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Wednesday, March 16, 2016
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The publisher of The Toronto Star, which is betting big on an expensive tablet edition, is stepping downThe paper was targeting 180,000 daily app users by the end of 2016. Today, it has about 26,000. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Have an interactive, data-driven story that doesn’t fit at your news outlet? The Thrust wants to know“In a lot of ways this serves dual purposes: one of them being a publication platform for us to do fun, interesting, or experimental things. The other is to be that platform for other people.” By Shan Wang. |
What We’re Reading
Business Insider / Lara O'Reilly
Ads on news sites gobble up as much as 79% of users’ mobile data →
“The researchers concluded that it is reasonable to say advertising accounts for half of all the data used by publisher pages loaded over mobile data networks on the iPhone 6.”
Poynter / Melody Kramer
Here are 27 ways to think about comments →
“And then there's Motherboard, which is experimenting with asking for readers’ phone numbers so that staff members can talk to them on the phone.”
The Guardian / Alex Hern
Major sites including The New York Times and BBC hit by ‘ransomware’ malvertising →
“When the infected adverts hit users, they redirect the page to servers hosting the malware, which includes the widely-used (amongst cybercriminals) Angler exploit kit. That kit then attempts to find any back door it can into the target's computer, where it will install cryptolocker-style software, which encrypts the user's hard drive and demands payment in bitcoin for the keys to unlock it.”
Chicago Tribune / Geoffrey Mohan
Tribune Publishing’s bid for O.C. Register faces antitrust hurdles, DOJ says →
"The division believes that the acquisition of Freedom assets by Tribune Publishing Company poses a serious risk of harming newspaper readers and advertisers in Orange County and Riverside County," Assistant Atty. Gen. William Baer, head of the antitrust division, wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to an attorney representing Freedom.”
The Wall Street Journal / Mike Shields
CNN is spending $20 million on digital expansion →
“Andrew Morse, executive vice president of editorial of CNN U.S. and general manager of CNN Digital Worldwide, said the new investment will be focused on three key areas: Web video, mobile and global expansion. CNN plans to hire more than 200 new staffers, including a mix of journalists, video producers, analytics and audience development experts and mobile product developers.”
Crux
Crux will live on in partnership with the Knights of Columbus →
“As part of the project, Catholic Pulse, a news and commentary website operated by the Knights of Columbus, will merge with Crux, adding its resources to Crux's blend of staff-generated reporting and analysis with pieces by respected guest contributors.”
The New York Times / Mike Isaac
Instagram is testing out an algorithmic feed →
“Instagram will place the photos and videos it thinks you will most want to see from the people you follow toward the top of your feed, regardless of the time those posts were originally shared.”
The Denver Post
Denver Post editor Greg Moore resigns →
“There is strong and stable leadership in place. But it’s time for a fresh voice to lead from the corner office.”
From Fuego
CNN to Pump $20 Million Into Digital Expansion —www.wsj.com
Merrick Garland – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia —en.wikipedia.org
Boehner endorses Paul Ryan for president —www.politico.com
Who Is Merrick Garland? —thinkprogress.org
The Potential Nomination of Merrick Garland —www.scotusblog.com
Fuego is our heat-seeking Twitter bot, tracking the stories the future-of-journalism crowd is talking about most. Usually those are about journalism and technology, although sometimes they get distracted by politics, sports, or GIFs. (No humans were involved in this listing, and linking is not endorsing.) Check out Fuego on the web to get up-to-the-minute news.