Mather Report - David Clinch

Happy Sunday to all of you and welcome to our?weekly?review of important?#MediaRevenue?stories. I was delayed in posting this week as I am very busy setting up something new.

I am working with some partners to build a new framework to better track the social and economic impact of local news.

It was heartening this week to hear the President describe the free press as a key pillar in our democratic society and I think that the importance of that pillar deserves to be tracked and visualized in a way that every citizen can easily see and understand.

If you see articles, or sessions at any journalism conference about?#MediaRevenue or the impact of journalism that you think I should look at, please let me know.

Here is this week's curated selection of?#MediaRevenue?news:

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‘Journalism is not a crime': Biden salutes press, stresses freedoms at WHCD

"President Joe Biden on Saturday used the traditionally lighthearted White House Correspondents’ Dinner to drive home the importance of the free press amid threats to democracy at home and abroad."

Time to remove digital paywall

"With more of Time's business shifting to different revenue streams, like events and licensing, the company has flexibility to experiment with a new subscription strategy."

Twitter says users will avoid media subscriptions and pay per article starting “next month.”

"Musk says that Twitter’s forthcoming “one-click” service “should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public” by allowing media companies to charge a higher per article price to readers who wouldn’t necessarily pay a full subscription rate. Musk didn’t say what percentage Twitter would pocket for itself or what conditions media publishers would need to abide by."

Vice Media cancels its flagship ‘Vice News Tonight’ program as it makes ‘painful’ layoffs and restructures the company

"The cuts will result in dozens of employees losing their jobs, people familiar with the matter told CNN, with the company’s Washington, D.C., bureau being hit particularly hard. The exact number of jobs impacted by the changes, however, was not clear. The restructuring will have major implications on news teams at Vice Media."

It might be Jonah Peretti’s last chance to turn BuzzFeed around

"Peretti’s plan is to boost shares back over $1 by persuading investors he’s prepared to run a more profitable company."

Chatbots Are Digesting the Internet. The Internet Wants to Get Paid.

"To date, though, none of the proprietors of the big AI chat engines—Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, etc.—have struck any deals to pay for the portions of their training data that came from News Media Alliance members, says?Danielle Coffey, general counsel for the organization."

National Geographic magazine lays off six of its top editors

"High-level cuts are unusual for any established magazine, and they are unprecedented for National Geographic, which has enjoyed stable editorial leadership since its founding by the nonprofit National Geographic Society of Washington in 1888."

Paper Magazine Lays Off Staff, Citing Economic Headwinds

"The layoffs affect between 20 to 30 full-time staff. Their last day will be April 28, Adweek has learned. Editor in chief Justin Moran will remain with the company through May, although editorial operations will cease immediately."

Di5rupt acquires What’s New in Publishing

"Di5rupt is a UK-based global B2B media intelligence and connections network, producing Media Makers Meet (Mx3 Berlin) and the FIPP World Media Congress under license from FIPP – Connecting Global Media, a long-established industry association with original roots in the magazine sector."