Social Media
Media’s no good, very bad week
More proof that VC funding and journalism are poor bedfellows — and that you should never trust a social media platform.
business models
The Canary becomes a flock: left-wing site reforms as a workers’ co-operative
The politics site's former management is gone, and the staff are now collectively running the title. Can they align their business model with their values?
The Times
Why the Streisand effect could hit The Times’s bottom line
The Times pulling a story about the prime minister shows a strange mix of deference to authority, and a disregard for its paying members. And that could be bad for subs numbers.
news:rewired
Subscriber revenue: what's the future — and the limit?
How do you win an audience. convert them to subscribers — and retain them in tough economic times? A news:rewired panel explores past sucesses and future strategies.
Video
I miss deadlines. Would you?
Some thoughts on B2B newsletters, the endless pivot to video, and Substack's growing moat.
links
Lunchtime links: subs, Google News and the problem with Wikipedia
It must be the silly season. LinkedIn is getting into subs? Plus some useful stuff on Google News and a critical look at the media/Wikipedia intersection
newsletters
Why newsletters won't kill newspapers
And why unbundling the opinion columnists might be a good thing for news in general.
Morning Conference emails
Morning Conference: how to counter news avoidance
Plus some interesting links on revenue, and a 5 minute summary of where the net went wrong.
paywalls
Rewarding good subscriber content is not the same as rewarding clickbait
The Telegraph's plan to incentivise subscriber-friendly content doesn't look like clickbait payments, whatever Twitter says
business models
Catch-up Digital Digest #1: revenue, vaccines and more
Welcome to the 2021. Let's catch-up. Or try to, at least.
Facebook launches new Groups tools, and Google spends lobbying money on journalism
Facebook does a good thing, and Google does something that merely looks nice. This is platform economy life.
membership models
Journalism needs members, not readers
Members and subscribers are not the same thing. We're at a moment of inflection in journalism, and understanding the difference might be crucial.