 |
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
 |
With Shortcut, This American Life is trying to make its show — and other podcasts — more sharable“This is just a first step…This is at least a thought experiment saying that, if you really believe that [audio] sharing is broken, you can change it.” By Ricardo Bilton. |
 |
With a direct public offering, Berkeleyside wants to turn its readers into its newest ownersBerkeleyside, while a successful local news site, still doesn’t feel like it’s nailed the formula for sustainability. It’s latest effort: convincing its readers to invest — literally — in its future. By Ricardo Bilton. |
 |
Goodbye, International New York Times; hello, international edition of The New York TimesA shift in name (and in geotargeting on digital) is the latest step in the Times’ efforts to build a stronger paying audience outside the United States. By Joshua Benton. |
What We’re Reading
Sunlight Foundation / Bill Hunt
How we’re wrapping up Sunlight Labs in the open →
Sunlight Labs’ senior technologist writes about the process of open sourcing its tools and ahead of the Sunlight Foundation’s closing.
The Washington Post / Caitlin Dewey
Facebook has repeatedly trended fake news since firing its human editors →
“Although the company’s [Trending Topics section] review guidelines appear largely to blame, Facebook hasn't indicated any plans to change them. Rather, the social network maintains that its fake news problem can be solved by better and more robust algorithms.”
Poynter / Benjamin Mullin
BuzzFeed launches a shop, part of its growing e-commerce strategy →
Initially open only to employees, Shop BuzzFeed now lets all fans buy swag created by the site’s illustrators and designers. The online store is “just one part of a much broader e-commerce strategy,” according to Tessa Gould, the company’s head of commerce. “It's still early days, but we have already built out a dedicated market team under that is focused exclusively on creating shoppable content for our readers.”
WWD / Alexandra Steigrad
Elle's augmented reality experiment: fad or future? →
RYOT, which is owned by The Huffington Post (which is owned by AOL/Verizon, has linked with Elle magazine to create an augmented reality experience for its November "Women in Hollywood" issue: "We're going to use it as a proof of concept to demonstrate how content can be brought to life. We have several advertisers that we have been in talks with for VR and AR."
Gizmodo / John Cook
Facebook policies are forcing publishers to label advertiser-underwritten stories as ‘branded content’ →
‘But while Facebook's Policy may be adequate when it comes to distinguishing between "branded" and "organic" Lady Gaga content, it leaves much to be desired when it comes to describing the kinds of stories that Gizmodo Media does.’
Variety / Todd Spangler
CNN’s new app lets business fans track CEOs like sports stars →
“In a splash of corporate synergy, the new CNN app is based on Bleacher Report's Team Stream sports-tracking app; Turner acquired Bleacher Report in 2012.”
Digiday / Max Willens
How 3 publishers are staffing for Amazon Echo →
“Even with a small audience and modest monetization opportunities of Amazon’s Echo, a lot of publishers have figured out how to maintain distinct, powerful presences on the Echo without draining substantial extra resources away from everything else.
Politico / Kelsey Sutton
Huffington Post executive editor Liz Heron resigns →
When Arianna Huffington stepped down in August, Heron was not named interim editor, but instead was named to an interim editorial committee tasked with finding a replacement. For now, Heron will be consulting with the Knight Foundation on digital media initiatives.
Poynter / Benjamin Mullin
The Wall Street Journal is reorganizing its newsroom and cutting down on flabby stories →
In a memo to Wall Street Journal reporters Tuesday, Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker advised employees that unnecessarily long stories would be trimmed amid a newsroomwide focus on digital journalism.