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Friday, March 3, 2017
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The New York Times has found a home — in print! — for its journalists’ tweetstorms“One thing that’s cool on this project is seeing how print and digital can be friends.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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People just don’t launch non-partisan news sites anymore: Updates from the fake-news world“Trump really does polarize people’s views of reality.” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re Reading
Recode / Jason Del Rey
Amazon plans to release new Alexa devices that can make phone calls and work as intercoms →
“While the Echo and Echo Dot have been arguably the hottest new consumer products in the U.S. over the last year, Amazon needs to give consumers more reasons to use them on a daily or semi-daily basis.”
Journalism / Mădălina Ciobanu
NZZ is developing an app that gives readers personalised news without creating a filter bubble →
“The app uses machine learning to give readers a stream of 25 stories they might be interested in based on their preferences, but ‘always including an element of surprise’.”
Poynter / Benjamin Mullin
SB Nation names first editor-in-chief in push for growth →
“‘From a brand standpoint, we still call ourselves the voice of the fan,’ said Elena Bergeron, SB Nation’s top editor. ‘We want to keep that ethos, and we want to keep that scrappiness, because we don’t have [game] rights.'”
Shorenstein Center
Mother Jones wins the 2017 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting from Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center →
“[Shane] Bauer spent four months working as a guard to get a deep look inside the secretive world of private prisons, exposing mismanagement. Within a few weeks, the Department of Justice announced it would end its use of private prisons and the Department of Homeland Security said it would consider doing the same.”
CNBC / Andrew Ross Sorkin
NBC invested $500 million in Snapchat IPO as part of its ambitious investment in digital media →
“The investment is the latest in a series of aggressive bets in digital media by NBCUniversal under Steve Burke, its chief executive. He has made investments in digital media assets including $400 million in Buzzfeed and $200 million in Vox. The company recently acquired SportsEngine, a digital business for youths involved in local team sports. It also bought Awesomeness TV, which has a big presence on YouTube as part of its deal for DreamWorks. In total, NBC has spent about $1.5 billion on digital assets in the past 18 months.”
Digiday / Max Willens
RIP contributor networks as a publishing shortcut to scale →
“For years, the contributor network has been seen as a proven way for publishers to grow quickly and cheaply. But that model is getting harder to prop up amid today's emphasis on quality over scale.”
Digiday / Sahil Patel
Inside Facebook’s pitch for entertainment content →
“Facebook is working on a feature that would spotlight original shows and other exclusive long-form content on its mobile and TV apps.”
TechCrunch / Haje Jan Kamps
Discors adds New York Times and Financial Times to its pay-once-read-everything service →
“The startup recently announced it's adding The New York Times and the Financial Times to its $4.99 per month subscription model, which already includes The Economist, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Bloomberg and other light, escapist titles. The company's app offers a curated list of articles from each of the publications, with the goal of giving readers access to a wider range of news sources.”