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.
