Mather Report - David Clinch

Welcome to our Friday update on all the important #MediaRevenue stories. Another remarkable week of announcements related to the future of local news.

We are working on two major initiatives to help create a sustainable future for journalism. If you want to know more about either the #ImpactProtocol or #ValueProtocol, let me know.

If you see articles about?#MediaRevenue,?AI in newsrooms, or the impact and value of local journalism, please let me know so I can include them in this roundup.

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

Q&A: MacArthur Foundation’s John Palfrey on raising $500 million to fund local news: "Most local journalism is provided by newspapers, which lost 70% of their staff since 2005 as their business was disrupted by technology and changing consumer habits. More than 2,000 closed and many of the remaining 6,000 or so have scant coverage, creating “news deserts” across much of America. To address this crisis, MacArthur President John Palfrey led an effort over the last year to build the coalition and gather ideas for saving local journalism." Seattle Times article from Brier Dudley with John Palfrey

Reinventing local news advertising: It’s complicated: "About 40 industry leaders gathered in New York City this week to attend a summit hosted by Google and the Lenfest Institute to discuss the state of local news advertising. It was honest and inspiring but also frustrating and frightening. While advertising no longer represents the lion’s share of revenue for most local media organizations, it is essential that we reimagine this line of business." - LinkedIn Post from Nancy Lane

9 Hard Truths About Reviving Local News: "The list isn’t definitive, but it’s a start in helping me differentiate between bedrock and quicksand. So here are my own hard and hard-won truths about reviving local news." - Nieman Reports article from Ken Doctor

Yes, Press Forward, But With Eyes Open: "The long-awaited Press Forward philanthropic initiative for local news has finally been announced, to some fanfare. What to make of it? I asked last week for your candid thoughts, got quite a few, and deeply value them. They are reflected here." - Substack update from Richard Tofel

Google files motion to dismiss Gannett's ad tech lawsuit: "Google on Friday filed a motion to dismiss a federal antitrust lawsuit from Gannett, America's largest newspaper chain. The complaint alleged Google's dominance in digital advertising undercut revenue for news publishers." Axios article from Sara Fischer

Twitter appears to throttle New York Times: "X, Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter, appears to be attempting to limit its users’ access to The New York Times. Since late July, engagement on X posts linking to the New York Times has dropped dramatically. The drop in shares and other engagement on tweets with Times links is abrupt, and is not reflected in links to similar news organizations including CNN, the Washington Post, and the BBC, according to NewsWhip’s data on 300,000 influential users of X." - Semafor update from Max Tani with data from Paul Quigley and Newswhip.

Musk, other tech giants agree legislation needed to regulate AI: "The closed-door summit talked about the urgent need to pass legislation to regulate the fast-moving technology." - Axios article from Sara Fischer

AI Is Booming in RFPs. Here’s How Publishers Are Winning Business: "In less than a year, as generative artificial intelligence has grown from a fringe pursuit to an object of mainstream fascination, marketers have sought to capitalize on the fervor by creating campaigns that align their brands with the topic." - Adweek article via Mark Stenberg

Can Yahoo Be Saved? How Apollo Is Rebuilding an Internet Icon: "Once left for dead, the nearly 30-year-old internet brand is getting a new lease on life under Apollo ownership." - The Information update.

The Economist adds podcast subscription tier: "The Economist plans to introduce a new subscription tier this Thursday called Economist Podcasts+ for $4.90 monthly, the Economist president Bob Cohn told Axios." - Axios article.

The Colorado Sun, a pioneering for-profit/nonprofit hybrid, moves toward a fully nonprofit model: "The Colorado Sun is going nonprofit. The five-year-old digital news organization, launched by journalists who’d left The Denver Post following round after round of cuts by the paper’s hedge-fund owner, Alden Global Capital, had operated as a rare for-profit exception in the universe of local news startups. Now the Sun is joining its tax-exempt peers." - Nieman Lab article via Dan Kennedy

MinnPost will no longer publish comments on stories. Here’s why: "After a careful review of story comments over the past year and an assessment of the resources it takes to manage comments, MinnPost editors have decided to stop publishing comments on all stories starting today." - MinnPost article.

Increasing Digital ARPU, a necessity for News Publishers: "Subscription revenue is the primary revenue stream for most news publishers and maintaining subscription revenue and operating margins through the transition from print to digital products is a key objective for achieving a sustainable digital publishing business model." - Mather Economics Post.

CNTI: "Hear from CNTI’s leadership on why we are launching the Center for News, Technology & Innovation as a global policy research center, that seeks to encourage independent, sustainable media, maintain an open internet and foster informed public policy conversations"