Economist Adds Faces to Its Nameless Tradition

TL;DR

The Economist magazine is launching video content featuring its normally anonymous writers and editors.
This summer it will roll out Economist Play in its mobile app with staff-hosted shows, interviews, and policy debates from New York and London studios.
The move adapts its tradition of unsigned articles to video demands while stressing substantive discussions over partisan talk shows.[[1]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/economist-magazine-videos.html)

The story at a glance

The Economist, long known for anonymous bylines, is introducing videos that put names and faces of its staff front and center. Key figures include editor in chief Zanny Minton Beddoes and staff like Nicolas Pelham, Charlotte Howard, Edward Carr, and Gregg Carlstrom. The article covers the rollout of Economist Play in the app and early videos in a product called Insider. This comes as the publication expands multimedia to engage readers amid industry shifts toward personality-driven content.[[1]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/economist-magazine-videos.html)

Key points

The Economist has traditionally published articles without bylines, making it an outlier in journalism.
Videos debuted in Insider, such as one where Pelham, Howard, and Carr in London interviewed Middle East correspondent Carlstrom.[[1]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/economist-magazine-videos.html)
Economist Play launches this summer as a new app section with correspondent-hosted shows, newsmaker interviews, and staff policy debates.
Studios in New York and London will produce the content.
The videos aim to showcase expertise through conversations, not partisan commentary.[[1]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/economist-magazine-videos.html)

Details and context

The Economist, founded in 1843, built its brand on collective voice over individual stars, shunning bylines even as peers like the New York Times highlighted reporters. Video marks a step toward personalization, following earlier expansions into podcasts, newsletters, and vertical shorts in its app.[[2]](http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2026)[[3]](https://www.economistgroup.com/pdfs/reports/TEG_Annual_Report_2025.pdf)

Insider offers subscriber-exclusive videos like debates on geopolitics and tech, building on the publication's profitable growth—revenue hit 170 million pounds in the six months to September 2025, up with operating profit rising 23%.[[4]](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/economist-stake-draws-interest-deadline-approaches-sources-say-2025-11-28)

This fits broader media trends: publishers integrate video for younger audiences while preserving depth, as seen in The Economist's dense vertical clips over snackable social fare.[[5]](https://www.pugpig.com/2026/03/18/how-vertical-video-has-evolved)

Key quotes

“It’s a million miles from Fox News or MSNBC,” Zanny Minton Beddoes, the publication’s editor in chief, said of the videos.[[1]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/economist-magazine-videos.html)

Why it matters

Even institutions like The Economist must adapt traditions to video and apps to stay relevant in a fragmented media landscape. Readers gain more ways to access its analysis through familiar voices, potentially deepening subscriptions for those seeking substance over spectacle. Watch for Economist Play's summer rollout and viewer response, which could shape further personalization.[[1]](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/economist-magazine-videos.html)