Google is testing a feature that would let publishers, marketers and other organizations publish directly to search results

You might have heard: HBO show “Silicon Valley” published fake news articles related to the show’s fictitious characters to Google this week to promote its season premiere (Silicon Valley Business Journal) But did you know: Google is experimenting with a new feature that would allow marketers, publishers, politicians and other organizations to publish content directly to Google and have it immediately...

How Wired is helping other publishers make the move to HTTPS

Researchers have called for years for news publishers to make the switch to HTTPS, a more secure, encrypted alternative to HTTP. While some smaller publishers have made the switch, it’s more complicated for a big publishers such as Wired with content going back decades. As Wired starts the switch, it’s trying to help other publishers by being transparent about the switching process: Wired will share...

Could blocking ad blockers be illegal in Europe?

Detecting whether a reader is using an ad blocker could be illegal in Europe, privacy campaigner Alexander Hanff claims. Digiday’s Jessica Davies fact-checks Hanff’s claim: Ad-blocking detection in and of itself may not be illegal, but it might require consent, depending on how the law is interpreted. And websites may not technically be verifying that an ad blocker is installed, but rather whether...

Twitter changes its category in the App Store from ‘social networking’ to ‘news’

After a quarter of slow user growth, Twitter changed its categorization in the Apple App Store from “social networking” to “news.” Instead of being in the same category as Facebook and Instagram where it was ranked in the top 10, Twitter is now the number one app in the “news” category, boosting its visibility to users. Sarah Perez writes that being a number one ranked app could also help Twitter’s...

In the platform shift, many small publishers are ‘left on the outside looking in’

Many bigger publishers have had the opportunity to work directly with platforms such as Facebook on Instant Articles or Google on Accelerated Mobile Pages, but smaller publishers are often left out of these conversations. There’s an incentive for platforms to work with big publishers because of their audience numbers, but small publishers still need to be on the platforms because that’s where their...

NYT is sending out another round of Google Cardboards ahead of its 8th VR production

In preparation for its eighth virtual reality production, The New York Times and Google are sending out another round of Google Cardboard virtual reality viewers. This time, NYT will be targeting its online-only subscribers, sending 300,000 viewers to its “most loyal” digital subscribers, as determined by how long they’ve been a subscriber. This round of Google Cardboards will reach about a third...

Need to Know: April 29, 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: HBO show “Silicon Valley” published fake news articles related to the show’s fictitious characters to Google this week to promote its season premiere (Silicon Valley Business Journal) But did you know: Google is testing a feature that would let publishers, marketers and other...

Though Twitter is making changes, its first quarter earnings show those changes aren’t driving revenue growth

Twitter reported underwhelming first-quarter earnings on Tuesday: It reported $595 million, below the $607.8 million that analysts expected. And even though Twitter added 5 million users in the first quarter, The Verge’s Casey Newton writes that’s well below what Twitter needs to be adding to take ad money away from Facebook and Google. Twitter has been making changes to appeal to a larger audience,...

Facebook is paying some media companies as much as $250,000 for 20 live streams

You might have heard: Facebook live video is drawing news organizations and other media companies in with big audience numbers, but the opportunities for revenue remain unclear But did you know: With more social media competition, more social networks are willing to pay for good content, BuzzFeed’s Alex Kantrowitz reports. Facebook, in particular, is seeing a decline in original sharing, meaning that...

How Vox Media built a bot for discovering related content

After talking to editors and hearing a need for a tool to find older articles that people may have forgotten about, the Vox Media product team built a bot to solve the problem. The team chose to build a Slack bot, making it easier for editors to use the bot within their existing workflows. An editor sends a direct message to the bot with a specific article URL and a number of desired results, and...

The Economist and Mic are partnering for a podcast with a global perspective on the 2016 presidential election

While Americans might see Donald Trump’s rise as a historic, unpredictable event, Ricardo Bilton writes that Italians have a different perspective: They see Trump as America’s version of former Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi, “an entertaining, almost comical spectacle who nonetheless became a very serious candidate, impossible to ignore.” A new podcast from Mic and The Economist called Special Relationship...

