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Tuesday, June 27, 2017
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The Toronto Star, “surprised by low numbers,” is shutting down Star Touch, its expensive tablet appIt will be replaced by a more traditional app that also works on phones. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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With a revamped CityLab, The Atlantic is making a bigger bet on niche mediaCityLab hopes to turn its focus on key urban decision makers into a compelling value proposition to advertisers. By Ricardo Bilton. |
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In PRI’s Studio 360, Slate gets its first podcast that’s also a big public radio broadcastPlus: New research on smart speakers; podcast ad revenue is pegged at $220 million for 2017; dispatches from Cannes. By Nicholas Quah. |
What We’re Reading
Recode / Tony Haile
Facebook may finally have to compromise its user experience in order to keep growing →
“This combination of slowing user growth and News Feed saturation has led Facebook to warn of a rapid deceleration in revenue growth over the next six months. For the first time in years, Facebook needs a new lever to pull. However, its options largely involve moving from the kind of advertising that most people are fine with, to the kind of advertising that most people are not.”
Digiday / Ross Benes
Axios chooses Apple News for monetizing over Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles →
“Apple News is the first platform to which it publishes directly because Apple allowed it to launch a native ad unit that works similarly to the kinds of custom ads Axios has on its site.”
Source / Rachel Schallom
When hiring isn’t hell it looks like this →
“A couple of weeks ago, I published an open letter to hiring managers highlighting how broken the hiring process is in journalism. The response was overwhelming. Almost all of the feedback was people, mostly women, sharing stories of similar, frustrating experiences. That made the good experiences shine like gems, so I asked people to tell me more about what good hiring practices and processes stood out to them while interviewing and hiring.”
Poynter / Rick Edmonds
Why digital news IPOs are so rare →
“Last week, the CEOs of both Vice and BuzzFeed dropped hints that they might, possibly, go for an initial public offering in 2018.”
New Republic / Kyle Chayka
Can Monocle’s globalist chic survive in an age of populism? →
“While Monocle projects confidence in the march of globalization, it barely hints at the growing threats to the world of open borders and free-flowing capital it depicts. The magazine's globalist chic contrasts sharply with the nationalist movements in the United States and Europe seeking to limit immigration, including visa programs for the skilled workers in tech and finance who might read Monocle. Yet the publication shares with the right a faith in free-market economics; [founder Tyler] Brûlé himself is less a citizen of the world than a shopper in its gigantic, globalized mall. His magazine, which built its brand by identifying the world's hippest (and most profitable) trends, feels increasingly out of touch.”
Journalism.co.uk / Mădălina Ciobanu
Study: More than 70 percent of the national audience of 6 UK papers is mobile-only →
The Independent, which stopped publishing its print edition a little over one year ago, has the largest share of mobile-only national audience, at 85.3 per cent, followed by the Daily Mirror (79.3 per cent), The Telegraph (75.6 per cent), the Guardian (75.5 per cent), The Sun (74.6 per cent) and the Daily Mail (72.2 per cent).
Poynter / Ashley McBride
Why do local independent news sites die? →
“While mainstream news organizations face challenges like layoffs and cutbacks, the local, independently-owned publications that have replaced them face their own set of threats. Sometimes, the owners of these operations are forced to make drastic decisions when faced with diminished earnings or burnout: sell their businesses or shut them down entirely.”
The New Republic / Graham Vyse
Can journalists live without Twitter? →
“I'd regain the strength that's currently sapped from my fingers.”
Digiday / Ross Benes
How news publisher Attn is getting Instagram to pay off →
Part of the reason Attn is putting more people on Instagram than on other non-Facebook platforms is because its reporting and measurements are more thorough than those of its competitors.
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism
Lenfest Institute names new board members →
“The Lenfest Institute for Journalism today announced the election of David Boardman, a respected journalist and educator, as chair of the Board of Managers and Rosalind Remer, a renowned historian and community leader, as vice chair. The Institute also added Roy Rosin, a recognized thought leader in innovation management, to the Board.”