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TOOLS
I don’t think I’ve ever started this newsletter with a tool story. But this is big. We’re finally seeing an effort to solve the basic “plumbing” of media — that damn CMS. It’s often too complicated or too expensive for small publishers to set up, let alone maintain. Wordpress.com is launching a toolkit called Newspack, which is co-funded by Google, Lenfest Institute, Knight Foundation and our partner Civil. Here’s the best part: They’re integrating revenue features like memberships and lead generation. “It’s not simply a CMS for a newsroom, but a full business system that enables publishing and monetization at the same time.” Music to my ears.
Civil will integrate its Publisher tools into Newspack. This will allow newsrooms to permanently archive their content on blockchain. It will also add licensing and syndication capabilities for publishers and creators.
GOVERNMENTS
The global tech giants are preparing to fight the Indian government on its new, sweeping rules around content takedowns. The IT ministry wants platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter to remove unlawful content (basically anything that affects the “sovereignty and integrity of India”) within 24 hours. The proposed rules first appeared on Christmas Eve, giving executives about a month to respond (I see what you did there). National polls are expected in India by May. Expect to see these same laws playing out in other parts of Asia in a busy election year.
China is cracking down on Twitter users. Should you tweet when you’re in China? The answer isn’t clear.
A man was fined in China for using a VPN. The fine — equivalent to US$150 — was for “setting up and frequently using illegal channels to connect to international networks.”
PLATFORMS
Facebook is setting aside $300 million over the next three years to support journalism. The money will mostly go toward supporting “local news” (I hate that word — is it geographical or community-interest?) in the U.S. And they’re promising more support on funding videos on Watch. Coincidentally, the headline number is the same as what the Google News Initiative is putting on the table.
Not everyone agrees this is the right thing to do. James Ball, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, says this will only extend media’s dependence on Big Tech to solve the very disruption it created. “Tying the future of journalism to a tech or social media levy shackles the two even closer together, making a already dangerously codependent relationship even less healthy—and potentially compromising journalism in the eyes of readers.”
Facebook banned the digital marketing group Twinmark Media in the Philippines for “coordinated inauthentic behavior”. That covers the gamut of creating fake accounts, sending people to ad farms, and selling access to Pages to artificially create reach. Twinmark had 220 Facebook Pages that had millions of followers on them. Twinmark-run Trending News Portal (4.3 million followers) is particularly interesting — it’s often cited by Mocha Uson, one of Duterte’s communications officials, as a news source.
Tencent’s WeChat barred three social networking rivals from its platform. This includes Bytedance’s new video messaging app Duoshan. Welcome to China’s biggest social media turf war.
Nearly all of the top 20 books on Amazon’s romance best-seller list were titles that either came from the company’s book-publishing arm, or were self-published on Amazon. That shows the power of Amazon in making or breaking an author. It’s also a worrying conflict. “They aren’t gaming the system. They own the system.”
TRENDS
Spotify is making a big push into podcasts this year. Discovery is a priority and they’ll use their recommendations engine to help with personalization. Spotify will also sell ads on the podcasts they serve up.
Netflix raised prices on all of its U.S. subscribers in its biggest price hike since the service launched. The most popular $10.99 “2S” plan is now $12.99. It’s all about cash flow as the company chases more originals to compete with Disney and Amazon. The stock jumped more than 6% on the news.
RESOURCES
How do you go about protecting your sources? Here are 12 principles to keep in mind.
Dan Oshinsky is the director of newsletters at the New Yorker. He knows a thing or two about getting into your inbox. So he’s putting together a monthly guide to help you send better email. And he’s doing it in Google Docs.
TALENT
Storyful shut its Hong Kong office, laying off its entire staff of six editorial people. “We are realigning our newsroom footprint in the APAC region," said the News Corp-owned company. Employees were reportedly offered severances and encouraged to apply for other positions in the group. There’s some great talent in that team. Here’s your chance to pick some up.
SCMP is looking for experienced digital copy editors in Hong Kong. Editing, fact-checking, SEO.
Australia’s ABC says it may have underpaid up to 2,500 of its “casual staff” over the past six years. It said it had miscalculated penalties, allowances and loadings. ABC wants you to know it’s sorry.
TRANSFORMATIONS
Is the worst over for Singapore’s SPH? In its latest quarterly earnings report, digital ad revenue from mastheads like The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao was up 12.9%. Print ad revenue dropped 7.2% — its slowest rate of decline in a year.
TOOLS
Apple now supports YubiKeys on the iPhone. Yubico will soon offer a key that has a Lightning connector on one end, and a USB-C connector on the other. Stay authenticated, people.
NOTABLES
Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra launched a podcast to connect with his supporters. He avoided politics on the first episode of Good Money, and instead focused on the global economy.
Huawei is regarded with suspicion by so many governments. But wait till you see what its new, giant faux-European campus in China looks like. It even has a train (it takes 22 mins to circle the massive campus). What’s not to like?
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