What global leaders say makes an effective leader: High ethical standards and providing goals

In a survey of global leaders, Sunny Giles asked what makes a good leader? The respondents ranked high ethical and moral standards (67 percent), providing goals (59 percent), communicating expectations (56 percent) and flexibility (52 percent) as among the most important qualities. Giles says that when a leader holds a combination of these traits, it ensures that problems will be dealt with fairly. The...

The problem with story quotas: ‘Providing a lot of stories is not the same as providing a service to readers’

When newsroom leaders implement story quotas, John Robinson says they’re measuring the wrong thing: Simply providing a lot of stories isn’t the same thing as providing value and service to readers. Robinson writes: “It is true that every marketing survey of news content I’ve seen says that readers want ‘more.’ But it’s not more ‘stuff.’ It’s more content that affects their lives.” + Why “the tyranny...

Google says having a community and healthy comment section can help with search ranking

Though quite a few news organizations are cutting the comment section, Google’s Gary Illyes says that having a healthy comment section can actually help your search ranking. But this doesn’t mean that comments are the easy way to higher Google rankings: Illyes emphasizes that quality content and good links are ultimately more important to Google ranking than having a thriving comment community. The...

Need to Know: April 28, 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: Facebook live video is drawing news organizations and other media companies in with big audience numbers, but the opportunities for revenue remain unclear But did you know: Facebook is paying some media companies as much as $250,000 for 20 live streams (BuzzFeed) With more social...

Need to Know: April 27, 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: Gannett offered $815 million for Tribune Publishing, and there’s reason to believe that Gannett will succeed in acquiring Tribune But did you know: Tribune Publishing chairman Michael Ferro says Gannett is ‘trying to steal the company’ (Los Angeles Times) “I believe 100% in my...

With a bid more than 60 percent higher than Tribune’s trading value, Gannett will likely succeed in acquiring Tribune Publishing

You might have heard: Gannett offered $815 million in cash to buy Tribune Publishing, and Gannett CEO Robert Dickey says, “Given the substantial value represented by our offer … we are confident that Tribune’s non-management stockholders will support our proposal” (CNN Money) But did you know: Though Tribune management was surprised by Gannett’s takeover bid, Rick Edmonds writes that Gannett is likely...

Tips for building successful online communities

When trying to foster communities online, we need to be aware that all online communities have their own language and ways to identify outsiders, Laura Petrolino writes. Petrolino shares ways to learn the language and build an online community, including: Identify influencers in the community first, check out what the competitors do, and think about the context of the kind of relationship you’re trying...

The UN calls for the media to take a more ‘constructive’ approach to news with its Constructive Voices program

In a meeting in London on Wednesday, director general Michael Møller will talk to journalists about United Nations’ new Constructive Voices program and call for the media to take a more “constructive” and “solutions-focused” approach to news. Constructive Voices is an online resource designed to help journalists find case studies with practical solutions to problems. Ahead of the event, Møller said:...

5 tips for how to keep small teams efficient

Smaller teams are more likely to build relationships and make it harder for team members to slack off, but that doesn’t mean they’re without their own potential problems, startup founder John Rampton writes. Rampton shares his advice for keeping small teams efficient, including: Make regular check-ins with all members of the team, outsource tasks when needed, give people freedom and preserve it, be...

The best things in journalism were never made to reach the most people, but the right people

“The truth is that the best and most important things the media (let’s say specifically the news media) has ever made were not made to reach the most people  —  they were made to reach the right people,” The Verge’s Josh Topolsky writes. “Because human beings exist, and we are not content consumption machines. What will save the media industry  —  or at least the part worth saving  —  is when we start...

For some publishers, Twitter is a better platform for video revenue than Facebook

On the surface, Facebook appears to be a better platform for video publishers than Twitter, simply because of its larger audience numbers. But some publishers are finding that Twitter is a better platform to make money off of video because of its options for revenue sharing, including pre-roll video ads. “We’re making so little from Facebook video that the finance team doesn’t even share it in the...

