 |
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
 |
PR pitches are the worst. This agency is trying to make them better (and I…I like it)“Our goal has been to just start from the ground up: If you were to design a PR agency today, from a software engineer’s perspective, how would you approach it?” By Laura Hazard Owen. |
 |
Mada Masr, Egypt’s poster child for digital news, begins its foray into a reader-funded model"Our model is built on our specific offerings, but also the broader context of Egypt, people’s purchasing power, and that of our readers abroad.” By Ramsey Tesdell. |
What We’re Reading
Poynter / Benjamin Mullin
Kinsey Wilson out in executive shuffle at The New York Times →
Wilson’s role as executive vice president for product and technology is being eliminated. Chief Revenue Officer Meredith Kopit Levien assume oversight of the The New York Times’ product and design offerings.
Axios / Sara Fischer
Google is launching a news literacy program →
“Google announced a news literacy program designed to help kids make smart decisions online through games and tutorials. Google has also co-created a classroom curriculum with the Internet Keep Safe Coalition to help teachers include news literacy in their lessons.”
Recode / Tess Townsend
Google’s AMP pages mean visitors spend more time with content, according to Chartbeat →
On average, visitors spend 48.2 seconds with pages found through Google search that load with AMP, compared to 35.6 seconds on average with standard mobile pages found through search, according to a white paper based on data from 360 of the 60,000 sites that use Chartbeat services.
Journalism.co.uk / Caroline Scott
‘It’s like learning to walk again’: VRT News tries out 360-degree livestreaming on Facebook →
Armed with a Ricoh Theta S, Open Broadcasting Studio Software (OBS) and a strong internet connection, the team was able to go live on anti-Trump protests from the front of the Stock Exchange in Brussels. This was an area where there were a multitude of different camera crews, and the team from VRT could ensure protesters knew they would be filmed where they were standing.
Digiday / Lucia Moses
As Apple and Google take aim at ads, publishers tremble →
First came more news about Google's plans to filter out invasive ads and provide a tool, Funding Choices, that lets publishers charge visitors who use third-party ad blockers. Then, Apple announced that an update to its Safari browser would block autoplay video as well as put an end to tracking people's online browsing.
ProPublica / Cynthia Gordy
ProPublica Illinois announces additional news hires →
“Mick Dumke is joining as a reporter, Logan Jaffe will become ProPublica Illinois’ engagement reporter, and Sandhya Kambhampati will become a data reporter.”
The New York Times / Charlie Savage
Twitter users blocked by Trump seek a reprieve, citing First Amendment →
“In a letter sent to Mr. Trump on Tuesday, lawyers for several users he has blocked argued that his account was a ‘public forum’ from which the government may not constitutionally exclude people because it disagrees with views they have expressed.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Adeshina Emmanuel
Ebony Magazine is very late paying its freelancers (and is blocking them on Twitter) →
“From iconic covers framed on the walls of my childhood barbershop to my grandmother's coffee table and my own coffee table today, Ebony has had a presence in my life for as long as I can remember. That legacy is why I was reluctant to write this article. It's also why I had to write it, even if it feels a bit, as one unpaid but unwilling to comment Ebony freelancer put it, ‘messy.'”
