everything from their biggest pet peeves to their favorite stories from our studio at W2 Communications. Let’s go inside the media minds.
Hello. This is Christine Blake, one of the co-hosts of Inside the Media Minds. Today we have Bradley Chambers, author and podcast host at 9To5Mac coming on the podcast. So Bradley covers home kit technology, enterprise software, enterprise hardware, and howApple fits into the enterprise environment. This interview is really interesting. Some of the key takeaways that I learned is really how he emphasizes the importance of relationships when it comes to building relationships with reporters and the media, and how that fits into some of his coverage areas. He also mentioned how in 2025 spelling errors are a good thing because it shows that you’re human and not AI, and then his goal is to go out there and tell cool stories. Madison, what did you find to be an interesting takeaway?
Madison Farabaugh (MF): Yeah, just building on your relationship point. I thought it was interesting how Bradley really emphasized how PR can actually serve as that relationship builder between a company and the media, and even, you know, if a company hires a PR agency, sticking with that agency over the years, and having the same person from that PR company reach out to reporters over time, can build that confidence and build that trust for the company, so that over time, the reporter knows to rely on that specific PR agency.
CB: Yeah, we hope you enjoy the interview.
Hey everyone. This is Christine Blake and and this is Madison Farabaugh, great, and we’re here with Bradley Chambers. So Bradley, you are author and podcast host at 9To5Mac we’re happy to have you on the podcast today to hear more about some of your background and some of the things that you’re covering at 9To5Mac. So to start off, you’ve been in the tech industry for a while in various different roles. Can you give us a quick overview of your background and then insight into your current role at 9To5Mac?
Bradley Chambers (BC): Sure. Thanks for having me. I’ve spent the last two decades, and technology first job. I mean, I guess in some ways, my really my first job. So going back 25 years, I worked at EB Games at the mall. It’s a GameStop now, but I started my that was my, kind of my first, you know, part time job in college, and it’s kind of helped me fall in love with technology. And then my first job, while I was in college, full time job, was working at a local ISP in my area. Internet service provider. Started out doing tech support, ended up in business development. And I always tell people, like, if you’ve never, if you work in technology, you really have to have done tech support at some point in your life, because it really gives you insights into how regular people use technology, and from there, spent 12 plus years running an IT department at a private school and then and through that process, that’s really how I started blogging and podcasting. Originally, I actually have a podcast now, which I know we’ll discuss, but I actually had a podcast. And from 2012 to 2017 it was called “Out of School.” It was with a fellow named his name was Fraser Spears. He was in Scotland, and we talked about education technology for five plus years and and that’s really kind of how I got my start, you know, blogging and podcasting. So you know my lineage that goes back many, many years ago, and it’s been fun. It’s helped me just network a lot. And I’ve never really got into any of it to make a lot of money. It was really more just about evolving my career and building up my connections and network.
CB: So have you always been into technology? It sounds like it going back to your first job.
BC: Oh, certainly. You know, even I can remember, remember like my dad had like, two PCs in our 10 and he, like, linked up, like, quiet quake land parties. Him, this would have been like, you know, ’94 ’95 I mean, so always been interested in technology and just kind of how people use it. And again, some of it was video games. But again, even like podcasting, I was listening to podcasts and like, ’04 ’05, but, you know, it’s funny when I hear people say, “Oh, I got into podcasts early. I listened to “Serial.”” Like, no, no. I was like, if you weren’t syncing, you were not early into podcasting, if you weren’t, like, syncing podcasts to your iPod if you’re first, like, if you listen to your first podcast, like, in 2010 and later, like the early people, it was, it was all tech shows. And like, I really, I truly, think podcasting is one of the greatest technologies to ever exist, and I think largely because it’s a protocol like no one controls it. And, you know, Adam Curry and a couple other guys built the protocol and essentially gave it to the world, and never made money on it, because it was protocol, and it was really, really cool. Have you ever heard the story about what, how? Steve Jobs got podcasting into iTunes. Have you ever you read the story?
CB: I don’t think I have. That’s it. Let’s, let’s share that one.
