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Thursday, June 9, 2016
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5 things publishers can learn from how Jeff Bezos is running The Washington Post"I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it's not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that's not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you." By Dan Kennedy. |
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Selling subscriptions through Apple is getting better for publishers — but also for everyone elsePublishers can get a 21 percent jump in the revenue they get to keep from long-term customers — but is the subscription space on iPhones and iPads about to get too crowded? By Joshua Benton. |
What We’re Reading
Current / Alyssa Anderson
As collaborations expand, newsroom leadership jobs prove difficult to fill →
"NPR and other producers of public radio are in the midst of trying to build a network of stations," said Michael Oreskes, NPR's senior v.p. of news and editorial director. "The system of collaboration we are building requires more editors."
Digiday / Garett Sloane
Publishers test Snapchat’s tolerance for branded content →
"There doesn't seem to be consistent guidelines about what can and can't go into Discover. And what Snapchat considers branded or editorial content, it comes off as very subjective," said a Snapchat advertiser, who has run into difficulties.
The Guardian
The Guardian launched a recipe bot on Facebook Messenger →
The bot, called Guardian Sous-Chef, is the paper’s first attempt at a messaging bot.
ESPN
ESPN is now collecting its best longform writing under the Doubletruck brand →
With “Backstory” pieces by writers about process.
Politico / Kelsey Sutton
Ben Smith says BuzzFeed is committed to news →
"We've never seen news and entertainment as being in competition with each other," Smith said. "Our experience is that people always want to know what is going on in the world, whether that's news or entertainment or a mix of both."
Recode / Mark Bergen
Google matches (and improves on) Apple’s new subscription payout offer →
Apple switches to 85 percent payouts after one year of an app subscription; Google will offer that split from day 1, Recode reports.
Daring Fireball / John Gruber
Some things are unclear about Apple’s new subscription offerings for apps →
“I think Apple wants to define ‘good use of the subscription business model’ as ‘we know it when we see it.’ The problem with that is that developers don't know whether they're going to be approved or not.”
Recode / Peter Kafka
The app boom is over →
“If you are an independent app developer or publisher, you have probably known this for a while, because you have found it very difficult to get people to download your app — the average American smartphone user downloads zero apps per month.”
Recode / Kurt Wagner
Longtime Twitter exec Ross Hoffman is the company’s new VP of global media →
Hoffman is the third person to hold the job in the past six months.
Columbia Journalism Review / David Uberti
The L.A. Times may emerge from turmoil as a model of digital success. It may not. →
"If we get this right," Times editor Davan Maharaj says, "we can be the model for news outlets in cities across the country. It's on us."
Bloomberg / Olivia Zaleski and Gerry Smith
Arianna Huffington is planning a new media startup focused on health and wellness →
“Huffington, 65, has held talks with investors about a new media company called Thrive, said people familiar with the matter. The publication plans to provide lifestyle content contributed by celebrities and bloggers, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.”