The Splice Slugs: Japan’s media freedoms, U.S. media layoffs, and the Guardian drops its “Berliner” print format
Here’s your weekly roundup of the biggest trends, threats and tools in media. Handpicked and algo-free since 2015. Hello from sunny Prague this week. Early apologies for a long newsletter; it’s been an incredible week in media. — Alan Soon
GOVERNMENTS, MEDIA AND SOCIETY
The UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression accused Japan of undermining media freedoms and avoiding debate over its war past. This was the first ever investigation into Japanese government pressure on the press. The government’s unsurprising response: “It is regrettable that some parts of report are written without accurate understanding of the government’s explanation and its positions.”
Myanmar officials say they plan to reform the Telecommunications Law which has been used to imprison journalists on defamation charges. No mention of timelines.
…A monk in Myanmar known for his racist views against Muslims says Facebook has blocked his account. U Wirathu’s tirades have been blamed for sectarian violence in the country. “I did not write the names of people on my Facebook. I did not post any personal attacks, I only wrote simple things, but they shut it down,” he said. Finally.
…A Pakistani court sentenced a man to death for posting blasphemous content on Facebook. This could be the first time the death penalty was given in a case related to social media.
A proposal is in place to treat all of Trump’s tweets as presidential records. The creatively named “Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically For Engagement” Act — or COVFEFE — would bar Trump from deleting any of his tweets. “Tweets are powerful, and the president must be held accountable for every post.”
What’s more fearful than fake news? A fake journalist tasked to assassinate opponents.
MODELS OF JOURNALISM
Here’s a great profile of The Ken — India’s “The Information” — a paid, subscriber-focused news service. It starts with what many of us journalists have faced: a disillusionment with the reach/scale-based mass media model. “I didn’t want to go back to the existing media outlets I’d worked at before. So I thought, can we give it a shot? Can we try a new media publication that’s not in the rat’s race for page views?”
…And out of Egypt, an example of how Mada Masr is also building a reader-funded model. “The membership model is one that is centered on our readers and our community. The idea behind it is to render them a member of the extended Mada family.”
TRANSFORMATIONS, JOBS CUTS & OBITS
Layoffs are underway at both Yahoo and AOL as part of their merger which formally closed this week. About 2,100 people — 15% of staff — are affected.
…Vocativ laid off its entire editorial staff as part of a pivot to a video-only service. “We are tripling our investment in video and establishing a dedicated unit to create compelling video content, from mini docs to docu-series and feature-length films.”
…Time Inc. is cutting 300 jobs — about 4% of its workforce. The company reportedly wants to cut costs (obviously) and reinvest in growth areas.
The New York Times made the most significant change to its digital front page as it looks for a better ways to get people to log in — and subscribe. The visual change isn’t all that obvious, but the thinking behind it is worth reading about as we enter a new age of putting the reader (the customer!) first. “That shift from platform to reader is what I would say is emphatically the pivot that we are making here.”
The Guardian newspaper will drop its “Berliner” print format in favor of the tabloid format to cut losses at the company. It’s still trying to break even within two years. “The current format is only ever going to become more expensive to produce.”
Fox News is dropping its “Fair and Balanced” slogan because it’s been “mocked.” Instead, it’s going with “Most Watched. Most Trusted.”
The English-language Japan Times newspaper has been sold to a Tokyo-based PR company. The other surprise (perhaps only to me) is that the previous owner was an autoparts maker.
The Hindustan Times has been trying out data interactive stories as a way to widen their storytelling. But it’s been tough. “There are all these amazing visualizations we can create but don’t because there’s no way that they could work on a phone.”
TRENDS
As we described previously, Google and Apple are launching an all-out war against bad ads and autoplaying videos respectively.This much-needed clean up of the advertising ecosystem will have far-reaching consequences. Here’s how to think about it.
The New York Times is opening up more articles to comments with a bit of help from Alphabet’s Jigsaw. The algo will organize comments at scale, based on their likelihood of being flagged for moderation. (Incidentally, 20% of comments on NYT are now automatically approved by an algo.)
…If you’re concerned about the role of algos in society, you should read this piece about bias in designing machines that automate decisions. “No matter which way the dials are set, any algorithm will have biases — it is, after all, making a prediction based on generalized statistics, not on someone’s individual situation. But we can still use such systems to guide decisions that are wiser and fairer than the ones humans tend to make on their own. “
PLATFORMS AND PUBLISHERS
Is Facebook all-in when it comes to original videos? Some publishers are worried that while Facebook is good at driving newsrooms to try new formats (think live videos), it may not be fully committed to helping with discoverability.
…Facebook is reportedly working on a plan to allow users to subscribe to news publications directly within the mobile app.This has been one of the pain points of media companies (and has driven some publishers off Instant Articles).
Apple is finally going to give podcast publishers something they needed from Day One: analytics. Creators will soon be able to see when people played individual episodes, which parts they listened to and when they dropped off. It’s incredible that it’s taken this long (and that publishers have been flying blind all this while).
Backchannel (the tech blog bought by Conde Nast in 2016) is joining other publishers in moving off Medium. “Medium has shifted its business strategy, and it’s no longer as focused on helping publications like ours profit.” An important warning for platforms in the way they treat publishers.
Instagram will soon show you which posts are sponsored. It’ll show up as a “paid partnership.”
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Pitchmi is a new marketplace tool that connects editors and writers. They’re looking for people to help beta test the service. Register here.
NOTABLES
Seth Godin doesn’t use Twitter or Facebook. “They have engineered the products, using behavioural economics, to make them addictive. That addiction is a release of negative feeling. You check it and then you’re not worried anymore until you need to check it again. That cycle would completely undermine my work.” Some great nuggets of marketing insights here.
Check out this Recode interview with Hillary Clinton, where she opens up about her election defeat — and the role of tech, media and the Russians. It’s great. I’m going to watch it again.
How does Russian propaganda spread from a parody site to Fox News? With the help of editors who can’t tell the difference.
Internet-connected devices of any form are susceptible to hacking. So what would happen if hackers found their way to connected vibrators?
In Egypt, you could soon land yourself in prison if you give your kid a “foreign name.” A parliamentarian driving the draft law says he wants to protect the country’s heritage. He says names like “Lara” and “Mark” are also difficult for Arabs to pronounce.
Quote of the week
“If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” — Olin Miller
From our partners
Mumbrella360 Asia — a three-day media and marketing conference — takes place on November 7–9 at the Marina Bay Sands, in Singapore. For tickets, sponsorship, exhibitors or to submit session/speaker ideas, head here or get in touch with the publisher Dean Carroll (dean@mumbrella.asia or +65 9296 4242).
I started The Splice Newsroom consultancy to help solve a difficult problem: getting newsrooms to adapt and evolve in the ongoing shift to digital with the right strategy, operations and training. I help transform traditional newsrooms and support the development of editorial startups. What can I do for you?
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Email me at alansoon@thesplicenewsroom.com.