BC : It’s really, it’s a really interesting story. Okay, so there was so again, like, pre podcasts at iTunes. This is pre-iPhone. There was, like, no really big directories, like, you had to go to website and find their RSS feed, and you had to, like, plug it in. The app I used was called iPodRX, and what it did is it pasted the feed URL, it downloaded the MP3, and it shoved it into iTunes, and you would sink it into your iPod, like, that’s how podcasting work. So there was this company named Odeo. Have you all heard of Odeo? Never heard of that company?
CB: No, I haven’t.
BC: Makes sense, because they were put out of business really quickly. So
CB: I was gonna say, should I have? [Laughs]
BC: You shouldn’t have so but, but the founders of it, you’ll recognize. So they were building an online directory for podcasts. And they, because they saw the problem, it was like, hey, podcasts are great. We got to build a way to get the directory. Well, Steve Jobs, then at iTunes, 4.9 they announced iTunes are coming, or podcasts are coming to iTunes, and like, the rest is history. So Odeo is, like, essentially out of business. So they said, “Well, we gotta have this, like, you know, gotta have something new.” So that they had a hackathon, and they came up with this new product called TWTTR okay, Does that ring a bell? No. Twitter. Oh, Twitter. So it was Jack Dorsey, F. Stone, or Biz Stone and Evan Williams, they founded Odeo, and as a result of iTunes, building podcast inside of it, they went on, like, getting their hackathon. So they created Twitter. So it is funny, like, if iTunes never integrates podcast, Twitter probably doesn’t exist.
CB: Love that connection, now known as X, we still call it Twitter. That’s fascinating. Thanks for sharing that story. So you mentioned too that you your background right running the IT department of a private school and how it was. It’s key for anyone working in tech to do that, because you see how people are using technology and maybe struggling with it at times. So how has that influenced your reporting or coverage, if it has?
BC: Well I think if anything, like, I would have, if it was a product that I was familiar with, or we were using, or I had demoed, like, I had a real understanding of, like, actually, what’s vaporware, what’s not like, what actually matters, and was able to kind of cut through the BS, maybe, of like, what maybe vendors pitched us at the time, like, I was super passionate about enterprise Wi-Fi, is that industry matured in the 2010s and like, I, you know, I could go past just the press releases, because it was like, “Hey, I actually use these.” Like, I know what impacts me day to day as a practitioner, and I know what works, and I know what doesn’t. I know what I like, I know what I want the products to do. And so it kind of gave me good insights. And it was a way, and in some ways, like, and that’s when I started blogging, like it’s just like, pre 9To5Mac, like it was just like, on my own Square Space blog, it was nothing. There was no ads on it to make a dime from it, but it was really just a way to, like, share what I found. And I think that was like, the sweet spot of like, the internet at the time is like, you were just people just trying to share what they found and share best practices. And this is really pre before, in some ways, before social media really took off, and today, people would just share those on their personal LinkedIn or X account. It was like, Hey, I just, I just like, want to blog. I just want to share what I’m what I’m working on, and share what I find cool, and if I have an opinion, just maybe share that at times too.
MF: Yeah, that all makes sense. And so fast forwarding to your role now at 9To5Mac, can you tell us a little bit about your process for how you come up with stories there, when it comes to pitching, is there anything that separates kind of the ones you’ll respond to versus ones you might ignore, and are there any you know when people are reaching out to you, are is there anything, any mistakes that you see where maybe, maybe you’d recommend avoiding?
