Following our PPA Independent Publisher Awards last week, we spoke with Ivor Eisenstadt, Managing Director of MGP, PPA Independent Publishing Company of the Year 2020. He explains how the company has changed and evolved over the last year, his advice to other independent publishers and what it means to win this year's award.

At the start of the first lockdown, Serlina Boyd and her daughter embarked on a project to create a children's magazine that celebrates black culture, giving young children a voice and space for representation. The magazine has now evolved into a cultural phenomenon that has reached as far South Korea and can now be found on newsstands across the UK.

In the coming weeks we will be hosting our virtual PPA Independent Publisher Conference & Awards, a chance for this community to come together to share ideas and provide insights for getting through this tricky time. Chris March, Founder of Remember Media, an independent publisher based in North England shares some of the steps they have been taking to support their local communities and the importance of regional publishers in bringing people together.

Only a few months after starting at the British primary care magazine Pulse as a staff reporter this year, COVID-19 hit, marking the start of a rapid learning curve for Costanza Pearce who continues to break exclusives and hold those in power to account. "It has been overwhelming at times but a privilege to serve and write for doctors who are working on the frontline and who need help digesting information."

Nine times a year, Ed Needham single-handedly produces Strong Words, a magazine about new books, packed with reviews and interviews with their authors across all types of genres. Since embarking on his Strong Words journey in 2017, Ed reads the equivalent of War and Peace every week and writes the equivalent of The Great Gatsby every issue. "It is one of those enduring miracles of magazine production that no matter what, they always reach the printer on time, and Strong Words is no different."

As Director of Communications & PR at Hearst UK, Effie Kanyua is highly experienced in how publishers can communicate the values of their brands both internally and externally. In our conversation we spoke about what Hearst UK has been doing to recognise and celebrate Black History Month and how PR & Comms teams more broadly can play effective roles at creating diversity in the workplace.

Ahead of World Mental Health Day, Head of Careers at NABS, the support organisation for the advertising and media industry, gives her insight on how best to navigate these difficult times. As we look to work from home indefinitely, Uzma Afridi provides insights into how we can support and collaborate with one another remotely as well as the NABS resources available to us.

Since starting her career in journalism, Jean Jollands has worked across a number of titles from the the black British national newspaper, The Voice to the Daily Express and now Take a Break, the best-selling women's weekly from Bauer Media. "I do think it is one of the most exciting times to be a black journalist," says Jean, "if the industry is serious about change." As Black History Month begins, we go on to speak about how the publishing industry makes this change by reflecting the voices of its audiences, the plans Bauer has to celebrate BHM and the importance of having these conversations all year round not just in October.

In the build-up to the PPA Independent Publisher Conference, we spoke with last year's keynote speaker, Mark Allen, Founder & Chairman of the Mark Allen Group and soon-to-be published author. Having successfully steered his company through the last six months, Mark gives his advice to publishers to get through these difficult times as well as explaining more about his productive lockdown during which he wrote a novel.

Following the recent partnership between TikTok & the Hearst brands, Women's Health & Men's Health, we spoke with the Head of Social Strategy about the process behind this collaboration. Having started in the industry before Instagram or TikTok even existed, Lauren Smith has been at the forefront of social media management from the very beginning. Smith explains how she successfully manages the social media strategy of 13 Hearst brands, how Instagram reels will change the way we interact with the platform and future social media trends she's interested in.

As we return to a life that allows us to venture outside and more or less enjoy the reopening of our cities, we spoke with CEO of Time Out Group about how the media and leisure brand, which is based on the buzz of the city, navigated such a rapid lockdown of worldwide cultural life, how they realigned their mission and how it has benefited Time Out in the long-run.

As one of the winners of our PPA 30 Under 30 2020 awards, Alice Wikinson, Deputy Editor of Waitrose & Partners HEALTH magazine explains how she got to where she is now so early on in her career and the ways in which she has navigated the changing media landscape. Our judges said that Alice is clearly a hard-working, 360-degree thinking, conscientious editor who is always thinking about ways to drive the brand forward.

As the national news agency for the UK & Ireland, PA Media Group provides a whole range of content for a whole range of customers. The likes of Sky and the BBC to regional newspapers and digital-only publications all benefit from the news, sports, features, real-life, entertainment and many other types of content created by PA. Editor-in-Chief, Peter Clifton explains how they have worked in partnership with their customers during COVID to help them "weather the storm" and the concept behind their new award-winning platform, PA Explore.

For our final Radar interview before the August break, we spoke with Gideon Spanier, Editor-in-Chief of Campaign magazine and 1 of the 3 judges on the PPA Diversity Award judging panel. Spanier spoke to us about what he was looking for from a winning Diversity Initiative, what others in the industry can learn from the winning entry, Vogue, and what steps he is taking at Campaign to keep momentum around diversity in the industry.

It has been a unique few months for all publishers, but no more so than for The British Medical Journal (The BMJ) which has been at the forefront of the COVID coverage for the clinical and medical industry. Editor-in-Chief, Fiona Godlee reflects on its evolution since she inherited it in 2005 and the many moving parts which continuously come together to produce this highly respected, readable academic journal both online and in print.

At this year's PPA Awards, Haymarket Sustain was awarded our inaugural Sustainability Initiative Award. The judges unanimously agreed that Haymarket Sustain was an excellent example to all when it comes to implementing sustainability initiatives and it was clear they had a sincere desire to improve their environmental impact. We spoke with Head of Procurement at Haymarket, Gary Charlton, about what it meant to win, how the Haymarket at initiative has evolved and what he sees for its future.