By Josh White
The PoliticsJOE team match mainstream commentators for knowledge, with fewer constraints on what they can and can’t say publicly.
If you love podcasts and hate nonces, the chances are you’ve already stumbled onto PoliticsJOE on YouTube.
So you’ll know characters such as Oli Dugmore, Ava-Santina Evans and Ed Campbell. Maybe Laura Beveridge and Sean Hickey as well. They all bring alternative commentary to the Westminster lobby.
The result is political analysis with banter and plenty of laughs.
In the words of Fin Taylor, PoliticsJOE is “the thinking man’s LADBible”. Their aim is to reach Millennials and Zoomers who aren’t swayed by mainstream punditry, but without sinking to LADBible’s crass aesthetic.
The fact that JOE Media has mainly been owned by Irish entrepreneurs may have helped free it from many of the blind spots and constraints of UK media.
PoliticsJOE set up its own YouTube channel in 2019. Together, JOE and PoliticsJOE have almost 1.2 million subscribers, with the latter reaching close to 700,000 subscribers.
Just like every savvy media operation, PoliticsJOE plays the algorithm to grow and maintain its following. It does so through an SEO strategy combining humour with insight.
The JOE Model
Originally, JOE was launched in Ireland by Niall McGarry in 2010, targeting the 18-35 age bracket, then expanded into the UK in 2015. Back then, lad mags were dying off, opening a new space for different media products aimed at young men and women.
Although JOE has come a long way since its early days, the platform still has the same basic approach today, with coverage geared towards sports, film and, yes, some politics too.
JOE has gone through different owners since McGarry and faced collapse more than once. Venture capital firm Greencastle LLP owned it for a few years before Irish entrepreneur Michael O’Rourke stepped in to save the media group in 2024.
The platform's target audience hasn’t changed over the years. But the best way to reach that audience has. Lad mags are long dead, and audio-visual media is dominant in an increasingly post-literate age. It’s all about clicks and viewing time.
PoliticsJOE was partly launched on the back of comical content lampooning Westminster affairs, such as a viral clip superimposing Jeremy Corbyn’s face on rapper Stormzy.
These days, PoliticsJOE offers daily podcasts and video content on the state of play in Westminster and the challenges facing the UK beyond SW1.
Ed Campbell and Laura Beveridge film vox pops across the country.
One such series is Extreme Britain, where Ed often visits a location in the UK with the highest concentration of a particular group of people. For example, Campbell went to Clacton to interview Reform UK voters.
Meanwhile, Oli Dugmore and Ava Evans keep up with Westminster gossip. Every Wednesday, the team runs a commentary on PMQs, dissecting the scenes in Parliament for their target audience.
PoliticsJOE was established to deliver content for a younger audience, initially targeting Millennials and later Gen Z as well. Its politics place it firmly outside the rightwing mediasphere.
Most members of the PoliticsJOE team either came from mainstream radio or joined sooner after finishing a journalism degree.
As twenty- and thirty-somethings themselves, they are well-placed to produce broadcast media for their demographics.
Of course, no media project is immune to scandal. So far, the biggest one involving PoliticsJOE involved former TV actor Laurence Fox making nasty comments about the site’s political editor, Ava-Santina Evans.
During a late show on rightwing GB News, Fox went on a bizarre tirade about how no self-respecting man would ever have sex with Evans. “Who would shag that?” Fox asked the audience.
Long story, short: Fox was booted off the channel. He was followed in quick succession by Calvin Robinson, who came to his defence. Dan Wootton was also suspended for giggling like a Kiwi schoolboy at Fox’s remarks.
Evans handled the scandal with dignity and poise when many others would have completely lost their shit. The likes of Fox could learn a great deal from her public conduct.
Delicious 'Left-Wing'
PoliticsJOE is building a loyal following among Millennials and Zoomers because it doesn’t condescend to them.
While the project is best described as liberal centre-left, it’s clear the team is at least open to radical ideas.
This isn’t Novara Media, nor is it the Lotus Eaters.
PoliticsJOE punches above its weight in terms of getting interviews with the likes of authors and politicians, but it also stages discussions.
One of my favourite pieces of PoliticsJOE content is a debate between rightwing academic Matthew Goodwin and media critic Mic Wright.
Goodwin was pushing the line—he still is, in fact—that the UK has been run into the ground by a “woke elite". From his perspective, the left dominates British society culturally and politically.
Responding to Goodwin, Wright argued he had never had a taste of “delicious left-wing” in his life.
This was very much a debate about the Great British culture wars raging online.
Anyone logged into UK politics will have a strong view on whether the country is run by elite lefties or Tories in disguise.
Dugmore moderated the debate fairly, ensuring Goodwin and Wright could each make their case. This was especially “fair", given it was clear he agreed more with Wright than Goodwin.
You probably won’t see this kind of debate aired on the BBC or GB News, though the latter seems more likely these days.
This is a tough time for a youth media brand, let alone an alternative politics channel.
As JOE’s financial struggles indicate, the challenge isn’t so much producing content as it is making money from it.
Despite this difficulty, PoliticsJOE has an advantage thanks to its model.
Audio-visual media are better placed to survive the pace of change than the dead-tree press. The market is unsentimental about print media in a way that journalists struggle to accept.
This is bad news for traditional news media. But it’s also good news for smart, flexible operations like PoliticsJOE.
Screenshot courtesy of PoliticsJoe. All rights reserved.