THAT'S A WRAP #12

Happy Friday! We’re back with a roundup of this week’s news-related news. On deck: social media trends in publishing, (on)going media concerns, and recent revenue strategies adopted by top bands and media groups.?

HAPPENINGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ??

Since the Twitter spinoff Bluesky released its iOS app in February, people—including many a media outlet and journalist —have been clamoring to post their first skeet (skeet? really?). To do so, you have to be invited, i.e. prove that at least one person is willing to talk to you . The scarcity strategy seems to be working. Or maybe it’s the utopian AT protocol that’s bringing the users to the yard.

The Spanish news brand Ac2ality reaches audiences “too young to understand a newspaper article” via TikTok (as well as millions who are definitely old enough but enjoy the digestible video clips). Their homepage tells you to “forget the newspapers” next to an image of a smirking Donald Trump. Back in 2020, Ac2ality was among the first to do news on TikTok, but they now have plenty of company. 86% of publishers in Spain have a TikTok presence, according to Reuters . The rate is the same in France, 77% in the US, and goes as high as 90% in Indonesia.?

Quietly advancing toward the head of the pack is LinkedIn, where publishers have more followers than on TikTok. According to the 2023 AOP survey of UK publishers, 18% of them (44% of B2B publishers) are looking to the platform to drive traffic. Another 2023 study from Echobox shows that year-on-year more publishers are distributing content via the platform. 60% of LinkedIn users are between the ages of 25 and 34, a demographic with the willingness and the budget to pay for news .?

STARTING UP AND CRASHING DOWN ??

Folks are eyeing the new news start-up The Messenger , which shot off with a bang this week featuring an exclusive interview with Donald Trump as its leading story. In fact, “Trump” is the most mentioned term in the new publication’s headlines. This is perhaps not surprising, as the founder has long been counted among Trump’s inner circle . Other top terms included (in descending order): death, Biden, killer, migrant, shooter, and Texas, according to journalists at Niemen Lab (full list here ). The new kid’s ad-based, high-traffic model has drawn skepticism throughout the “post-platform” industry where the same playbook has seen some high-profile failures.

Speaking of high-profile, Vice News has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy , which allows an organization to avoid liquidation in favor of reorganization. The current offer on the table is $225m for a company once valued at $6bn (which makes The Messenger's $50m in capital raised look pretty modest). COOs at Vice put a positive spin on the sale, heralding “a simplified capital structure and the ability to operate without the legacy liabilities that have been burdening our business.” More pessimistic observers are making the obvious comparison to BuzzFeed News .

PAYING THE BILLS ??

How are publishers paying the bills? NYT apparently has all the subscribers it needs and is planning to go back to basics with a significant expansion of its ad strategy. ?

The Washington Post further elevated its large video team when it launched a FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channel on Amazon’s Freevee platform earlier this month. While advertising is in the name, there are hopes the internet broadcast content could also drive subscriptions with a QR code that will send viewers to the publication’s registration page.?

Dotdash Meredith (Investopedia, People, Better Homes & Gardens), has a new ad targeting tool called D/Cipher that leverages intent-based traffic to surmise which ads to show users—without cookies or first-party data. The tool makes it possible to “unlock Apple users” and promises to profile readers without a single cookie or registered account.?

…and that’s a wrap!