A 30,000 Foot View of Niche Media Businesses with Jon Ostrower - [Making Media, EP.55]

Our guest today is the preeminent aviation journalist, Jon Ostrower. Jon is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Air Current, which he started in 2018. It's an independent subscription media business focused on the global aerospace and aviation industries. Jon started blogging about the airline industry as a 22-year-old while working in politics, but he quickly became consumed by his passion and went on to work for Flight Global, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN before striking off to build his own media business. Throughout this conversation, he thoughtfully outlines the key decisions he's made in building The Air Current into the success it is today. Please enjoy this episode of Making Media with Jon Ostrower. Listen to the Boeing Business Breakdown with Jon. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00) Welcome to Making Media (02:35) First Question - Jon's Journey into Aviation Journalism (03:44) The Miracle of Flight and the Aerospace Industry (05:12) Jon's Early Career and the Birth of His Blog (06:39) The Evolution of The Air Current (10:24) The Importance of Quality Content and Audience Engagement (16:05) The Challenges and Triumphs of Scaling a Media Business (23:00) The Role of Passion and Expertise in Media Success (29:25) The Importance of Owning Your Platform (33:47) The Future of The Air Current and Closing Thoughts (38:16) Debrief