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Thursday, May 17, 2018
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Is there a big enough global audience interested in China to sustain the South China Morning Post’s ambitious new sites?With its new verticals Abacus and Inkstone and another on the way, the century-old newspaper is trying to use Alibaba money to build products that both reach a global audience and feel mobile-native. By Shan Wang. |
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Pear Video produces hundreds of news videos a day across China — with no full-time video journalistsThe startup maintains a network of about 30,000 videographers to help source roughly 1,500 videos a day. By Paloma Almoguera. |
What We’re Reading
Digital Content Next / Rande Price
Older listeners are as likely to pay to avoid ads as they are to stop listening altogether →
“It turned out that older consumers were just as likely to switch to an ad-free paid subscription as they were to leave the Pandora service entirely.”
The Hollywood Reporter
Vox Media chief Jim Bankoff on the future of digital media and his Hollywood ambitions →
Q: What’s an area of growth for Vox Media? A: Podcasting.
Digital Content Next / Maureen Hoch
Four things HBR has learned by experimenting with audience engagement →
“The results were mixed. While we had more than 150 readers join the Slack channel, they mostly lurked. It's tough to diagnose why. Was the text format intimidating? Too much work? Do people really want to listen to an expert first and foremost?”
The Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune is launching a Facebook group for college students →
“We want to create a space for young people to ask questions and feel comfortable talking about politics and policy with Texas Tribune journalists, policy makers and each other, especially on the issues that affect them most. We’re going to spend our summer focused on college affordability and whether rising tuition costs have made it harder for students to get by.”
Street Fight / David Arkin
With Rover, David Arkin takes a mobile-first, enjoyable approach to local news →
“Budget stories are painful for readers to get through, but guiding them through the process with points and data makes it more consumable.”
Pew Research Center
News media and political attitudes in the United Kingdom →
“In the UK, those on the left and right do not differ in regard to the media source they turn to most for news. Both those on the ideological right and left cite the BBC as their main news source.”
Digiday / Max Willens
Gizmodo Media Group is rolling out a new commerce site, The Inventory →
Commerce content “accounted for around 25 percent of Gizmodo Media Group's digital revenue in 2017.” The new site will be “stocked with evergreen product guides and reviews; news about products the Inventory writers have already reviewed; and a section dedicated to points, travel deals and credit cards, which are highly lucrative for affiliate commerce publishers.”
Medium / Joe Amditis
The Local Connection is a new email newsletter to help you localize national news stories →
“The Local Connection is a weekly newsletter, sent on Mondays, that features a handful of national and regional news stories with specific details about how to find a local connection or angle.”
Wikimedia Blog / Noa Morales
Nine community-led projects receive Wikimedia rapid grants to inspire new readers →
“How do we build awareness of Wikipedia in different countries, cultures, and language groups around the world? We trust local Wikimedians to offer their expertise.”
The GroundTruth Project
Report for America announces 2018 corps members →
“The inaugural class, most of whom already have several years of newsroom experience, will start working for Report for America news organizations in Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, and New Mexico in early June.” GroundTruth also announced $650,000 in new funding.