Pulling off something few media dinosaurs can
Media statistic of the week
Across the U.S., digital subscriptions are set to soon take over print in 2023, reports Aisha Majid from Press Gazette based on forecasting from subscription specialists Mather Economics.
“If you think of the share of the subscriber base, they’re going to cross over next year,” says Peter Doucette, a senior managing director at Mather, adding that it is mostly local publishers included in this calculation. “Digital subscriptions are clearly the biggest growth driver.”
This past week in the media industry?
Should news outlets endorse political candidates?
Nieman Lab’s Gregory P. Perreault and Volha Kananovich pose an important question as midterm election season heats up: Should news outlets still endorse political candidates?
First, it’s important to take a look in the past: “Endorsements for politicians have a long history in U.S. newspapers, which until the 20th century were usually explicitly aligned with one political party or faction. Traditionally, endorsements have fallen under the purview of a newspaper’s owner or its editorial board,” the duo write.
What about now? “As we recently found, in a study published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, many journalists themselves have come to see editorial endorsements as a liability,” they explain.
As the political landscape becomes more and more divisive, this becomes a bigger issue.
“As one journalist put it: ‘Nobody knows the distinction between the editorial board and the reporters, and that’s our fault for not telling them. Every four years we shoot ourselves in the foot,’” they conclude.
Journalists as first responders during disasters
When most people evacuate their homes ahead of a hurricane, journalists and their teams flock toward the storm, ready to report.?
Poynter’s Angela Fu chatted with journalists about their experiences covering Hurricane Ian last week.
“Part of your job, even as a journalist, is becoming something of a first responder,” Naples Daily News arts and entertainment columnist Harriet Heithaus said. “It’s very unnerving, but the reason we’re all in this business, I think, is to help people.”
Asked what her goal was for people reading her reporting, Kate Cimini, a Florida investigative reporter for the USA Today Network replied: “That they feel less alone.”
A mini-Meta roundup
No more newsletters?
Meta’s getting out of the newsletter game.
This week, the social media giant announced they’re shutting down their newsletter subscription service Bulletin. Bulletin was meant to be a competitor to the uber-popular among journalists and creators, Substack.?
“Meta is paying out all contracts. Writers will keep their subscription revenue and can take the subscriber lists and content with them after Bulletin is ended,” reports Caitlin Huston for The Hollywood Reporter.
Huston writes that Meta plans to shift more of its content to Facebook directly, in order to make it more of a discovery platform.
This news didn’t come as much of a surprise to those following along.
“I think I dunked pretty hard on this during the last podcast I did with @simonowens, so I guess I called it,” tweets Ernie Smith.?
“Honestly, we all said this a year ago that this would happen. Hope creators got paid and got to keep their email lists. But at this point if you sign a content deal with Facebook, you're asking for this,” adds Christina Warren.?
Artists move on from Instagram
In some more Meta-related news, the New York Times’ Kalley Huang spoke with several artists who are slowly moving away from Instagram as it shifts its focus to video.
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“For artists who make a living through Instagram, the platform’s move toward video is more of an existential threat. Many of these artists are photographers, illustrators or graphic novelists whose work doesn’t easily translate to video. More and more, they are finding that audiences on Instagram aren’t seeing their posts, their growth on the platform is stagnating and their reach is shrinking,” writes Huang.
“This really crystallizes how a lot of artists are feeling about Instagram lately,” tweets Paddy Johnson.
“Instagram has completely devalued still imagery, providing an opening for other platforms to poach all of its talented photographers and artists,” adds Simon Owens.
‘Dateline’ becomes a podcast powerhouse
For the New York Times, John Koblin details Dateline’s successful transformation from TV to podcasting.?
Here’s more:
“For years, television franchises and established news media institutions have taken turns trying to adapt to of-the-moment formats, whether digital video, newsletters or podcasts. Many times, the results are awkward and abandoned.
And yet “Dateline” has transformed itself into a podcast powerhouse, churning out several original series a year, all of which have been hits. Twice a week, “Dateline” opens its vault and turns old segments from the television show into podcasts. The archival material is also a success. On any given day, the “Dateline” podcast with the repurposed TV segments is usually among the top five podcasts on Apple’s charts.
What “Dateline” has done so well for so long on television — true crime, told with relish and deep reporting — appears to have met a moment in an entirely new medium."
“NBC's Dateline has pulled off something that few old media dinosaurs can: Adapt to a new medium,” tweets the author of the piece.
Listeners have downloaded “Dateline” podcast episodes nearly 800 million times since the first one appeared in 2019, NBC News said.
“Dateline NBC has changed a lot since 2000, when I spent months working with them on an investigation into PC repair, and did stuff like going into CompUSA wearing an ugly sweatshirt with a hidden camera built into it. But it’s still kicking,” tweets Harry McCracken.?
“A great example of how to capitalize on the synergies between TV and podcasts,” adds Simon Owens.
Layoff news
A bit of unfortunate layoff news over the past week in the media world.
Local makes a comeback
Sara Fischer from Axios reports The New York Daily News plans to shift its coverage priorities toward producing more local content about issues impacting New York City. The news came from a memo obtained by Axios sent out on Tuesday.
“The memo praised the support for its strategy from its new owners, Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting journalists at local papers to maximize profits,” explains Fischer.?
Here’s what’s going to change: The company plans to expand the number of pages in its daily print edition by about 16% by adding more local news content (roughly eight additional pages), according to a source familiar with the company's plans.
“We’re putting more reporters on the streets, hiring new journalists to join our ranks and re-examining priorities to sharpen our focus on the stories New Yorkers care about," the memo reads.
A few more
From the Muck Rack Team
Crafting a winning PR pitch is more difficult now than ever. The average journalist covers four beats and receives up to 25 pitches per week, according to our State of Journalism 2022 survey. In other words: They’re busy, and their inboxes are full.
To get more placements and boost your relationships with journalists, PR coach Michael Smart analyzed 14 million pitches sent through Muck Rack — well, 14,475,147 to be exact.?
He presented his findings and best practices in a webinar and companion ebook, which you can access for free.