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Friday, April 8, 2016
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No garbage fires here: Medium advances its quest to gentrify the world of Internet publishingThe search for a clean, well-lighted place on the Internet. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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From Nieman Reports: Do we need a new kind of nonprofit structure to support news as a public good?“What must be recognized is that the news media provide a public good, just as universities and other contributors to the knowledge economy of the 21st century do. For that reason they deserve special treatment by the government.” By Julia Cagé. |
What We’re Reading
The Guardian / Mary Hamilton
The Guardian is asking its readers for feedback as it changes the way it handles comments →
“Building an online community is difficult, and changing the way a community works once it has been established even more so.”
The News & Observer / David Ranii
Raleigh’s News & Observer has gone from 1,200 FTEs to 350 in 16 years →
“I knew that we were going to have a digital disruption. The industry knew that for a long time. But none of us knew how deep and wide it would be.”
Digiday / Lucia Moses
Some publishers are seeing a drop in Facebook traffic →
One publisher, which has been all in on Instant Articles, has seen a commensurate drop in direct traffic, since readers view Instant Articles without leaving the app. "It's been a shift from bucket to bucket," this publisher said.
Medium / Sarah Schmalbach
Smartwatch apps that offer potential for mobile storytelling →
The interesting question here for publishers is: what could we offer users if they connected their smartwatches directly with our journalism? And how is that different and better than what we're sending to mobile phones?
Politico Media / Peter Sterne
Publishing start-up Slant News shuts down →
The Israeli software startup funding the site decided to pull its support.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com-hosted sites are now HTTPS →
“As the EFF points out as part of their Encrypt the Web initiative, strong encryption protects our users in various ways, including defending against surveillance of content and communications, cookie theft, account hijacking, and other web security flaws.”
New York / Lainna Fader, Nate Goldman, Tara Abell, Mia Keimkuhler, and Marissa Cetin
Inside New York magazine’s Instagram strategy →
“We decided to invest significant time and resources into growing our accounts and boosting our engagement levels, and we've already seen the payoff. @nymag has grown from 190,000 followers to more than 475,000 over the past year.”
Recode / Kurt Wagner
Publishers can now post native video ads on Facebook →
“But what's happening here is pretty simple: Facebook wants people creating great video content for Facebook, and they're more likely to do that if they can make some money on the side. It's the same reason Facebook is paying celebrities and media properties to use its new live video product.”
The Guardian / Mark Sweney
Country Living magazine sparks rural romance with dating site →
The British magazine “aims to appeal to men and women aged ’45-plus’ who have a ‘passion for the countryside.'”
From Fuego
10 newsgathering and verification tools for newsrooms on a budget —firstdraftnews.com
The Senate’s Draft Encryption Bill Is a Privacy Nightmare —www.wired.com
GaggleAmp: The ‘secret weapon of online influence’ —socialmedia.biz
American freelance photographer freed in Syria —www.washingtonpost.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.