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The Media Minute 04.21.2020

Media Minute

There are no easy, one-size-fits-all answers to how magazines can survive COVID-19 and the resulting recession. But asking the right questions can help you navigate your magazine through these rough waters.

68% of consumers say they’re searching for coronavirus updates on the internet – making it the biggest online activity, according to latest research by GlobalWebIndex. The company has been studying consumers’ media consumption habits in the current pandemic.

Called Source Local, the product allows readers to browse businesses in a local market offering gift cards. The businesses are sorted in alphabetical order. Nearly 10,000 businesses across the U.S. have added themselves to Source Local since Gannett first launched the product last month, and it has drawn over 1 million pageviews.

Publishers fret they are losing revenue from their coverage of the coronavirus pandemic when media buyers block online ads from appearing next to those stories. Yet much of that content can be considered brand-safe, according to a study that suggests news publishers are being unfairly punished for keeping readers informed about the crisis.

Curating an effective email list for your company is a lot like creating a playlist of songs for a party. It takes time, consideration,and awareness of who you’re trying to connect with. You don’t make your friends listen to a bunch of random songs in an attempt to get their attention.Instead, you hand-pick tunes that you know will get the crowd excited.

It turns out if you’re a journalist, Muck Rack is a handy little website filled with a few useful tools intended to help reporters monitor the news and quantify the impact of their reporting. Not surprisingly, it was Poynter’s digital tools guru Ren LaForme that got me to stop and notice what the site had to offer.

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The Media Minute 04.14.2020

Media Minute

This is part of a series of articles showcasing publisher responses to COVID-19. If you’d like to share what your publishing business is doing to serve audiences and maintain business, please reply to our callout for industry input.

A vast majority (96%) of consumers read, watch or listen to media content (including news) for almost 24 hours a week, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum. What’s more, “almost 60% have gone through some form of registration process to consume news or entertainment – either free or paid.”

With commuting on hold and everybody Zooming all the time, podcast consumption has taken a bit of a hit as listeners look for new ways to fit shows into their daily routines. Last month, the analytics firm Chartable released research suggesting that podcast downloads were 10% lower on March 25 than they were on February 26.

Of the 2.8 million online pages containing COVID-19 related keywords across GumGum’s publisher network, 62% were considered brand safe, according to a study by the artificial intelligence company and its content classification and brand safety platform, Verity.

We’ve all been there. Standing in line for a cup of overpriced coffee, reluctantly deciding to click on the little envelope icon on our smartphones because we know exactly what’s coming: a flood of emails with everything from sales on shoes from a store you barely remember visiting to deals on yoga classes that never seem to stop coming in after you innocently attended a studio’s free week trial.

As is the case with any successful business, it’s one for all and all for one. Yet based on my experience in both newspaper publishing and commercial printing, I’ve often questioned the fair distribution of expenses across these two divisions.

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The Media Minute 04.07.2020

Media Minute

Attention and eyeballs go to the legitimate publishers who have invested so much in talent and infrastructure that allows them to do original and researched reporting, as opposed to aggregating other news sites or relying on user-generated content. Publishers are seeing a marked increase in engagement.

Echobox, a social media platform for publishers, tracked more than 2.3M stories shared to social media by 700 leading publishers, in more than 50 countries, through most of the first quarter of the year. The company looked at how many of those mentioned the words “corona” or “covid” in the shared messages.

Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith said it’s seeing Asia open up again and the beginnings of more activity happening there. One major international news brand is expecting to sign three contracts last week from three of the biggest countries in China and the immediate area.

Digital magazine service Readly reports that as people spend more time at home to deter the spread of the COVID-19 virus, readers are increasingly turning to the Home & Renovation, Gardening, Comics and Kids categories on its app.

As COVID-19 stealthily continues to make its way around, many people have taken precautionary actions, like stocking up on disinfectant products and even washing their hands, to avoid getting sick.

In an era where print advertising revenue continues to decline rapidly and the lion’s share of digital advertising dollars are sucked up by Google and Facebook, it’s more important than ever for news organizations to focus on developing as many revenue streams as possible.

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The Media Minute 03.31.2020

Media Minute

“Isolated Connectivity” was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that story. Folks today feel we are so connected, yet we are more isolated than ever before.

