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Friday, May 24, 2019
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Newsonomics: GateHouse’s new round of layoffs fits the sad logic of the coming consolidationLaying off about 200, hiring about 30: In the short term, cost-cutting and mergers are just about the only plays in the playbook. By Ken Doctor. |
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It’s not me, it’s you: Our Facebook fears are mostly about all those other gullible types“Society may bear some responsibility, but so do individual Facebook users…Ultimately, people need to save themselves more and worry a little less about saving everyone else.” By Joseph B. Walther. |
What We’re Reading
BuzzFeed News / Katie Notopolous
Writing a book? Announce it on Twitter with this ugly screenshot! →
“Hard-to-read screenshots of paywalled book industry websites dominate Literary Twitter.”
CNN / Taylor Romine
Connecticut police hope that 15,000 likes on Facebook will get man to turn himself in →
“The post is now at 17,000 likes, but according to an updated version of the post, Mr. Simms has yet to turn himself in.”
USA Today / Todd Gitlin
We need news to use about climate. Give us a daily carbon dioxide count with the weather. →
“Front pages online and in print, as well as radio and television news bulletins, routinely feature temperature and precipitation reports and forecasts — ‘news you can use,’ telling you whether to wear a raincoat and carry an umbrella. Why not also a measure of the health of the earth? Easy.”
Parse.ly Blog / Kelsey Arendt
Link-in-bio providers add 10–15% to Instagram referral traffic →
“Link in Bio products might be solving some major marketing hurdles on Instagram. When we examined the Link in Bio referrals, we found an additional 10-15% of traffic coming from Instagram.”
BuzzFeed News / Craig Silverman
Twitter is showing more ads, and people are seeing lots of weird crap as a result →
“While Twitter didn't comment on the content of its increased ad load, the quality bar has seemed to go down as the number of impressions has gone up. One recent promoted tweet linked to an article about overseas women looking for American men, while another promoted a list of comics about ‘double standards in society that will make you stop and think.’ Another offered to explain ‘Why one in two Slavic women want to spend their lives with a Western man.’
Digiday / Max Willens
The latest key newsroom job: membership editor →
Publishers including Quartz, The Guardian and The Atlantic already have people in the role — The Guardian's has been there for years — but over the past six months, publishers ranging from HuffPost and BuzzFeed News to more specialized sites such as The Intercept and Texas Tribune have all put up job listings for membership editors.
The Washington Post / Drew Harwell
Faked Pelosi videos, slowed to make her appear drunk, spread across social media →
“One version, posted by the conservative Facebook page Politics WatchDog, had been viewed more than 2 million times by Thursday night, been shared more than 45,000 times, and garnered 23,000 comments with users calling her ‘drunk’ and ‘a babbling mess.'”
Axios / Sara Fischer and Kia Kokalitcheva
Refinery29 aims to raise $20 million →
“The company plans to use the funds to expand internationally and for its originals studio and events business.”