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Tuesday, August 23, 2016
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Where does local TV news fit in the digital age? Tegna, a year separated from Gannett, has some ideas“By following the lead of our employees to create content that is digital first, it frees them up from the sameness of format that is plaguing local television news.” By Shan Wang. |
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Report: The New York Times is expanding to Australia and CanadaHaving faced some difficulties with an earlier era’s attempts in large non-English markets, the Times is turning its focus next to more familiar territory. By Joseph Lichterman. |
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Hot Pod: Can a political podcast avoid being overtaken by events?Plus: Vox Media’s making moves in audio, more podcast/broadcast partnerships, and the importance of sound design. By Nicholas Quah. |
What We’re Reading
Mashable / Ariel Bogle
Facebook is testing autoplaying videos with sound →
“It’s an intriguing trial run, given Facebook’s own research has found 80 percent of people react negatively when mobile video ads play loudly without warning.”
Medium
Necessity, invention and The Daily Tar Heel →
Among many changes at the University of North Carolina’s independent student paper, detailed by new general manager Betsy O'Donovan: It’s eliminating Tuesday print edition, adding engagement, wedding, anniversary, and obituary sections, and piloting a creative services agency.
Search Engine Land / Barry Schwartz
Google warns it will crack down on “intrusive interstitials” in January →
“Google will reinforce its emphasis on the mobile search experience with a new penalty affecting “intrusive interstitials” on mobile web pages.”
The Verge / Casey Newton
Pinterest acquires Instapaper →
“The goal is “to accelerate discovering and saving articles on Pinterest,” the company said in a statement. It will continue to operate as a standalone app, and the Instapaper team will work on both that app and on Pinterest generally. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.”
The Ringer / Bryan Curtis
What happened to the St. Louis media when the Rams skipped town to L.A.? →
“In between moments of genuine sadness, the St. Louis media has allowed itself to indulge in a little schadenfreude.”
Today
NBC’s Today now has a recipe bot for Facebook Messenger →
“Thanks to the the mad geniuses from our innovation lab, we’ve launched the brand new Today Food Bot on Facebook Messenger to answer the very important question: what should I eat now?”
Medium / Jeff Jarvis
Is native advertising another false messiah? →
“I have long wondered whether native advertising would do what advertising is supposed to do: drive sales. What is the efficacy of replacing five-word banners with 500-word stories? Perhaps we are beginning to find out.”
Digiday / Jessica Davies
How Trinity Mirror raised its programmatic ad yields by 40 percent →
“To start it on the right track, it's rejigged internally, creating a centralized programmatic team of 20 people. Each specializes in a specific area, like video-on-demand, data, ad tech, sales, all overseen by director of programmatic Amir Malik, a former Googler inherited from Trinity's £220 million ($290 million) acquisition of regional publisher Local World last November. They'll then feed into the rest of the commercial division.”
The Tennessean / Getahn Ward
The Tennessean to sell offices, pursue new Nashville Home →
“More broadly, the major industry chains have been selling off real estate to reduce overhead, leaving prime downtown locations for cheaper rental space in the suburbs that's better designed to reflect the industry's transition to digital media. Such property sales have also raised cash to help pay down debt.”
The Ringer / Joon Lee
How Marques Brownlee became “the best technology reviewer on the planet” →
“YouTube personalities used to feel like secret discoveries for those in the know, but that exclusivity is starting to dissipate as young people flock to the site as their primary source of information and entertainment.”
Newsweek / Lucy Westcott
Women journalists share their stories of sexual harassment →
“53 women and two men…contacted Newsweek about their experiences of sexual harassment and sexual assault related to their jobs in journalism. In mid-July, I emailed friends and colleagues a Google Form seeking stories, posted it on Twitter and Facebook, and was soon inundated with recollections of inappropriate jokes, comments on race and appearance, and unwanted touching and worse by sources, colleagues, bosses and the public.”
Digiday / Max Willens
How The Hill is using Snapchat to cover the presidential race →
Its audience is made up of the “kind of millennials that flood DC every summer for Capitol Hill internships,” and to cater to them, The Hill account offers both glamorous and unflattering looks at DC's seats of power.
TechCrunch / Josh Constine
Facebook’s new teens-only app Lifestage turns bios into video profiles →
The standalone iOS app is for people 21 and under — anyone older will only be able to see their own profile.
Gawker / Tom Scocca
Gawker was murdered by gaslight →
One more post from Gawker’s last day of publication: “If you want to write stories that might anger a billionaire, you need to work for another billionaire yourself, or for a billion-dollar corporation. The law will not protect you. There is no freedom in this world but power and money.”