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Wednesday, July 13, 2016
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Remember Facebook Messenger bots? The Washington Post just launched one (with a few bugs)The Post wants to be on “every bottable platform.” It plans to launch this fall on SMS and then Slack. By Joseph Lichterman. |
What We’re Reading
J-source / H.G. Watson
The Toronto Star announces an “independent facilitation process review” of the newsroom’s culture →
“As most of you know, the union has publicly called for an ‘independent investigation’ of the newsroom’s ‘poisonous workplace’ where ‘harassment’ and ‘bullying’ are rife…The union's assessment is not our view. But in recent conversations with newsroom staff, we have heard legitimate concerns raised and questions posed.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Heather Chaplin
How The New York Times is incorporating design into audience research →
The pressure to anticipate an audience's needs and desires is intense—no longer only of concern to business sides of media organizations but a part of the editorial mission
Vanity Fair / Emily Jane Fox
Alan Murray on his new job atop Time Inc. →
“I think number one is we have to become truly mobile first. That's where the audience growth is…So you really have to organize yourself and produce content in a way that satisfies people reading on mobile devices. That's just very different than producing for magazines. We've started making that turn, but we haven't finished it.”
Media Nation / Dan Kennedy
Big changes (and shrinkage) coming to Boston.com →
“The free site will get smaller (buyouts are being offered) and that the priority will be the paid BostonGlobe.com site. It also sounds like Boston.com is being repositioned as a lifestyle-and-entertainment site.”
Optimizely Blog / Oliver Palmer
What The Telegraph learned from A/B testing page speed →
“Predictably, the more we slowed the site down the less frequently users returned to the site and the fewer pages they viewed.”
Adage / Jeremy Barr
Email newsletters hit a speed bump: Inaccurate open rates →
‘It’s unclear just how aware advertisers are that open rates can be inaccurate because it seems like no one really talks about it.’
The Content Strategist / Dillon Baker
The FTC cracks down on native advertising in the video game industry →
“”The FTC seemed particularly perturbed that Warner Bros. required influencers to express positive sentiment in the campaigns…the FTC believes influencer marketing and native advertising are inherently confusing for consumers.”
The New York Times / Sydney Ember
Time Inc. names Fortune editor Alan Murray chief content officer →
“The company, whose magazines include People and Sports Illustrated, has struggled with declining print revenue and has been looking for opportunities to grow on the digital side.”
POLITICO / Eli Stokols
Facebook plans live video push during conventions →
While Facebook’s social competitor Twitter has teamed with CBS News to livestream the entire event, Facebook is teaming up with C-SPAN, which says it will use Facebook Live to broadcast the evening’s proceedings, much as it did during the House Democrats’ gun control sit-in.
Poynter / Benjamin Mullin
The Washington Post is using Genius to explain the twists and turns of a crazy election →
The Washington Post’s prolific political blog, The Fix, has been a fount of annotations in recent months, bringing a critical eye and an at times dry wit to the many transcripts that have made news in 2016: Donald Trump with The Washington Post; Donald Trump with The New York Times; Donald Trump with The Washington Post (again).
Bloomberg.com / Gerry Smith
Facebook omnipresence makes Murdoch’s Journal wary of close ties →
While dozens of media companies explore deeper ties with Facebook Inc., one publisher has remained especially wary of the social network: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Digiday / Lucia Moses
How publishers wring new value from old content →
The average lifespan of a post (when an article reached 90 percent of its pageviews) is about 2.6 days, according to Parsely, a publishing analytics firm
Medium / Liza Darwin & Casey Lewis
The problem with email newsletters →
“We're two former teen magazine fanatics, and we believe email is in some ways a throwback to teen glossies like Elle Girl, YM, and even Sassy. They have a special kind of intimacy — almost like a medium for trading secrets, or asking advice — and this direct line to the reader automatically makes it feel more special than the numbers-driven internet model today.”
Business Insider / Kif Leswing
Nobody really likes their smartwatches except Apple Watch users →
“The survey also revealed some issues with all smartwatches, such as the battery not lasting long enough, and difficulty customizing them.”
Publishers Weekly / Ryan Joe
The state of indie audiobooks →
“‘Audible strongly suggested it,’ Rosalind James says about her decision to self-publish [her audiobook]. ‘They're really pushing audio as more of a first choice rather than as a boutique choice for reading.'”
Slate / Will Oremus
Here’s why Twitter doesn’t have an edit button →
“Twitter can no longer afford to prioritize the interests of the people who use it. In order to vastly expand its active user base, the company must instead prioritize the putative interests of people who do not use it. For people who do not use Twitter today, an edit function is highly unlikely to be the change that lures them in at last.”
Recode / Kurt Wagner
Vine isn’t growing and most of its top executives have left →
“Sources say while Vine still has a small, dedicated user base, it is no longer growing. (Vine itself says some 200 million people see its videos somewhere online each month, a stat it's used since last October.)”