What Is New Media Now vs Podcasting? | Ashley Christenson / @Ashni #665

In episode 665 of the New Media Show, hosted by 2017 Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee, Rob talks with Ashley Christenson, also known as Ashni, for a deep conversation about one of the most important questions facing podcasting, streaming, creator media, startups, and traditional media right now:

What does “New Media” actually mean today?

The term “New Media” has been around since the late 1990s, but its meaning is shifting again. What once described digital media outside traditional broadcast and print is now being used by creators, VCs, startups, streaming strategists, AI companies, and professional communities to refer to something more specific: creator-led media that builds trust, influence, industry position, and direct audience relationships.

Ashley brings a unique perspective from 13 years in online media, Twitch streaming, YouTube education, startup marketing, community building, and creator strategy. She explains that she sees the creator economy as building an audience as the asset, whereas the emerging version of New Media is more about building status and position within an industry conversation. In her view, the key difference is not simply between consumer and professional audiences, but about what the media operation is designed to build and protect.

Rob brings the longer history of podcasting and digital media into the discussion, asking whether podcasting was one of the first major expressions of New Media and whether it now sits within a much larger creator-led ecosystem. The conversation explores how podcasting, YouTube, streaming video, newsletters, live shows, X, AI-generated content, and Apple Podcasts’ move toward HLS video streaming are all blurring the old lines between podcasting, creator media, and professional media.

A major theme in this episode is whether podcasting is still its own category or has become a powerful format within the broader New Media industry. Rob argues that the word “podcast” is increasingly defined by audiences and platforms, while creators may need to think more broadly as show builders, media operators, and participants in the creator economy.

Ashley and Rob also explore how X is becoming a real-time professional media layer, why founders, investors, executives, and AI builders are returning to the platform, and why companies are experimenting with live streaming, clipping, launch videos, short-form content, and creator-style formats to reach professional audiences.

The episode also moves into AI-generated media, human-hosted content, AI clones, disclosure, and trust. Rob argues that human-created and AI-created content may both need clear labeling, while Ashley points out that long-form podcasts may remain more defensible because listeners often build real relationships with hosts over time.

This conversation lands on a bigger media reality: New Media is no longer just a technology term. It is becoming a business category, a creator category, a trust category, and a professional influence category. Podcasting helped build the foundation, but the next version of New Media is broader, more video-driven, more AI-assisted, more platform-diverse, and more dependent on trust than ever before.

Key Topics:

• What “New Media” means in 2026
• Creator economy vs. New Media
• Audience as an asset vs. status as an asset
• Why podcasting helped define early New Media
• Whether podcasters should now think more like creators and show builders
• Apple Podcasts HLS video and the return of video podcasting
• YouTube, Spotify, X, and the platform shift around shows
• Why VCs and startups are using the term New Media
• X is a professional media and live content platform
• Traditional media is trying to become more internet-native
• AI-generated podcasts, AI clones, and synthetic media
• Human-hosted content, disclosure, and audience trust
• Why long-form podcasts may remain defensible in the AI era

Chapter Markers:

00:00 Cold Open and Welcome
00:32 What Does New Media Mean
02:08 Podcasting Meets Multi Format
03:14 Meet Rob Greenlee
04:01 Introducing Ashley Christensen
04:53 Ashley’s Creator Economy Journey
08:26 AI Definitions of New Media
12:35 Creator Economy vs New Media
16:29 The Kill Switch Test
21:38 Is VC Rebranding New Media
24:10 Niche Status Media Examples
31:55 Traditional Media Goes Internet Native
34:59 Podcasting Identity and Convergence
41:35 Creator as a Catch-All Term
43:56 Naming New Media
46:11 Podcast Term Debate
51:02 X Shapes Media
55:35 X Video Creator Push
01:00:51 Twitter Podcast Roots
01:04:38 AI Flooding Podcasts
01:07:48 Human Trust Labels
01:11:34 Clones and Disclosure
01:17:49 Trust Factor Wrap
01:18:19 Closing and Where to Follow

Guest and Host Links

Guest: Ashley Christenson / Ashni

Streaming strategist, creator economy, and new media operator

• X: https://x.com/ashnichrist
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ashnichrist
• Hype Partners: https://x.com/hypepartners

Host: Rob Greenlee

• New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com
• Rob Greenlee: https://robgreenlee.com
• Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com
• Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
• Rob Greenlee Booking: https://calendly.com/robgreenlee

About the Host/Author:
Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and Chair, a global new-media leader who bridges podcasting’s human roots and its AI-driven future. As founder of Trust Factor Lab and host of the “New Media Show” and “Spoken Human”, Rob helps creators start, grow, monetize, and future-proof their content. He’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Spreaker, Libsyn, StreamYard, and PodcastOne, and serves as Chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame. Learn more at RobGreenlee.com and join the Trust Factor Lab Creator/Podcast Services.

Personal/AI Disclosure Note: I used AI tools to help organize and edit this episode and generate show notes. I have many hand edits; the views, clarifications, responsibility, and industry perspective are mine and my guests’. I have been working in podcasting and platform adoption for more than two decades, and this article reflects my own position. The original word choice was mine, and so is the clarification.