Need to Know: April 26, 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: Gannett offered $815 million in cash to buy Tribune Publishing, and Gannett CEO Robert Dickey says, “Given the substantial value represented by our offer … we are confident that Tribune’s non-management stockholders will support our proposal” (CNN Money) But did you know: With...

For distributed content strategies to be successful, publishers will need consistent ways to measure their audiences

You might have heard: Some publishers, including BuzzFeed and The Washington Post, are going all in on distributed content strategies, following their audiences to the places they spend the most time online But did you know: Some publishers are jumping onto distributed content strategies with the idea that the business model will follow. But in order for that to happen, publishers will need a reliable...

A tip for how reporters can increase the diversity of their sources

Writing about how he set out to include more female sources in his stories, writer John R. Platt shares an important tip from Women’s Media Center’s Kate McCarthy on how all reporters can increase the diversity of sources they turn to again and again. McCarthy suggests that reporters spend some time in between deadlines building up a database of women experts. McCarthy says: “Do a pre-interview with...

As Business Insider expands, its paid research arm BI Intelligence is also looking outside the US

Now a part of Axel Springer, Business Insider is quickly expanding outside the U.S.: It’s doubling its staff and expanding original reporting in Germany, andmore international editions are likely on the way. At the same time, its paid research arm BI Intelligence is also expanding its team and looking outside the U.S. for new opportunities. Andrew Sollinger, who runs BI Intelligence, says Axel Springer...

‘Bots won’t replace apps. Better apps will replace apps’

Bots provide the promise of better user experiences and, some predict, the end of the app as we know it. But Dan Grover writes that apps just aren’t that good right now, and the technology being developed around artificial intelligence will lead to better apps. Grover’s vision for what those better apps will look like: “I want the first tab of my OS’s home screen to be a central inbox half as good...

With the rise of platforms, publishers will now need to justify having a website at all

The online advertising and publishing landscape is shifting toward platforms, Paul Bradshaw writes, forcing publishers to justify why they need to have a website at all going forward. Bradshaw writes: “The Facebook/Google/Medium takeover is not the end of the open web, but rather the beginning of journalism which is genuinely of the internet and not merely on the web. If publishers can see the opportunity,...

Vox Media is launching a news outlet that will publish primarily on Facebook

Circuit Breaker is Vox Media’s latest news outlet, but it’s a bit different than any of Vox Media’s other sites: Circuit Breaker, which is launching today, will exist primarily as a Facebook page. Circuit Breaker will cover news about technology and gadgets in the fast-paced style of early technology blogs. Circuit Breaker’s editor Paul Miller says by publishing on Facebook, the site will be reaching...

Need to Know: April 25, 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: Some publishers, including BuzzFeed and The Washington Post, are going all in on distributed content strategies, following their audiences to the places they spend the most time online But did you know: For distributed content strategies to be successful, publishers will need...

Facebook will include time spent reading as a factor in news feed ranking

You might have heard: Facebook’s algorithm is largely a mystery to publishers, but the company has been using feedback from user surveys to select stories to show in the news feed But did you know: Facebook is adding a new factor to its algorithm: It will now take into account how long users spend reading or watching a piece of content in their news feed. The length of the article will also be considered,...

Need to Know: April 22 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: Facebook’s algorithm is largely a mystery to publishers, but the company has been using feedback from user surveys to select stories to show in the news feed But did you know: Facebook will include time spent reading as a factor in news feed ranking (Facebook Newsroom) Facebook...

Need to Know: April 21 2016

Fresh useful insights for people advancing quality, innovative and sustainable journalism OFF THE TOP You might have heard: Google Accelerated Mobile Pages launched in February, with the goal of speeding up the mobile web But did you know: Google AMP will soon have better support for sites with paywalls and ways for publishers to direct users elsewhere on their site from an AMP article (Nieman Lab) Facebook...

Charting new ground: The ethical terrain of nonprofit journalism

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Dont compromise standards to please funders

This essay is part of “Charting new ground: The ethical terrain of nonprofit journalism,” API research exploring the philanthropic funding of journalism. Read the other essays. As the business of news has been disrupted, and the means of distribution for news revolutionized, I hope we can agree that our news values have remained unwavering and intact. In that spirit, I believe we can find most of...