BCL Absolutely. I mean, to my 9To5Mac email, I get, you know, just countless pitches all the time. And the ones that, like, just, you know, you kind of have your hierarchy, like, there are ones, I mean, I’ve been pitched, like, smart toilet products, for example, and then they reference, like, you could show this on your YouTube channel. It’s like, Okay, number one, like, Hey, I probably, wrote that, because no one would ever say that, like a smart toilet. Or, number two, I don’t even post on YouTube, so it’s not relevant. Like, do you come across as human? Do a slight bit of research on who this person is. And, you know, I can spot the ones that’s like the same person, sent the same message to 100 different outlets, like, I’m not those. Those are not interesting to me. The ones that are interesting, it’s like so, so Madison, you and I have worked together on another announcements for some of your clients, but I when I see your name in my inbox, I can already know which client that’s for. And so one of the tips I would love to give to, in some ways, agencies, but in some ways also to companies like PR hopping, like, doesn’t work because it’s very confusing, because you can, you think about it, you’ve got like, half a second to, like, get someone’s attention, and if I, like, recognize the name, it’s like, so a good example is the smart home company, Eve. They’ve had the same agency, and I cover some smart home stuff for 9To5Mac, they just had the same agent. See, long as I can remember now, occasionally, like, I’ll hear from somebody different, but like, they just see name, I know well, they emailed me this morning. They’re like, “Hey, you wrote a story and it was awesome. We want to share that. Our client wants to share it, but you’re using an old image. Like, could you possibly update that it was an old stock image? Could you possibly upload that? Hey, no problem if you can’t.” Like, yeah. Like, we’ve worked together on a ton of announcements. Like, you know, absolutely no problem. So I think the most important thing is to be human. It is so easy to write like, an AI slot email, nobody’s reading it. Like, you can write 10 paragraphs nobody’s reading it. Make it like, you know, get to like, the meat of it quickly. Like, “Hey, Bradley, I know you’ve covered, you know, Apple enterprise, in the past, I’m working with this client about this announcement. We think it’s relevant for this reason.” That’s all you got to say. Like, it doesn’t have to be 10 paragraphs, but again, and also try to keep the same person so I can kind of build that relationship. You know, if I need an image or, like, I’m looking for a quick quote, like, so I know who to go to and don’t have to hunt. Would be, is that? Is that sound device? Does that all makes sense.
CB: Love that advice.
MF: That’s super interesting too, because we’ve definitely heard before of you know, reporters will recognize the agency, and that’s super helpful for them in determining like, Oh, if it’s coming from this agency, I know it’s generally these clients that they work with, but that’s super helpful feedback too, to hear that even just having the same person at that agency and being able to recognize the name. I think that’s very valuable advice for sure.
BC: Well, and then it’s like, it’s like a trifecta too, where it’s like, you get used to like the agency, and then maybe, if it’s like, you know, someone worked in best, like, I’ve connected with a CEO, they always like, you know, hey, we’d love to get you on the on the call with, you know, insert CEO name, you know, etc, but then just always, like, hey, here, you know, for this release. Like, one of the my pet peeves is, I would get over, like, an embargo. Like, that’s fine. Like, then there’s no images. So they’ll have to ask, like, Do you have any images to support this? Like, I can go make up an image. I can go find something. But like, do you have an image, even if it’s just, like, a screenshot of date and ask was like, because if it’s a software product, like, like, don’t make me. And I know oftentimes, like, the agency maybe hasn’t gotten that from the client, and they have to go back and forth. But like, always including images, try not to have, like, next day embargos like, I’ve gotten embargo. I’ve gotten I’ve gotten, like, emails at like, four o’clock Eastern, and it’s like, an embargo for in the morning. And you know what, if you’re Apple, probably get away with that. Like, if you’re not, though, like, even if it’s just like a “Hey Bradley, here’s a heads up. Two weeks from now, I wanted to just keep you on alert. Here’s, here’s a draft of the embargo.” And we always respect embargo times. Obviously, if the release changes, like, if the quote changes, like, we’re going to use the actual one that comes. But that can be planning on stories and things like that, just gives me some lead time to be planning out what I want to write about, maybe even ask more questions, do a demo. Can do some research again, just more time the better.
MF: Yep, that’ll make sense. That’s super helpful, too. And so as kind of the host of the Apple at Work podcast, because we’ve talked about, talked a little bit about, you know, how you feel pitches and everything for the podcast specifically. Do you typically follow an editorial calendar? Do you plan topics in advance? Or how much do you rely on that, versus kind of inbound pitches?
