Tuesday, July 18, 2023 |
| Some of the funding will go to form a “studio” within the American Journalism Project; the rest will go to about 10 of AJP’s grantees. By Hanaa' Tameez. |
What We’re ReadingColumbia Journalism Review / Jon Allsop
A murdered journalist, the media mogul, and an epic reporting project in Cameroon →“I can only feel sorry for us, we who are media practitioners in this country,” one journalist told CJR. “We have a government that does not really take the opinion of its own people seriously. They have made us use proxies to express ourselves.”Digiday / Tim Peterson
Ray Chao on how Vox Media is building up its podcast subscription business →“What we’ve spent the last several years doing is building the right internal line of business support structure to help make the podcast network grow and function and operate,” Vox Media’s Peter Chao said on the Digiday Podcast. “We have separate editorial teams. We have separate podcast production teams. But we have a common business model and a common audience growth strategy and a common monetization strategy.”Platformer / Casey Newton
Five reasons Threads could still go the distance →“It’s always a fool’s errand to judge the prospects of a new social network a couple weeks into its history. At the same time, if Threads does live up to its creators’ hopes, bringing decentralized apps into the mainstream, it could reshape the consumer internet in profound ways.”Digiday / Sara Guaglione
Why Time is expanding its events business to reach its target audiences →“Time’s event business is on track to bring in eight figures in 2023, though Macsai declined to provide a hard revenue figure. In the first half of 2023, Time’s event revenue surpassed the mid-seven figures, a spokesperson said. Last year, the company’s events business crossed the $10 million revenue mark for the first time. All of Time’s events revenue comes from brand sponsorships.”Rest of World / Caiwei Chen
The TikTok follow-up app Lemon8 is flopping in the U.S. →“Since April, the app’s daily active users have nearly halved from 11,930 to 6,360, and by the end of May, daily downloads fell to 6.7% of its March peak, according to data intelligence firm Similarweb. Users complain that Lemon8’s content feels repetitive and overly curated, presenting idealized lifestyles that prioritize influencers’ interests over those of ordinary users.”The Latino Reporter / Evelyn Mejia and Itzel Anahi Girón
NAHJ members left the 2023 conference with unanswered questions and calls for transparency →“David Peña, NAHJ’s executive director until July 28, resigned 12 days before the start of the NAHJ 2023 conference. During the annual gathering, members learned that the organization was pulling out of an agreement with the National Association of Black Journalists to host a conference together in Chicago next year.”Vox / Peter Kafka
You’re going to see more AI-written articles whether you like it or not →“It is absolutely a thing we want to do more of,” says Merrill Brown, G/O’s editorial director.Dirt.xyz / Erin Somers
Where is DeedDa? →“It seemed almost like parody, or an attempt to replicate Goop (Paltrow, famously: ‘a word that means nothing and could mean anything’). DeedDa, I kept saying? Deeeedddddaaaa? The business model also intrigued me. Affiliate links are not new, but they usually accompany copy that is explicitly about the product. I don’t see myself reading a confessional essay by Cher and then buying a bracelet but who knows, could work.”The Audiencers / Anjali Iyer
How the Washington Post personalizes the subscriber onboarding process to retain readers →“Our primary focus is to promote consumption, which drives both subscription and advertising revenue. By encouraging subscribers to spend more time with our journalism, we increase the likelihood of subscription renewals and active engagement with branded content and advertisements.”TechCrunch / Ivan Mehta
Facebook putting more emphasis on video again with new discovery and editing tools →“The social network is also rebranding its ‘Watch’ tab to ‘Video,’ which will now include all visual content from Reels to long-form content and live videos. Users will be able to scroll vertically to jump from one video to another, but there will also be a carousel with horizontal scrolling to go through different Reels.”Axios / Sara Fischer and Kerry Flynn
Vox Media drops its own CMS →“CMS licensing was once seen as a lucrative opportunity for publishers looking to grow revenue beyond ad dollars. But WordPress’ continued dominance in the space has made it harder to compete.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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