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Friday, March 16, 2018
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The News Lens in Taiwan is doing what media startups in the region hesitate to do — acquiring other sitesWithin the first three months of this year, the four-year-old news company brought a tech site and a top site for sports fans under its umbrella in order to grow its overall reach: “By the end of this year, I want to have 5 or 6 different sub-brands,” News Lens co-founder Joey Chung said. By Alan Soon. |
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Could students’ media literacy be compared across countries, like math scores?Plus: YouTube’s sad reliance on Wikipedia, a problem with Pinterest, and how countries around the world are fighting misinformation. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
Why do people go to Wikipedia? A survey suggests it’s their desire to go down that random rabbithole
What We’re Reading
The Onion
Facebook announces plan to combat fake news stories by making them actually happen (The Onion) →
“We take this problem very seriously, and I want our users to be confident that the stories they see on Facebook are either true already or will be very soon.”
Digiday / Lucia Moses
BuzzFeed is now trying to drive appointment viewing for its shows on streaming sites →
Starting March 18, BuzzFeed will make the new season of ‘Worth It,’ its show where the hosts try versions of food at different price points, available at the same time across platforms. That means whether people are tuning in on BuzzFeed's own property, YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, Hulu or Roku, they'll be able to see the show at the same time. BuzzFeed is calling this a ‘universal window.'”
Recode / Felix Salmon
The $10 billion opportunity at Reuters →
“Thanks to a $17 billion M&A deal in which private equity giant Blackstone is taking over the Thomson Reuters financial-terminal business, Reuters News (not part of the deal) has found itself in possession of an astonishing $10 billion lottery ticket. As part of the deal, Blackstone has agreed to pay Reuters at least $325 million a year for its news. Better yet, that payment is guaranteed for at least 30 years.’
Digiday / Tim Peterson
Twitter is emphasizing the on-demand side of live for new shows ahead of NewFronts →
“The company is seeking more live shows with segments that can be cut into clips that can be ad-supported and reach more viewers than the live broadcasts, according to three media executives that are in talks with Twitter about producing live shows: ‘Twitter doesn't want to abandon live, but it wants to see how it can play with video on demand,’ said one media exec.”
Recode / Peter Kafka
TheSkimm is raising $12 million from Google Ventures and other investors to build its subscription business →
“Co-founders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg have raised a $12 million round led by Google Ventures, along with Spanx founder Sara Blakely. Earlier investors, including 21st Century Fox, RRE and Homebrew, are in this round as well. The company says it will use some of the money from its new round to build more subscription services — a very 2018 idea in mediaworld — and that it hopes its Google connections can help it with some of its product plans.”
Robert Feder
More layoffs hit the Chicago Tribune newsroom →
“Thursday's layoffs and the uncertainty surrounding them may help fortify an effort to unionize Tribune editorial employees. Last week a group of staffers met with representatives of the Chicago News Guild, longtime bargaining agent for the Sun-Times and numerous suburban papers. It’s the second round of layoffs in five months under publisher and editor-in-chief Bruce Dold.”
TechCrunch / Devin Coldewey
Digg Reader is shutting down on March 26 →
“After the death — no, let's not mince words — murder of Google Reader, I tried out a dozen or so other RSS readers to see if I could get a similar experience. Of all the ones I tested, I was very surprised to find that Digg Reader was the best of them all, for my purposes anyway.”
Wired / Catherine F. Brooks
Another plea for Facebook to share more data with researchers →
“Social scientists want to know why stories go viral, who holds political influence, what shapes political and social attitudes, and whether social media can change those attitudes. We want to understand echo chambers and fake news, and why users join groups like ISIS or domestic white supremacy organizations online. Access to the company's enormous data sets for research purposes would offer unprecedented opportunities to understand more about online human interaction and behavior.”
Curbed / Patrick Sisson
Local news is in trouble. Can new publications turn it around? →
“A cocktail of damaging circumstances—the decline of digital ad dollars, the increasing market share of Google and Facebook, the albatross of legacy costs associated with print publications, the contest for reader attention in the social media age, and new ownership looking for quick profits over long-term viability—has meant that fewer stories about fewer neighborhoods are being told.”
Washington Post / Margaret Sullivan
Is this strip-mining or journalism? 'Sobs, gasps, expletives' over the latest Denver Post layoffs →
“I tried to talk to someone in Alden Global Capital’s New York headquarters on Wednesday to ask about the apparently counterproductive strategy of endless cuts but was told no one was there to speak to the news media. When I asked to be connected to managing director Heath Freeman's office, the receptionist hung up on me.”
Digiday / Jessica Davies
The Times of London turns to a ‘digital butler’ named James to increase subscriptions →
“The plan is not just to serve relevant content to subscribers and readers who have registered to the Times, but to ingest all customer data, including information on customers' propensity to convert to subscribers, as well as churn propensity. Nine people from News UK's data science team and from the publisher's project partner, Belgian digital publishing company Twipe, will be dedicated to developing the algorithm. (It’s supported by a Google DNI grant.)”