It’s become a mantra of sorts, one of those terms we use without really giving it a lot of thought. In my world view, I have some trusted industry thought leaders I turn to again and again, including Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni.

Publishers on Monday began to make cuts to their businesses to control operating costs, with many following the lead of BuzzFeed and enacting an assortment of pay cuts and benefits reductions that do not — for now — cut deeply into staff.

The U.S. government’s $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package may help some ailing publishers, especially small businesses that face the biggest financial threat from the COVID-19 pandemic. Their bigger concern will be how quickly the economy bounces back from the public-health crisis that likely has caused a deep recession.

Publisher Abrams launched a new #HELPABOOKSELLER fundraising challenge campaign to benefit BINC (Book Industry Charitable Foundation), looking to raise more than $100,ooo to help booksellers in need. Ceo Michael Jacobs says in the announcement..

It’s all thanks to the Post and Courier, the robust, family-owned newspaper that can trace its roots back to 1803. It’s not exactly the type of publication you’d expect to be a hotbed of successful innovation, but as they say, “Don’t judge a broadsheet by its cover.”

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The Media Minute 03.24.2020

Media Minute

The coronavirus pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty in a very short period of time. Many companies have decided to cut their marketing budgets as a result. On the one hand, this is a prudent financial decision to protect cash flows.

Popular content analytics platform Chartbeat has reported that the number of pageviews across its network was up 33% last week compared to the same time last year, according to Recode. The amount of time spent actively scrolling, clicking, and reading articles was also up 30% during the same period.

Reader worry – and work from home policies – are driving a surge in news consumption about the coronavirus, with pageviews up 30% year over year, according to Parsely data. Publishers also face pressure to move their stories about the virus in front of their paywalls, stunting a key area of revenue growth.

Brands increased their email volume following President Trump’s European travel ban announcement on March 11. But that doesn’t mean consumers were converting, judging by research conducted by email service provider MessageGears.

Recent start-up Bookshop.org has received a significant lift in recent weeks, as a number of independent bookstores have enrolled with them to create an online storefront quickly and easily. And the organization gives a lift to ABA member stores as well — stores that sign on as affiliates get 25 percent of any sales they generate.

As newspapers have struggled with the decline of advertising revenue from retail, auto, real estate and recruitment, many have leaned on preprints, legal advertising and obituaries for stability.

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The Media Minute 03.18.2020

Media Minute

With more people living in Europe than in the U.S. and Canada combined, there’s a massive knowledge pool among European publishers that many North American media companies have yet to access. In fact, publishers in North America face many of the same challenges that European media companies deal with and, in some cases, have already overcome.

Publishers are now trying out different strategies to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing situation and continue serving their readers, as well as wrestle new opportunities out of this global calamity. Many publishers have admirably risen up to the occasion to take the challenge head-on.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s 2020 NewFronts moved to streaming-only presentations, several media companies have canceled their upfronts and industry conferences, such as SXSW and Collision, have been postponed or gone digital.

Following that order, the area’s most prominent paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, published a note to readers reaffirming its commitment to journalism through the coronavirus outbreak and the steps its taking to make that possible.

Along with the significant shutdown of the nation’s public libraries, independent booksellers are joining the call for social distancing and closing on a temporary basis, at least to the public, with many stores continuing to process shipments and/or make deliveries.

Along with the significant shutdown of the nation’s public libraries, independent booksellers are joining the call for social distancing and closing on a temporary basis, at least to the public, with many stores continuing to process shipments and/or make deliveries.

Cutting costs in our operations has long been the fallback for many companies. As painful as this strategy is the approach seems to show immediate savings and despite of ourselves, we always seem to find a way to get the work done through one means or another.

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The Media Minute 03.10.2020

Media Minute

The age of the Internet re-wrote all the old rules, making it necessary for publishers to adapt quickly. Ever since then, publishers have had to get used to new trends arriving every couple of years – from e-books to social media to video to audio – and pivoting to stay afloat.

As publishers grow more sophisticated with their reader revenue strategies, one trend in its early stages is the introduction of group calls and meetups as a benefit for subscribers or members. Here, we look at how three publishers have found value in subscriber and member-only calls and meetings, not just for their audience, but as a vehicle for sourcing new stories and connecting with potential new readers.

