Digital juggernaut COURIER enters new phase with new creator-led series
By Camaron Stevenson
COURIER National Newsroom recently invited hosts of its three new YouTube shows and podcasts, video creator and comedian Akilah Hughes, tech journalist Ryan Broderick, and TV critic and commentator Ashley Ray, to participate in a panel discussion on the future of values-based digital media and their new content collaborations.
The panel, sponsored by Grow Progress and Grassroots Analytics and moderated by COURIER managing director and executive producer Kevin Dreyfuss, introduced Hughes’ darkly comic culture and politics show, “How is this Better?” as well as Broderick’s show focusing on how the Internet is warping our lives, “Panic World,” and the revival and expansion of Ray’s popular “TV, I Say” entertainment series.
Kevin Dreyfuss: “We are now going to be branching out beyond just the fire hose of news that we’re all obsessed with and hate, To culture, tech, entertainment. Because we all — no matter our politics — also enjoy yelling at each other about TV and the internet.”
Ryan Broderick: “I really, truly believe that any company that is taking a swing at this — especially right now, it’s not an accident that we are in this exact position democratically — at a moment where journalism is not easy to access, is not trustworthy, all the other things we all know. So, any chance to make content — I hate that word, but that’s what it is — with a partner like COURIER, I’m going to jump at it because it has to better.”
Ashley Ray: “TV, media, pop culture, it is not separated from how we form our beliefs in our politics. And I think right now there is something to be said about the “Sex and the City” -binge-to-trad-wife content pipeline; how people seem to go down that path. So, being able to do that with a network that was down for me to… kind of be weird about what I want to talk about is great.”
Akilah Hughes: “It’s fun to have an organization that is just really dedicated to pushing back against all the bullshit that’s happening from the right. It’s sick to be somewhere that is prioritizing that. And also just shepherding in a lot of different kinds of shows.”
Over 200 founders, executives, and communications professionals attended the panel, representing congressional offices, nonprofits, and other progressive digital media companies. .
All three hosts have eschewed traditional media in their own right, opting instead to build their own brands as they’ve navigated the industry’s tumultuous transition from broadcast and print to streaming and digital.
In addition to the new slate of shows,, COURIER is continuing to expand its political coverage. In addition to content partnerships with creators at the local level, the national newsroom recently launched “Below the Beltway,” a daily newsletter that shines a light on what really happens behind the scenes in DC, and “Represent,” a YouTube docuseries offering a fly-on-the-wall perspective as influencer and abortion rights activist Deja Foxx makes a run at a House seat in Arizona.
