Schwartz Publishing

Schwartz Publishing is an Australian publishing house, digital media and news media organisation based in Carlton of Melbourne, Victoria established by Australian Property Developer Morry Schwartz in the 1980s. Since the late-1990s many of its publications appeared under the Black Inc imprint.[1] Schwartz Publishing has its complementary brand Schwartz Media, which all sit under the wider group of 'Schwartz' companies specialising in newspapers, books, essays magazines, journals, podcasts and online news media.

Schwartz Publishing (Schwartz Media)
Founded1974
FounderMorry Schwartz
Country of originAustralia
Headquarters locationMelbourne, Victoria Australia
Key peopleMorry Schwartz (Publisher)

Rebecca Costello (CEO, Schwartz Media) Erik Jensen (Editor-in-Chief, Shcwartz Media)

Alex Sampson (Executive Editor, Schwartz Pro)
Publication typesBooks, Magazines, Newspapers, Journals, Policy, Digital Properties, Subscription Services
ImprintsBlack Inc, La Trobe University Press, Nero, Quarterly Essay Journal, Australian Foreign Afffairs Journal, Writers on Writers
No. of employees50-200
Official websiteschwartzpublishing.com.au

History

In the 1980s Schwartz Publishing mainly published American self-help books. Its all-time bestseller was Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. with 300,000 copies sold.[1] In the 1990s Schwartz Publishing set up the Black Inc imprint, publishing since 2001 the Quarterly Essay and since 2005 The Monthly.[1][2] In 2017, Black Inc. Books alongside La Trobe University launched a joint publishing imprint La Trobe University Press (LTUP). The joint imprint publishes leading scholars and experts producing books of high intellectual quality, substance and originality.

Schwartz Media & The Saturday Paper

In 2014, Schwartz Media began publishing The Saturday Paper, with the aim to "challenge orthodoxy...question authority and provoke debate."[3] The newspaper was launched on 1 March 2014 in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra. The publication of The Saturday Paper came at a time when newspapers were experiencing major write-downs.[4] Schwartz Media is one of the most trusted media sources in Australia, being the most trusted non-broadcast media outlets and placing 3rd in overall media outlets just behind SBS and ABC, by a Roy Morgan Media Net Trust Survey in April 2019.[5] Schwartz Media was one of only four media outlets with a positive media trust rating.[6] In the 12 months leading up to September 2019, The Saturday Papers readership results were released, showing that new paper had successfully grown by 8.2% with now a circulation of 250,000, despite the overall news media industry declining by 3.7%.[7]

A Wine Service and Subscription Services

In December 2017, Blackhearts & Sparrows a specialty group of Melbourne wine stores owned by Paul Ghaie, teamed up with The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and 7am to launch A Wine Service, a monthly wine subscription service providing a selection of seasonal, hand-picked wines for all tastes and budgets.[8] The joint venture between the independent wine retailer and Schwartz Pro is still ongoing, with three distinct categories of wines being distributed being Classic, Esoteric and Premium.

Schwartz Pro

In May 2019, Morry Schwartz, announced the official launch of Schwartz Pro, a new publishing arm to complement Schwartz Media, alongside then CEO Charis Palmer.[9] Initially launching with two news titles of Australian Energy Daily and Australian Banking Daily, the two verticals were then followed by the launch of Australian Health Daily in 2020. Schwartz Pro publishes specialist quality journalism, with a focus on policy, industry and sector news. The media outlet has also included several features to support this focus such as its Daily Policy Briefings, the Key Event Calendar, Monthly Czar Report and This Sitting Week.[10] Schwartz Pro and its associated verticals are an online-only news service which use a subscription paywall and zero-advertising business model.

Podcasts and new media

Following the launch of Schwartz Pro at the end of May 2019, Schwartz Media announced the launch of 7am, a daily new podcast.[11] 7am is hosted by award-winning investigative journalist and documentary host Ruby Jones and with editor Osman Faruqi. Available every weekday morning, the podcast followed a global trend of increasing engagement, popularity and adoption of podcasting as a new medium of media, having increased by 700,000 active Australian listeners since 2015 (an increase of 70).[12]

In May 2020, 7am announced it would be partnering with Acast the world's largest podcast company for the distribution of its growing listener base, with it now being available on all the major podcasting platforms being Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts as well as other smaller platforms such as Acast, Castbox, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean and Stitcher.[13]

Following this announcement, Schwartz Media also celebrated a new audience listenership milestone, with an average of 45,000 Australian listens each day, or almost a quarter of a million listens weekly, placing it in the top five Australian podcasts.[14] Schwartz Media has subsequently launched two more podcasts being The Saturday Quiz hosted by Australian actor John Leary and The AFA Podcast hosted by Jonathan Pearlman, the editor of the Australian Foreign Affairs Journal.

Editorial Changes

The CEO of Schwartz Media is Rebecca Costello, who has been in this role from September 2006. In June 2018, Erik Jensen, formerly editor of The Saturday Paper, became editor-in-chief[15] of Schwartz Media and The Saturday Paper.[16] Charis Palmer was previously the CEO of Schwartz Pro, being in the role from its planning and pre-launch in June 2018 until her departure in early 2020. Alex Sampson, was appointed to take on these responsibilities as the incoming Executive Editor.

Publications

Black Inc

Schwartz Media

Schwartz Pro

References
  1. Susan Wyndham: "Developer adds another story" in The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 2004
  2. Paul Barry: "Morry Schwartz" Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, in The Power Index, retrieved 10 February 2014
  3. Erik Jensen (2014). "Editorial" (Editorial). The Saturday Paper. Black Inc. Retrieved 1 March 2014. challenge orthodoxy; permission to question authority and provoke debate
  4. Zappone, Chris (23 August 2012). "Fairfax cuts billions from masthead values". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  5. "ABC still most trusted | Facebook improves". Roy Morgan. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  6. "Long read: A new revenue model for publishers - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  7. "It's official: Newspaper masthead readership is up 3.2% to over 16 million!". Roy Morgan. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  8. "The Saturday Paper and The Monthly are Launching a New Way to Experience New Wines". Broadsheet. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  9. Blackiston, Hannah (8 May 2019). "Schwartz Media launches two new titles in 'answer to the exodus of specialist journalists from the general press'". Mumbrella. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  10. "Schwartz Pro". Schwartz Pro. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  11. "Schwartz Media launches daily news podcast". Mumbrella. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  12. "Podcasts growing in popularity in Australia". Roy Morgan. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  13. "Schwartz Media's 7am podcast joins Acast". Mumbrella. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  14. "Schwartz Media's 7am podcast celebrates one year with listener milestone". Mumbrella. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  15. Zoe Samios (15 June 2018). "Vice's Maddison Connaughton named new editor of The Saturday Paper". Mumbrella. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  16. "Erik Jensen". Black Inc Books. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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