Mosheh Oinounou’s Best Move: Leaving Legacy Media to Restore Trust in News

Who should you trust your ad money with? That’s easy. Who do your listeners trust?

This week on The Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) welcomes back Emmy, Murrow, and Webby Award-winning journalist Mosheh Oinounou (Founder & Host, Mo News) to discuss how he manages to keep his audience informed and entertained without sacrificing his morals or brand safety.

Mo shares the story of how he transformed his legacy news career into a trusted, independent podcast with an audience of +1M strong. Even better, he does it all with integrity, not outrage or clickbait. In a shifting news landscape, marketers need mo’ creators like Mo.

Join us as they talk: Leaving a Legacy, In Mo We Trust, and Journalistic FOMO.

“[Brands] shouldn’t just be cutting checks to the organizations, podcasts, or creators that just have the largest number of views. They should be rewarding people who are actually contributing to responsible information and dialogue, and frankly, trying to preserve and maybe improve our democracy.” – Mosheh Oinounou (Founder & Host, Mo News)

Leaving a Legacy – Mo isn’t the only journalist who has felt the pressure to transition away from traditional news media outlets. Brands and listeners are also leaving legacy news for new media like podcasts, which is a favored news medium for Gen Z. Should you follow their lead? If you’re buying legacy only, you’re missing out on the most trusted, most influential voices in the biz. But why pick one? If you can measure well and find good deals, keep a toe in each pond, so to speak. Just because something isn’t “enough” doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.

In Mo We Trust – Consumers only buy from creators they trust. What makes a trusted creator? Ones like Mo, who prioritize integrity over algorithmic growth. He fact-checks, responds to comments and DMs, and best of all, owns up when he’s made a mistake. Rage-bait and riding trends deliver short-term gains but don’t build long-term trust. Sticking to values and protecting listeners unlocks bigger long-term gains. Look for partners who play the long game, and you’ll win together.

Get Journalistic FOMO – Here’s the issue: brands can count on journalists like Mo, but the inverse isn’t always true. ORBIT shows the news genre is in the top 15% of all podcast genres for performance, and nothing beats it for scale. Yet brands still struggle to put their faith in creators like Mo, even when there is evidence that they are doing all of the right things. To beat the ad-sales roller coaster, Mo relies on ad-free subscribers. Marketers, we need great journalists, and we need to support them when we find them. It’s good for democracy and your ROI. The easiest of all win-wins. If you don’t support them now, they won’t stick around, or could go ad-free. It’s time to commit, before it’s too late.

If you want to learn how Mo builds trust while keeping brand safety top of mind, listen to the full episode at the link below.