BC: It’s, it’s, it’s a lot of it’s both and, and so there will be times I will get a pitch for an article and I’m like, I don’t really feel like, it’s like, you got some news. You know this, you know x company has news. It’s like, I don’t. That’s not really, because a lot of the Apple at Work articles I write are a lot of, like, 25% news, 75% opinion. It’s kind of more of editorial. And there occasionally just be just straight news published every Saturday. But then there are times like, this probably isn’t an article, but actually would love to talk about would love to talk about this on the podcast, and it’s a little bit less formal. And then, like, there are times like, I will have the podcast scheduled out seven weeks. Like, if I know, like, hey, it’s gonna be summer, we’re gonna be in and out of town, I’m going to be busy. I might, you know, end up recording four podcasts in a week, and then just drip them out over a month. And I always tell people, like, “hey, just heads up, this is going to be, you know, if you’re needing this for, like, if you’re this is something you’re interested on a certain date, then it worked that way, like, I’ll get it out, and we’ll do the links and all the things,” but it’s just whatever you whatever I find interesting. And it’s like, I like to think of, if I’m into Apple technology, and I’m an IT practitioner, security practitioner, I’m in that industry, what I find interesting? Like, if it’s a conversation I want to have, then I think then maybe my audience will find it interesting as well. And that gets where it goes to be creative and like, help me understand the angle. Like, the I had a company recently, like, they pitched me something. It was, like, adjacent, and we never could find that angle. But, like, we asked questions. I even asked, like, you know, I’m this is interesting, but I’m not seeing that Apple angle. Help me understand that. So maybe on the pitch, if you’re going after a specific reporter, let’s say it’s a FinTech reporter. You know, financial technology, like, don’t make them guess what the angle is. Help them to understand, based on what you’ve read of theirs in the past, why their audience might find it interesting, not asking to do their job. But like, again, they’re getting 30 pitches an hour. Like, help them understand?
CB: Yeah, that’s definitely good insight. You want to do that research ahead of time to really help you out, because we feel for you getting that many pitches. It must be crazy with your inbox.
BC: Well, again, that goes back to having the name like Madison has emailed me multiple times about a client that she you all work with, I’ll even if it’s like, not going to cover it, like, I’ll always read it. And ultimately, that’s what you want. Like, how can I get it’s almost like a sales funnel, like, how can at least get my email read? And then I’ve got plenty of agencies that I’ve worked with for years. They’ve got my cell phone. So it’s like, yeah, I’m getting a text like, “Hey, Bradley, just wanted to let you know got a an embargo coming up in two days. I’m gonna drop it in your inbox. No response needed.” Boom, I’ll read that, and then I’ll probably check the inbox. Again, you don’t get the phone number, like day one, but again, that goes with the overtime you’re working with the same people, the same journalists. You’re helping tell the good stories. That’s why you, as a company, you really don’t want to keep, like, agency hopping, yeah, every six months, because you don’t get that like, you don’t get that rapport with the with the journalist.
CB: Yeah, it comes down to relationships, right? And getting you to read the idea and collaborate with you and have that mutual, beneficial relationship. Absolutely. Madison writes great pitches too. Gotta say that. So let’s dig into some of the things that you’re actually covering. So, smart home accessories, Apple Smart Home framework, super interesting stuff. What makes you want to cover this number one? And then, what are some of the best, like, tips that you’ve uncovered in this area?
BC: Well I, you know, I sort of, I’ve always kind of been, you know, interested in smart homes. So I’ve got a couple of columns for 9To5Mac I write every week. There’s got one called MagSafe Monday. I always love Apple’s MagSafe products and how you charge with it. So I’m like, that’s like, I always look at like, what could I do where it’s like something every week, where I kind of have a structure for myself? And 9To5Mac is an entire network. Seth Wayne Trump, the publisher is, like, really a fantastic guy. He gives us more of the freedom to kind of explore it. And the lead editor for 9To5Mac, Chance Miller is just a great guy to collaborate with. It’s like, “Hey, go tell a cool story. Like, we obviously have editorial oversight, but like, go tell cool stories.” And so, like, I’ve always, I found, like, MagSafe and smart home stuff. It’s like everybody kind of understands what those are that may be finding a good tip, you know, you know, finding a good tip for a cool, new product, or how, you know, what? So it gives me a little bit of structure. And then, you know, those kinds of things are, obviously, I think, are in the age of, like, AI, when anybody can write anything 10,000 words in a minute, like, what do you actually bring to the table that someone might actually want to read? That’s, that’s the that’s the hard thing. That’s the hard thing for reporters. That’s the hard thing for PR agencies is, like, in an age of infinite abundance, you must bring a little personality and a little bit of, like, your own flavor to the table, because otherwise, again, there’s, there’s 10 trillion blogs out there that review the same products. Like, it’s almost like you kind of have to have a little bit of a niche. So people kind of like, know, oh, Bradley is the, MagSafe guy, or Bradley is the home kit guy. Like, that’s good. Like, that’s what I want.
CB: Do you at as you’re that guy? Do you get a lot of questions from friends and family about tech stuff? Are you, like, your friends and family’s IT support?
