TAKEAWAY: Tune in to Monocle radio starting today and let Tyler Brulé‘s team connect you to the topics, people and things that epitomize life as it should be. There is music, too. I am interviewed today, the first day of programming. ALSO: Reporting from Kuala Lumpur all of this week as the New Straits Times newsroom tears the walls down on the way to a total rethinking for a multi platform wall
Update #1: 3:07 p.m.
The sounds of Monocle
Today, Monday, October 17, is a historical day for my friend Tyler Brulé, the guru of nice and smart, as his latest project, M24 Monocle Radio, premieres. Tyler’s work represents a no-nonsense approach about how things/places should look and function to make life more sophisticated and better. He has an inimitable ability to get the sense of how the media should function to cater to that special segment of the media consuming population that values quality coverage of the best things in life. His incursion into radio should not be an exception
M24 will broadcast live from newly built studios on the ground floor of the Monocle offices in London. The team have been re-trained as radio hosts, and will begin recording four live shows per day, 365 days of the year. This, of course, in addition to the printed Monocle magazine, and the seasonal newspaper that appears in selected global spots. (See program highlights below)
To think Tyler Brulé is to think quality journalism, graphically seducing magazines, a la Wallpaper first, then Monocle. Better yet, to think Tyler Brulé, in my view, is to get a feeling of anticipation about life as it should be, seeing through the eyes of someone who many consider (and rightly so) the guru of good taste.
In addition, Tyler is, along with William Powers, the author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry, a print lover extraordinaire, by definition, by passion, by authentic belief in what print does. He puts his money where his fervor is, and, as Monocle magazine shows monthly, he makes print relevant, appealing, necessary—-and profitable. (Check the volume of luxury advertising on that latest issue of Monocle!on your coffee table)
Monocle on the air
I asked Tyler, why radio?
“Why radio? It’s still, after almost a century of regular broadcasts, the most intimate medium in an ever expanding buffet of choice. Would you prefer to be seated at a cosy table with four dazzling hosts with the best tips and tales or in a crowded room full of shouty people? I know what our readers would prefer?”
So today, Tyler’s newest venture M24 , a radio station giving voice to the already popular Monocle magazine , premieres. It is a radio station born with a big bang party in London to which I was invited but, alas, I must be working here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
However, although I am not there in body, my voice will be. I am honored to be interviewed today as part of the M24 station’s first day of programming, an occasion that I don’t take lightly. Everytime that I write a short commentary for Monocle magazine, I get the most interesting reactions from its readers—-people with eclectic interests (like Tyler himself) who are very much at home discussing the impact of newspapers in a given market, but who can also talk for 15 minutes on what city in the world serves the best sushi (Tokyo, of course), or what airline puts the hardest pillows under your head (Iberia).
That is the experience that Monocle radio will provide its listeners.
“It’s an ambitious venture but Tyler is really passionate about radio and believes in investing in the kind
of story telling radio is so good at,” Gillian Dobias, Monocle broadcast producer, tells me.
Gillian also tells me that Rob Bound, who serves as Monocle’s culture editor, will have his own culture and media show , while Hugo Macdonald will host
a weekly design program called “Section D” which will feature thoughtful discussions in design, architecture, fashion and graphics.
The Mario interview
For those interested in listening to my interview (live) today with M24, it will air in a show titled The Briefing from 12.00 noon to 12.30 British Standard time. I will be interviewed by Tyler Brulé.
The programs
Highlight Monocle 24 programmes include:
The Urbanist presented by Andrew Tuck
– a show about the cities we live in
Monocle’s editor hosts a show that looks at the people and ideas shaping our urban lives. The show will deliver a vibrant mix of reports, studio debate and news, plus regulars such as Tall Stories, which reveals the secret takes behind the buildings that make our skylines.
The Entrepreneurs presented by Jonathan Openshaw
– for the people who run their own businesses (or wish they did)
The Entrepreneurs is a weekly hour-long show putting the spotlight on the people driving innovation in their industry. From retail to design, music to finance, it focuses on one sector and entrepreneur each week.
The Culture Show presented by Robert Bound
– an hour of enlightenment on media and the arts
Illuminating the present, crystal-balling the future and attending the most entertaining openings, the Culture Show holds a microphone and notebook in one hand and a champagne flute in the other.
Section D presented by Hugo Macdonald
– from craft to architecture, a show about making things better
A weekly series presented by Monocle’s design editor focusing on global design, architecture, fashion and graphics. With industry leaders as studio guests, feature reports and updates from our network of correspondents around the world, the show is the first of its kind bringing the design industry to the airwaves.
The Menu presented by Monocle’s editors
– a show about food, neighbourhoods and that final meal
The Menu is a weekly one-hour programme about eating and drinking in cities around the world. Each week Monocle 24’s presenters travel to a new destination to tell the stories of the people who make its food scene thrive. From manufacturers to restaurateurs, we introduce you to the people you need to know whether you are dining in São Paulo or our carousing in Osaka.
For more information, go here:
?http://www.monocle.com/m24/
Emphasizing the New in the New Straits Times: Part 1
Workers tear down what I called the fish tank , a glass enclosed unit that stood in the middle of the newsroom, segregating rather than integrating people and ideas
It is new beginnings for the New Straits Times of Malaysia.
Emphasize the word new in the title, because come November 11-11, only a few weeks away, readers will see dramatic changes in how the newspaper reads and looks. it is part of a project I’m which we at Garcia Media embarked with the NST team almost six months ago.
Accompanying me on this journey of change and new beginnings, Constantine Eberle, our art director from Garcia Media Europe. Together with the talented internal team, we are looking at how information is presented via mobile, online, print and tablet.
We also know that in order for a media organization to be a true member of an integrated multi platform approach, the newsroom must provide the type of ambience that leads to digital and print people communicating constantly and pushing the story over the platform.
That process is now underway here, not just philosophically, but also physically as this first photo indicates.
I will be reporting about the changes here throughout this week. Come back for more.