INMA 30 Under 30: Madison Flanders of The New York Times
Editor's Inbox | 20 January 2025
In September 2024, INMA awarded 30 young professionals around the world with its fifth “30 Under 30” award as part of its Young Professionals Initiative. This is the fourth in a series of 30 features about the impressive rising media stars who are shaping our industry.

As senior project manager at The New York Times, Madison Flanders specialises in mobile app development and new product launches. Although she is early in her career, her impressive track record already includes key roles in high-profile projects including the launch of Disney+ and key projects at The Times.
Madison successfully managed the launch of NYT Audio, a product that reaches millions of subscribers. One of her major accomplishments within the past year was leading the launch of the Listen Tab within the core news app, which proved to be a tremendous benefit to both users and the company. Her vision was to implement best practices for integrating multimedia content in a way that would increase user engagement.
By providing users with a dedicated space for audio content, the Listen Tab encourages discoverability of podcasts and narrated articles. That resulted in longer session durations and higher frequency of visits, which in turn contributed to subscriber retention.
The initiative was part of an effort to expand the Times’ audio offerings and diversify its revenue streams, and the Listen Tab is credited with significantly increasing user engagement and retention. She also established the Android mobile team from scratch.
As she looks to the future, Madison wants to see the news media industry regain audience trust by improving transparency. She also wants to see it adapt to evolving consumer behaviour: “Younger generations are increasingly turning to social media and online platforms for news, highlighting the need for media companies to embrace digital innovation and deliver content in formats that resonate with these audiences.”
As companies make those changes, she is confident the industry can regain its footing: “By prioritising transparency, rebuilding trust, and adapting to changing consumption habits, the media industry can secure its relevance and continue to fulfill its crucial role in informing and engaging the public.”