BC: Oh certainly, of course, that’s where, like, I always tell people, like, I don’t work on PCs anymore. Like I used to do, like, PC repair I’m like, I do Macs, do apple. If you have questions, I can happy to help you. The worst, though, is like, when it’s like, Hey, I’ve got a seven year old Mac and, like, the monitor is dead. Can you help me fix it? It’s like, no. It’s like, no, not worth fixing. You end up being like, the de facto IT person. But that’s okay, because you always have the de facto home repair version. So we can kind of trade out help.
MF: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Definitely a good resource to have, for sure. I wish my family had one of those, one of those people we could contact for questions like that. So thinking about 9To5Mac, how do you typically balance your coverage areas when it comes to focusing on consumer technology and then its impact on like enterprise IT teams and maybe decision makers there. How do you approach, kind of your stories based on those two overlapping themes?
BC: I really, I kind of just have the companies that I know I’m going to cover what news they have, and so anything to do with it’s the technical term, is mobile device management. But I really just say device management now, because it’s more than just mobile products. It’s desktops too, but just like, really things that impact how people manage their their devices. So, like, you know, with my Apple at Work column and my podcast, you know, it’s really aimed at, like, if someone is an Apple IT technician, practitioner, security engineer, working on Apple products. You know, does this impact their life? Is is this announcement that impact their life. Do I have an opinion that they might find interesting in their day to day job? It again, sometimes, like, it’s like a mix of news. Sometimes it’s like just straight opinion. And so like Rob would see right now, WDC has just happened, so there’s a lot, there’s a lot of the new announcements that are impacting, going to impact Apple engineers. So like my coverage for the next, you know, few weeks, especially on the Apple at Work column, will be, you know, digesting what Apple announced, how I think it’s going to impact you, and that, because that’s the thing we still don’t know. Like, a good example is Apple announced that there’s a, now, kind of a, a known way to to migrate from one device management system to another. Well, I can report on what that is, but then we don’t really know how it works fully yet. Like, you know, it’s not, it’s not out, not out fully to try yet. There’s, it’s still in, it’s still in beta. So it’s just kind of that breaking down and wanting to be that resource that says, like, “Hey, here’s, here’s what the news is, and also, like, here’s why think it matters and why, here’s how I think it’ll impact you.” And I think one of the there’s, there’s two things with, with writing in 2025, and like, for me is you don’t really do it for the money. Like, you’re not going to become like, a bajillionaire, you know writing, but you have to actually love it. So because if you, if you don’t love it, you’re never going like, you have to have that passion. And then you really have to, as well, be willing to put yourself out there. Like, it’s like, especially for websites that still have comments enabled, can be pretty brutal, and you have to have a little bit of a thick skin. I don’t really read a lot of my comments. I occasionally get some emails and people tell me, like, “Hey, you’re wrong.” Awesome. I always tell people, like, if you like, to write your own blog, I’ll be happy to read it and tell me how I’m wrong. Like, and I think that’s it’s really, really easy to kind of be a keyboard warrior and like, you know, trash, people’s writing and all that, and that kind of comes with the territory. But like, I’m happy to be told I’m wrong. It’s one of those. Like, call me whatever you want. Just call me like, I’m thankful that you read and like, you have a finite time in your life to read things. If you read my articles, and even if you disagree with my opinion, I’m thankful you read it and like, go tell me while I’m wrong, and I’ll read yours.
CB: I love that. That’s such a positive outlook. You have to have that right.
MF: Amazing perspective. I’m sure there’s been been lots of comments about that, like, Oh, you’re wrong, or something like this, when it might be something that simply changes over time as well. And that was going to be one of our questions too. Is knowing you’ve been in this space for a while, how have you noticed whether it’s the Apple space evolving or just the technology space in general? Of course, AI is a big topic, pretty much for everyone these days. So is there anything, whether it’s, you know, Apple related, AI related? How have you seen these landscapes changing in your coverage over the years?
