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Wednesday, May 2, 2018
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Why the “golden age” of newspapers was the exception, not the rule“In our ‘news’ today we can see the tattler, the party pamphlet, the recondite journal of opinion, the yellow rag, the journal of commerce, the sob sister, the literary journal, and the progressive muckraker.” By Heidi Tworek and John Maxwell Hamilton. |
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Can a news organization provide the service of feeling connected through its membership program?“They’ve moved across borders for work or for love or whatever and often they’re struggling with the same sort of issues…The Local is a service for them, somewhere they can come to to get advice around these issues.” By Christine Schmidt. |
What We’re Reading
Wall Street Journal / Benjamin Mullin
Bloomberg’s new paywall will charge users $34.99 a month →
“For $34.99 a month, users will get access to Bloomberg.com, the company's mobile and tablet apps and a live stream of Bloomberg TV, as well as podcasts and subscriber-only daily newsletters. The other option, at $39.99 a month, includes the first-tier products along with a print and digital subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek and access to some BloombergLIVE events. Readers can still purchase a standalone digital and print subscription to the magazine.”
Wall Street Journal / Rebecca Balhaus and Jenny Gross
Cambridge Analytica is shutting down following the Facebook data use controversy →
“Nigel Oakes, the founder of SCL Group, Cambridge Analytica's British affiliate, confirmed that both companies were closing down. The company decided to close its doors because it was losing clients and facing mounting legal fees in the Facebook investigation, a person familiar with the matter said. The firm is shutting down effective Wednesday and employees have been told to turn in their computers.”
Maynard Institute
The Maynard Institute is now accepting applications for its training program focused on expanding the diversity pipeline in news media →
We are inviting applicants from these categories: [1] Leaders: New managers who seek to expand their leadership and management skills or those who are considering entering management. [2] Journalism entrepreneurs: Those who have recently launched or created a prototype for a new media portal serving their community or city or a specific audience. [3] Storytellers: Journalists and producers, including those from non-traditional and community outlets, whether staff or freelance. Apply here.
Digiday / Seb Joseph
Publishers say they’ll use GDPR to shed ad tech vendors →
"We looked through all the partners plugged into the site and recognized 8 percent of them — that's pretty shocking.”
Poynter / Rick Edmonds
Minnesota’s Star Tribune seems to be outperforming the pack of metropolitan newspapers in the U.S. →
“Like many peer companies, the Star Tribune is looking for the next phase of growth to come from paid digital subscriptions, with an expected revenue increase of 20 percent a year. But unlike many, the Star Tribune is not starting late from a tiny base. Its current digital-only total is roughly 50,000. The company expects digital advertising to keep growing 7.5 percent a year and print circulation revenues to show modest growth, too. Add it all up, and the Star Tribune has shown total revenue growth in a few years like 2014 and small declines in the range of 1-2 percent for the rest.”
The Outline / Manish Singh
Facebook quietly ended its Free Basics program in Myanmar and other countries →
“A sizable portion of the nearly 100 million users who have come online through Internet.org live in Myanmar, where Facebook partnered with local telco Myanma Posts and Telecommunications for the program in mid-2016. But by August, the Free Basics program, which is part of the Internet.org initiative, abruptly ended in the nation, users say. The program has been abruptly called off in more than half a dozen nations and territories in the recent months, according to an analysis by The Outline.”
Digiday / Max Willens
“The plan was never to be Facebook-only,” says lifestyle publisher whose brand probably wouldn’t exist without Facebook →
Since Facebook deprioritized publisher content in its news feed in January, Insider cut its Facebook news feed video output in half, in a shift to produce longer videos. (The company didn't give raw numbers.) As a result, its average monthly engagement on the platform fell by more than 70 percent, per Shareablee.
Politico / Jason Schwartz
A handful of baby Breitbarts are popping up around the U.S., at the local level →
“Launched in February 2017, the Tennessee Star is part of a growing trend of opaque, locally focused, ideological outlets, dressed up as traditional newspapers. From the Arizona Monitor to the Maine Examiner, these are sites with names and layouts designed to echo those of nonpartisan publications — and with varying levels of credibility — aimed at influencing local politics by stepping into the coverage void left by the collapsing finances of local newspapers.”
Poynter
This Pulitzer-winning paper has local owners. They bought it from a chain →
“Nearly six years ago, a group of local business people bought the Sonoma County newspaper from Halifax Media. That company and its 27 remaining newspapers was purchased by the investment group that owns GateHouse Media in 2015. In 2012, the Press Democrat newsroom had 66 full-time employees. Today it has 60.”
Pew Research Center / Aaron Smith and Kenneth Olmstead
A majority of online adults continue to believe the internet has been a good thing for society. But that share is declining →
“Today 64 percent of online adults ages 65 and older say the internet has been a mostly good thing for society. That represents a 14-point decline from the 78 percent who said this in 2014. The attitudes of younger adults have remained more consistent over that time: 74% of internet users ages 18 to 29 say the internet has been mostly good for society, comparable to the 79 percent who said so in 2014.”