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Tuesday, May 7, 2019
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Publishers love getting affiliate revenue from their reviews. So is it okay for Amazon to pay to get more of those reviews upfront?This might be a rare instance of the goals of a platform genuinely aligning with the goals of a publisher — or another case of publishers’ revenue streams being at the mercy of a tech company’s priorities. By Laura Hazard Owen. |
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Planting seeds: The new Podfund wants to invest in early-stage podcastsPlus: Luminary fixes its link issue, an NPR snafu blows up your podcast app, and how a British soccer show went indie. By Caroline Crampton. |
What We’re Reading
ProPublica
ProPublica now gets 4.4 million pageviews a month →
Up 34 percent from a year ago. Also, 4.5 million “off-platform pages views on MSN, Apple News, Google Play Newsstand, and SmartNews per month,” up 688 percent from 2018.
Axios / Sara Fischer and Neal Rothschild
The topics that work best on the different platforms, according to Parse.ly data →
And a helpful chart on the motives and bottom lines of platforms, like Instagram: “Show me what my friends want others to see they’re doing.”
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / Rachel O'Neal
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette publisher Walter E. Hussman Jr. is determined to save the newspaper, one iPad at a time →
“We lost money last year. We are going to lose more money this year because this one-on-one [iPad instruction] is expensive. But, if we can convert people, we are going to be profitable again in 2020. That’s our hope.”
Poynter / Daniel Funke
Instagram is reducing the reach of posts debunked by fact-checkers →
“Our approach to misinformation is the same as Facebook's — when we find misinfo, rather than remove it, we'll reduce its distribution. We can use image recognition technology to find the same piece of content on Instagram and take automatic action."
The Washington Post / Ben Strauss
Why Sinclair is scooping up regional sports networks →
“We will become the preeminent local news and sports provider in the country. And those two genres, in terms of live viewership, are head and shoulders above any other genre."
Wall Street Journal / Jeffrey Trachtenberg
Condé Nast’s owner stages its next act, with musical theater, esports and satellite launches →
“We're looking to diversify into different areas not as exposed to the vagaries of the advertising market.”
The New York Times / Adam Satariano
Europe is reining in tech giants, but some say it’s going too far →
“With the growing body of European legislation, ‘there will be a lower standard for protection of freedom of expression,’ said David Kaye, a University of California, Irvine, law professor whom the United Nations appointed to spotlight government efforts to restrict free speech.”
Poynter / Daniel Funke
How The Washington Post tallied more than 10,000 Trump falsehoods in less than three years →
“It's now become a bit of a burden because it consumes so much time. I'm trying to figure out how we can handle more of this during the week. I don't know what we'll do when it comes to campaign season and he's holding three rallies a day.”
Reuters / Simon Lewis and Shoon Naing
Two Reuters reporters freed in Myanmar after more than 500 days in jail →
“Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars.”