BC: We had a joke. We were talking amongst the team about spelling errors are good in 2025 because it shows you didn’t use AI. And, you know, I would even argue, like, there’s a little bit, I mean, it’s obviously not trying to make errors intentionally. But like, same thing with pictures to reporters. It needs to look human. Like, if you use the word delve. Hey, as you delve into this topic, Brad, like, you used AI, like, and I see it on LinkedIn all the time. They have, like, the really long post with all the emojis, and there’s always, like, the five hashtags at the bottom. It’s like, Well, cool. You just use like, Open AI to create that. Like, literally nobody cares. Like, so anybody can create like, creating content is is super easy today, right? Creating content that people read super hard, and so you just have to, like, find your niche and be unique. And I’m, you’re really I’m crazy. I have a prediction of what I think is going to impact media in the next maybe five years. I think magazines are coming back, like,
CB: Really?!
BC: printed, printed. So no lie, I actually just subscribed to one today. It’s called Game Informer. It was out when I was a kid. They’re back, like, and it’s like, we’re bringing the parent magazine back. I subscribed. I don’t even play, I don’t play video games anymore. I just want to, like, just want to read them. I think it’s fun. There’s somebody in my city. He’s super into freight, the freight world, and he’s been buying up like magazines around specific topics, a magazine, a magazine about people like to fly airplanes, a magazine for people who like to have theirown boats. So there’s these very niche topics that he’s creating magazines around, and then they’re finding. So again, in a world where, you know, there’s infinite, infinite stuff on the internet, like, if you can get, you know, hand somebody a magazine that read it, well, how do you think that changes? Like advertising? Well, that’s pretty interesting. That’s pretty interesting. If you, if you sell things for people who like to fly their own airplanes, you get a magazine, and there’s no ad there’s no ad blockers for that. It’s like, I really, I really think, in a way, with an infinite amount of content online, I think magazines could make a comeback again. Not like, hey, this is magazine only, but like, I actually get a couple magazines in the mail already, you know, the news related, and they’re slower. Sure, it’s not like, it’s got, like, yesterday’s news, but like, they always have really good opinion pieces. I can read them without being distracted and notifications and stuff. That’s my that’s that’s my prediction. I’ll probably be wrong. Maybe I am. But I think magazines are going to come back for specific industries. I don’t think that, like, you know, these, the big general mass magazines coming back. But like, for specific like tech topics, like, I could see Apple magazines making a comeback as well. And who knows, maybe we’ll do one. I can imagine just if you if you can tell good stories, I think, in a world of infinite content, getting something someone’s. In a printed way. It’s interesting to me.
CB: That’s a fun prediction. I like that. We’ll, we haven’t heard that type of prediction before, so we’ll think of you when magazines come back. I mean, it’s interesting too. Like, magazines also have their own social profiles, like they have their own like ecosystem outside of just like a hardcover magazine. So it’s interesting to see how that’ll evolve over time Okay.
BC: Yeah, and we’re like, we you go to the doctor’s office, and they always, it’s like, you could always have these, like, magazines there, like, Whatever town you’re in. It’s like, cool restaurants. Like, I like those. Like, that’s fun. It’s nice. What? Like, I even one of them I subscribe. And like, I might be the, like, the only person in my city that subscribes that magazine to their house, but I really like it. It’s nice. I’m like, Yes, I know I can read that online for free. I like the artificial limitation of just having that magazine, something to have on my desk. And I don’t know it’s nice. Like,
CB: Yeah.
BC: It’s like, I almost think we, we’ve gone, like, this far with technology. We’ve gone the pendulum is all one way, and maybe we’re going to come a little bit back, like, maybe, you know, it’s like, Okay, we got too much technology. Let’s try to find the right balance of it.
CB: Yeah, I like that. You heard it here first. Bradley Chambers says magazines are coming back
BC: And CDs. I actually have a CD. I’ll show you. I still buy. I started buying CDs again last year. You know, not even I skipped vinyl. Went straight to see because they’re a lot less expensive. And do I kind of listen to all those for free on my phone and Apple Music, yeah? Like, I have them all right there. There is something nice about like, I own this I can I’m supporting the artist directly when I listen to it. No one’s tracking me. No one can take it off the stream platform. I own this CD forever,
CB: Yeah.
BC: And I kind of like that.
CB: I like that too. There’s no top one Spotify, Top 100 or whatever the lists are that Apple Music and every everyone makes, so jumping into listener questions as we wrap up here. So what has been one of the most memorable or notable stories that you’ve covered in your time?
