Here's your weekly roundup of trends, tools and threats in the media industry.
You couldn't have missed the news that Yahoo's core business -- which includes the media group -- was bought by Verizon. It was a chance for many of us to reflect on the role that Yahoo played in our careers. "I'm lucky. Yahoo allowed me to pack several careers into one in a span of almost six years," I wrote in my farewell note, which I sent out to the staff in March 2015. "Be grateful. We have something special here that other people look for when they go to work every day. Protect it. Come into work every day feeling like you've struck the lottery; bring your best self every day into Yahoo." -- Alan Soon
Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo's media assets offers plenty of lessons for digital publishers. Here are some observations, concerns and implications of the deal.
...What does Tim Armstrong really want out of Yahoo's operating business? Building a rival to DoubleClick.
...Here's an interesting way of looking at Yahoo -- it's the first high-profile death resulting from the platform shift to mobile. "Mobile fell on an unsuspecting Yahoo like a piano on a cartoon villain."
Twitter has problem with its audience too. But as its earnings report this week revealed, it also has a problem with ads. Their ads are just too expensive and there's no compelling reason behind that premium pricing.
In contrast, Facebook absolutely killed it in its latest earnings report. Daily active users -- probably the best measure of habitual consumption -- broke a new milestone of 1 billion DAUs. Revenue growth was a stunning 59% year-on-year.
Many of you already know this: In a Facebook world, sponsored brand content is the way forward in advertising. And the big newsrooms are fast transforming themselves into full-service agencies.
The Washington Post has created the role of Facebook Live Editor. "We’re increasing our Facebook Live programming so much that it now deserves its own team."
...But not everyone is convinced that Facebook Live is as exciting as FB wants it to be. "The numbers got to the point where we chose not to do it every day. We’re scaling back—not so dramatically that Facebook would be concerned—but we’re retrenching."
...Here's one reporter's view about live streaming. He covered the terror attacks in Nice and Munich. He had the right tools and technical capabilities, but he decided it wasn't the right thing to do. "Everyone was expecting me to live stream, but the best reporting I did that night was the reporting I did not do." Here's why.
The New York Times has an internal, home-made analytics dashboard called Stela. It's brilliant. This is what it looks like.
...Google Analytics is great -- but not straight out of the box. Spam sessions, internal sessions and a whole bunch of things that shouldn't be added up. Here's how to fix it.
The Guardian is letting advertisers buy ads against trending stories. It will layer on first-party audience data so that clients can target audience segments like sports and tech.
Following the failed coup in Turkey, the government there has shut down more than 80 news outlets. Journos are also a target for arrests.
China has told all major online companies to stop original news reporting. Authorities say companies like Sohu.com and NetEase have "seriously violated" regulations. From this point on, media companies can only carry content from government-controlled or online media.
India expelled three Chinese journalists in the country, sparking a diplomatic row with China. It's not clear why it did so, but reports say the Chinese reporters were speaking to Tibetans under false names.
India is one of the toughest markets for an international media company to enter. So how is Vice trying to do it?
What's it like to run 14 different international editions of a news site? Here's how the executive editor of Huffington Post gets through his day.
A year ago, The Economist rolled out their social media strategy with the hope of getting more subscribers. Here are eight lessons they learned.
Here's another way to engage with audiences: email newsletters (like this!). It's such a unique distribution channel that some newsrooms are now hiring newsletter editors.
Do you know Gimlet Media? If you're a fan of Startup or Reply All, you'll know just how good these guys are when it comes to podcasts. How do they build a community of listeners? On Slack.
When was the last time you saw a media company explain publicly how they work and how they pick stories? Tech In Asia, which covers the startup industry in Asia, put out a post on how PR companies should work with them. Covers their ethics and guidelines. That transparency is critical if we were to view journalism as a service to an audience.
Nintendo's stock plunged 18% on Monday after investors realized they won't be seeing much financial returns from Pokemon Go. Nintendo told shareholders that despite the success of the game, its overall earnings impact will be limited. It won't even revise its annual forecast.
Starbucks is worried about declining morale. So it's letting its baristas wear fedoras. But not any fedora. Just Starbucks ones.
Speaking of beverages, scientists have found a species of cockroach that produces milk that could be good for humans. You heard it here first. “The crystals are like a complete food—they have proteins, fats and sugars. If you look into the protein sequences, they have all the essential amino acids."
Lufthansa has started selling seats on Airbnb. "Our cabin isn’t in the woods, but in the sky!"
Quote of the week:
"Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." -- Victor Hugo
Have a great weekend! Write me; let me know what you think of this newsletter.
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I started The Splice Newsroom consultancy to help solve a difficult problem: getting newsrooms to adapt and evolve in the ongoing shift to digital with the right strategy, operations and training. I help transform traditional newsrooms and support the development of editorial startups.
