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Wednesday, November 16, 2016
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India’s digital future isn’t just in English: BBC launches 4 Indian language servicesIndia’s digital revolution is taking place on mobile devices, and the BBC says it will offer more mobile content than ever before. By Hasit Shah. |
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The fake news wars go viral with Melissa’s List“Where does news come from? What is true? What isn't? What's the agenda, if there is one, of the publisher?” By Ken Doctor. |
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Jon Ralston is launching The Nevada Independent, with polls and Spanish-language features to offer a unique angle on a changing state“I want to mold a real news organization, not in my image but in an image of independence that has never been seen before in this state.” By Ricardo Bilton. |
What We’re Reading
Recode / Kurt Wagner
Snap (formerly known as Snapchat) has confidentially filed for an IPO →
“The company filed for IPO before its automated ad product has had time to make a significant addition to its business…right now almost all of its revenue comes from hand-cut deals.”
BuzzFeed / Charlie Warzel
Twitter bans several prominent alt-right accounts →
The suspensions came a few hours after Twitter announced a new set of abuse tools.
Recode / Peter Kafka
Scroll, a subscription service from the former Chartbeat CEO, is being backed by News Corp, The New York Times and Axel Springer →
Details are scant, but essentially Tony Haile’s new startup “wants to roll up a selection of stories from a wide variety of publishers and sell monthly subscriptions.” News Corp, Axel Springer and the Times, which have invested in Scroll, haven't actually agreed to participate in his project yet.
Digiday / Jessica Davies
Inside 5 publishers’ efforts to monetize virtual reality →
“We hope VR will go from an interesting hobby to a revenue generator in 2017. The question now is whether there is a commercial appetite for it.”
Journalism.co.uk / Madalina Ciobanu
How the FT uses comments and reader call-outs to engage with the audience →
The Future of Britain Project asked for reader submissions to help answer four questions about the referendum.
Digiday / Sahil Patel
Tastemade’s getting 20 million monthly views (but no revenue) from its Instagram Stories →
The account is consistently getting more than a million views per story, but Instagram doesn't offer the opportunity for publishers to run ads in Instagram Stories.
Journalism.co.uk / Madalina Ciobanu
NBC News is experimenting with live virtual reality to cover news events →
“Since the Virtual Democracy Plaza went live in late September, NBC News hosted more than 11 events in this format running up to election day.”
The Guardian / Miles Martignoni
Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad on podcasting’s uncertain future: “Supply is outstripping demand” →
“There’s a lot of them and they’re all broadcasting the same ads, so I’m not sure that the pool of ad money there is enough to drive it all. So I do worry that we are in some kind of bubble.”
Business Insider / Roddy Salazar
Business Insider is launching editions in Italy, Japan, and Africa →
In Italy, it’s partnering with the digital division of Gruppo Espresso. In Japan, it’s partnering with Mediagene Ltd (which has helped launch Gizmodo and Digiday in Japan). An African edition is in the works.
Politico / Alex Weprin
Isaac Lee’s memo to Univision employees re: Restructuring and Fusion layoffs →
“For us, these necessary changes come as we look to strategically bring together several distinct digital media companies into one powerful and nimble digital publishing entity.”
Washington Post / Margaret Sullivan
Chasing millennials and profits, Univision restructures and lays off at least 200 →
Most of the layoffs appear to be happening at Fusion.
The Daily Beast / Ben Collins
48 hours in Facebook’s unreality →
“At least a dozen stories with no basis in reality were shared by Facebook’s trending algorithm Monday and Tuesday.”
The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
The replacement for NPR’s Diane Rehm Show will be called 1A →
“As a younger African American man, [new host Joshua] Johnson may help NPR expand its appeal among the younger, male and racially diverse listeners that public radio has struggled to attract throughout its history.”
Stratechery / Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson: Fake news flourishes because readers want it →
“It matters less what is fake and more who decides what is news in the first place.”
The Guardian / Olivia Solon
Wall Street Journal / Mike Shields
Facebook miscalculated time spent with Instant Articles (among other metrics) →
“The amount of time people spend with Instant Articles was overreported by 7% to 8% on average since August 2015, Facebook said.”