BC: I was I broke the story of Apple buying Fleetsmith, they bought them a few years ago. And not, not because, like, I did, like, a lot of sleuthing, I had built up a good relationship, and I guess, told like, hey, just heads up, this embargo is coming. And got via a text message, same thing, like, “Hey, this is coming to your inbox shortly. Just, you know, this is when this will be released.” And I was, you know, and I think to one of the things I always took like, when I have people on my podcast, I always tell them, like, this isn’t like, a gotcha thing, like, I’m trying to help tell stories. I’m not trying to like, like, catch catch you in something. I’m trying to help conversations. And I think doing that is has, has worked well for me, because I’ve never tried to, like, burn a bridge, burn a bridge today, to like, have something go viral. I don’t want to do that because the industry is really too small. Like, if I break an embargo on purpose, or something like that, like, that’ll come back to bite you,
CB: Yeah.
BC: in the future, but I’ll tell you one that probably is interesting, and I’m not gonna name the company I was on the customer newsletter list for a company, and, like, I maybe added myself. I don’t remember, like, it was on there. It wasn’t like, it was like, you know, a secret, well, I had an embargo for something like, like, it was like, a Thursday well, they emailed their customers on Wednesday. That’s like, Guys, you broke your own embargo. Like, I’m publishing in the story. And they were like, upset. I’m like, I don’t know what to tell you. Broke the embargo to your customers. Like you emailed them, essentially the news. They all know. They’re like, well, but that was a customer news. I was on that list. Like anybody can subscribe to that. Like you, if you’re going to have an embargo, don’t break it yourself. That does that make sense? Did I explain that well?
CB: Yeah, that does make a lot of sense. And some people don’t think about that, the whole strategy around that, because there’s a lot of pieces, moving pieces, involved in an embargo sometimes.
BC: Right. And then they were upset, and then, like, they kind of got it. And, you know, I wasn’t trying to, like, offend or like, purposely, or for me to break the embargo, but it was like, because it’s like, literally, you emailed every customer you have, like, it’s not a secret now, like, if I publish tomorrow and it’s like, it’s breaking news, you know? But you know what? I always try, we always try to get stories right. Like, there have been times like we just like, if it’s something heavy technical, and if it’s like announcements, I will let the company like, hey, yeah, this is what I wrote. I’m not asking you to edit it. But like, “Did I miss anything technically here?” Because there’s, especially in enterprise technology, there can be a lot of moving pieces. I just want to make sure like, “Hey, I’m not misunderstanding this, right?” And there have been times like, companies are super companies. I always love when they offer like, “Hey, if you want to jump on a call with an exec or a product person, just ask questions.” I always appreciate that. No, again, not that I’m trying to like, like, dig for stuff, but just like, I just want to make sure, like, I understand. Because if I don’t fully understand it, then I don’t know that can write it so my audience can. You’re just really trying to like report accurate things. So that’s always super helpful. When companies will make like their product, people available as well. And again, even if it’s like a 10 minute phone call, like it’s nothing, this can be a phone call it doesn’t have to be on Zoom. Can I just, can I just ask a couple of questions, just for clarification.
CB: Yeah, that’s a great point and a great idea. Well, Bradley, this has been a great conversation. We appreciate all the insight you shared. Anything else to add podcaster or anything?
BC: Just create content. Like, even if you’re like, hey, I want to do a podcast today, and probably nobody listen. They probably won’t today, that’s fine. Just start somewhere. If you’re, if you want to do, you know the beauty of, I, even in a world full of, like, we talked about, like, like, AI driven feeds and algorithms, you can create content and just put it out there. And the only thing keeping you from, like, making, quote, unquote, making it, whether it be podcasting, I want to be a musician, etc. You have the tools out there to do it, like you can reach the world instantly for free, over your podcast, uploading your song to YouTube, writing your blog. You know you can. It’s so easy to spin up, get your own domain, get a Squarespace website, or a Wix website or WordPress, and it’s like, there’s, it’s a credit card, and it’s solved and so, but don’t, don’t do it with the expectation you’re going to make money do the or it’s going to, like, land you your next job. Do it because you’ve got a story to tell and you’re passionate about it. If you’re not passionate about it, you’ll like, flame out and like, you know, I’ve known so many people that are like, Hey, I’m going to start a blog. I’m like, Cool. Like, they do like, six blogs and they’re done. I always tell people, you need to have, like, six months with the content, almost maybe done, and then so you can, kind of just like, have that muscle memory, and ultimately, it’s about your time. So like, if you’re like, Hey, I’m super interested about, I don’t know, like, pen so there’s a, there’s a website called the pen addict. I think it’s around God. God’s name is Brad Doughty. He’s like, super, super nice guy, and he got really famous, just like, covering pens and like, like, there’s a whole community for that. Well, I don’t think he started out doing that, just just, you know, trying to make a living. But what he did is he chose to write about pens, over watching Netflix,
CB: Sure. Yeah.
