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4/30/15

Need to Know: April 30, 2015

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism

OFF THE TOP

You might have heard: By hiring CNN political reporter Peter Hamby, Snapchat is betting its future on partnerships with media outlets, like the ones it has with CNN and Vice for its Discover feature

But did you know: Three months after its launch, Snapchat Discover traffic is dropping (The Information)
Since Snapchat Discover was launched on Jan. 27, some publishers have seen their average traffic drop as much as 50 percent. While Snapchat doesn’t offer any specific metrics on Discover, traffic to Discover was significant immediately following its launch, but publishers have had an average drop in traffic of 30 to 50 percent since then. Some of Discover’s partnerships are set to expire in June, giving Snapchat an opportunity to alter Discover’s content and features.

+ Noted: Tech site The Memo launches, aiming to be a cross between Wired and The Economist (Talking New Media); NPR makes more than 800,000 pieces of its audio embeddable (NPR); Anonymous social networking app Secret is shutting down (BuzzFeed); New Yorker and WNYC will produce a national radio show and podcast (Capital New York); Instagram launches its first category-specific vertical with @Music (BuzzFeed)

TRY THIS AT HOME

Why every journalist needs to learn basic data skills and how you can get started (PBS MediaShift)
Numbers are driving more and more stories on a variety of beats today, but data-heavy projects don’t have to be left to powerhouses like FiveThirtyEight and Vox. To get started working with data, pick a small subject. Tableau editorial manager Martha Kang recommends working with a list of names and familiarizing yourself with the tools available for data visualization, keeping in mind that the first data project you work on doesn’t have to be something you publish.

+ Earlier: How to become a numbers person in journalism and more insights on data reporting and visualization

OFFSHORE

Report find press freedom is at a 10-year low (Business Insider)
In its 35th annual Freedom of the Press Report, Freedom House found that press freedom has declined over the past decade to its lowest point in more than 10 years. The report found that only 14 percent of the world lives in a country with a free press, meaning 1 in 7 people live somewhere where state meddling in media matters is minor and legal pressures on the press are slight. Freedom House attributes the decline in press freedom to the passage and usage of restrictive laws against the press, often on grounds of national security, and the inability of journalists to report freely from some countries, including areas of conflict and protest.

+ How news organizations are covering the Nepal earthquake: BBC is using the messaging app Viber to share information and safety tips (Nieman Lab) and local media is “scrambling, and doing well” while breaking stories on death tolls and recovery efforts (Poynter)

OFFBEAT

GE chief learning officer: Knowledge becomes out of date, so constantly invest in skills (Economist Group)
Raghu Krishnamoorthy, GE’s chief learning officer, says in today’s market knowledge quickly becomes obsolete. Rather than a one-time investment in people’s knowledge, Krishnamoorthy says companies should invest in helping staff continually learn new skills. Continual training in skills can also be a good recruiting tool for potential employees, Krishnamoorthy says, because people want to work in a company that allows them to grow.

UP FOR DEBATE

Emily Bell: Google and Facebook are publishers’ ‘frenemies’ (Columbia Journalism Review)
As more publishers partner with platforms, Emily Bell says the future of news and information companies will be formed out of a hybrid of social media and publishers. At one point, platforms like Facebook and Google would have argued that they are not publishers, but their partnerships offer publishers a chance to grow, with some risks. Bell questions how accountability can be applied to these partnerships: “Who bears the publishing risk in this new world? … Who bears responsibility for defending and protecting the journalism?”

SHAREABLE

How Thomson Reuters approaches mobile products: How will it fit into a user’s day? (Digiday)
When Thomson Reuters starts to think about new products, head of advanced product innovation Robert Schukai says they consider how a product fits in with the “dayflow,” rather than the workflow, of users. Reuters’ idea is that people are looking for different information based on their context and location. Schukai: “We’re thinking about what happens from the time our customers wake up to the time they go to bed.”

+ Earlier: We now live in an age when everyone has their own Personal News Cycle

+ The secret to a great publication, from America’s Test Kitchen: “The more stubborn the editors, the better it is” (Adweek)

 

 

The post Need to Know: April 30, 2015 appeared first on American Press Institute.



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