Hearst has recently taken incremental steps towards digital reader revenue. But Hearst Magazines’ first membership product, Runner’s World+, will act as a blueprint for Hearst’s other enthusiast publications moving into reader revenue.

President Trump’s re-election campaign this week filed its second libel lawsuit within a six-day period against a newspaper, taking a more aggressive stance against the news media the president once described as an “enemy of the people.

With more and more companies asking employees to work remote amid the coronavirus outbreak, we compiled some tips to help keep business running as usual from home.

  • None of the video advertisers who were notified about Facebook’s proposed $40 million class-action settlement over inflated video metrics have objected to the deal, class counsel says in papers filed Friday.
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The Media Minute 03.03.2020

Media Minute

Clearly, publishers are struggling to survive in today’s complex ecosystem, and given the dramatic and consistent changes, it’s understandable. Here are four strategies that can help publishers thrive and drive revenue in the face of this adversity

The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina grew its digital subscriptions by 250% (from 1,700 to 6,000) between 2017 to 2019, reports Digiday. It did so after shifting focus from pageviews to measuring time spent and engaged minutes.

The podcast industry continues to attract a lot of money and attention. For some podcast publishers, local audiences are limited, leading them to look overseas for audience and revenue growth.

The Boston Globe and technology platform Newlab have teamed up to support the development of new data-driven AI-based tools through the Newlab Venture Studio.

St. Louis Magazine , circulation 40,000, hosted a Food Fight voting bracket featuring iconic foods from the city of St. Louis. The people of St. Louis — like those of other cities — have some passionate debates about the region’s most iconic foods. We expected a bracket of this type would drive tons of engagement from our readers.

As our news industry grows and expands beyond paper, we want to profile not just newspapers, but all news publishers that are doing exciting things at their companies. We heard back from 70 news outlets around the world, and we’re proud to introduce the 10 “super” news publishers (along with our honorable mentions) that made the list this year.

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The Media Minute 02.25.2020

Media Minute

Without an effective tracking plan in place, marketers are left in the dark about whether their efforts swam or sank. We’ll dive into five campaign objectives to start with before launching your next programmatic advertising campaign.

The report covers the latest trends in eCommerce, travel, media publications, finance, social media and more. It examines incoming desktop and mobile web traffic, alongside Android app usage for the top websites and brands around the world, between January 2017 and December 2019.

The Information and Bloomberg Media are the next set of publishers to test out a digital subscription bundling model.The two publishers have come together to offer a $499 one-year subscription to both Bloomberg.com and TheInformation.com, which will allow readers to access all paywalled content…

Digital media platforms like Facebook and Google’s YouTube have been criticized for creating addictive technologies that keep audiences engaged by highlighting content that stirs emotions like shock and outrage.

“Experiential” is a trendy word for events right now — but what it really means is making your event so compelling, helpful, interactive, and fun that attendees and sponsors sign up and keep coming back!

Total Market Coverage (TMC) products are regarded by many as a mixed blessing. Virtually all our properties have at one time or another had a TMC. Due to declines in preprints and increasing expense, a few have shut them down.

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The Media Minute 02.18.2020

Media Minute

Barstool Sports launched as a print publication in 2003. Since then, they’ve become a multi-million dollar diversified sports and pop culture media company. Barstool recently sold to one of their advertisers, Penn National Gaming (owner of the Tropicana), for $450 million.

The report reveals that across the 5,000 titles that are available on Readly in over 50 markets, digital issues were read 83 million times throughout 2019.

With Flipboard’s newest venture, called Flipboard TV, the mobile reading app company will pay publishers — and aims to charge its 145 million monthly active users — for access to curated video content.

Publishers could get a bonus from Google. The Alphabet company reportedly is in talks with publishers to pay a licensing fee for news content.
The move would follow Facebook’s decision last year to pay news organizations to license their headlines and article summaries in its news tab.

No matter how much your core brand’s magazine, website, or event is thriving, building in back up revenue streams and maxing your brand’s recurring revenue is your safety net when things get rough.

The America East News Summit is set to return March 30 to April 1 in Hershey, Pa. at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. Administered by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA), more than 150 people are expected to attend.

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