BC: Over scrolling Doom, scrolling his phone. Like, you have to decide, like, Okay, you have 24 hours in a day. Like, I get up every day at 5am like, okay, so, like, from five to six, like, I have a window. Nobody in the world needs me. Everybody else in the world asleep. How can I maximize that window? So, like, if you’re like, I want to like, I want to start writing a blog, or I want to write a book. Awesome. Five to six every day, you’re going to have to go to bed earlier. You’re going to have to not doom scroll on your phone. You have to make the choice. Like, the technology out there is out there to exist for you, to create and build awesome things. You just got to prioritize your time.
CB: That’s relatable. I think a lot of people, myself included, I work better in the morning is way more focused. So if there is writing or something you know, more intense to do, that’s when I’ll focus on that too. So love that. What do you do at 5am then?
BC: I usually go to the gym. I go to the gym, ride bikes. That’s kind of my that’s kind of it again, if I’ve got an article to write, like, that’s like, that’s when I’ll a lot of times I feel it’s like, you know, need to write a do an Apple at Work column or I even want to edit my podcast. I’ll do that super early in the morning because I’m laser focused. And again, it’s like, you can choose to re watch that episode of 30Rock for the 18th time, or you can write your blog. You have to decide. It’s, pro it’s just you have to, I talk about this with kids, like, you have to have goals, and you have to decide, like, where do I want to be in 60 days? How do I get there? And you just have to, you just have to make a priority. And you’re probably going to, and now we tell this to people like, as they come in their 20s, you’re gonna, probably gonna have to pare down your hobbies as you get older. Like, you’re not going to be able to, like, go to the gym for an hour and a half, play two hours of video games, watch every TV show ever. Like you’re going to have to pair down your hobbies as you get older and move into your life. And I always tell people like, Look at the look at someone you respect. Like, I mean, if it was like, Jeff Bezos. How do you think Jeff Bezos spends his time every day? It’s probably not on his phone for three hours.
CB: Yeah.
BC: Like Doom scrolling, you know, X or LinkedIn. He’s, he’s doing so he’s making it. He’s, you know, focused time.
CB: Well, we are going to leave this podcast inspired. It’s clear you’re very passionate about about everything, but especially your role at 9To5Mac. And it’s great that you’re sharing this insight with everyone. So we really appreciate you taking the time to come on our podcast today.
BC: Well, thank you for having me. It’s always, it’s always nice to chat with people. And again, I do, I think so much of what PR agencies do, because I know that role has evolved in the last two years and but it’s funny, as everything’s gotten automated, I go back to relationships matter.
CB: Yeah.
BC: And that’s ultimately. And so if there’s any company listen to this, like, pick an agency, ride or die, stick with them, and don’t expect them to make your news like it’s up for the agency to tell the story. Like, if you don’t have a story to tell on your side, on your product side, there’s nothing for them to like, like they’re not going to get you a story in Fortune, just that you exist. Come up with a story and, like, if you got a release. And the one of the biggest, sorry, I know we’re going over, one of the biggest mistakes I see tech companies make specifically is they will, like, not package up their releases into a cohesive story. They’ll do a they’ll do, like, a new version of their X software, if it’s a SaaS app, they’ll release like, a new version, like, every week. Like, why don’t you just like, save all those and like once every other month, have a really compelling release, then that lets the agency go tell a really good story with that. We could not agree more, that is great advice coming from you. I love that. We’ll put all of that in our blog going with this episode too, so everyone can read that. Fantastic. Well, yeah, again. Thank you so much, Bradley, we had a great time talking to you today. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
CB: Thank you for joining us on today’s episode of Inside the Media Minds to learn more about our podcast and hear all of our episodes. Please visit us at w2comm.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter @MediaMindsShow, and you can subscribe anywhere podcasts are found.