Newsrooms should enlist their reporters to sell subscriptions
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Newsrooms should enlist their reporters to sell subscriptions
Why it’s interesting: More newsrooms should brainstorm about how to get their reporters more involved in helping to push paid subscriptions, since in many cases those reporters have much deeper connection to the media outlet’s audience.
Bloomberg editor admonishes his journalists for publishing “boring and long” articles
Why it’s interesting: This is certainly an interesting way for an editor to begin a memo to his staff: “We are still publishing too many enterprise stories that are either mediocre or too long, or both.”
Will NPR soon become a podcast-first organization?
Why it’s interesting: “For the first time, NPR is on track to make more money from underwriting on podcasts than on its conventional radio shows, according to CEO John Lansing.” That seems like a pretty big milestone.
Remember when reporters used to get fired for having personal blogs?
Why it’s interesting: 10 years ago, news publishers were debating whether their employees could have personal blogs. Now they’re having a very similar debate about Substack newsletters.
Can The Atlantic get a million people to show up to a virtual event?
Why it’s interesting: “The Atlantic wants a million people to ‘attend’ its festival this year, up from the 2,000 in-person attendees it normally attracts.”
Texting your readers creates a deep level of intimacy
Why it’s interesting: Several publishers are experimenting with sending text messages to readers. It creates a deep level of intimacy. Obviously the interactivity part doesn’t scale super well, but the journalist doesn’t need to respond to every text.
Apple sticks its toes into the exclusive podcast waters
Why it’s interesting: Is this Apple’s first original podcast? I think so. Makes sense that it’s integrated with Apple News.
Is Digg making a comeback?
Why it’s interesting: A decade ago, Digg faced a mass user exodus, and many assumed it would go the way of Myspace and Friendster. Instead, it kept on trucking, and its current owner hopes to restore Digg to its former glory.
Jeff Bezos’s longterm play with The Washington Post
Why it’s interesting: I continue to think this is Jeff Bezos’s longterm play with The Washington Post: using it as an incubator for publishing and ad tech that can be scaled across the entire media industry.
Why Spotify’s new podcast rankings matter
Why it’s interesting: It’ll be interesting to compare and contrast over the coming months what podcasts trend on Apple vs Spotify. We can see if they attract different kinds of listeners.
Why aren’t there more collaborations between newsletter creators?
Why it’s interesting: A few months ago I made a joke that I was starting a “Substack house” similar in function to TikTok houses. Looks like someone actually created one. Sort of. This article is frustratingly light on details on how this “house” functions.
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