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Newspaper companies consolidate, cut more newsroom jobs
Consolidation of the print newspaper industry is intensifying, and the layoffs, buyouts and attrition at daily newspaper newsrooms across the country is continuing at a steady clip.
Before that roundup, check out what past LION conference speaker Teresa Schmedding wrote for Poynter last week: "The news industry can’t cut its way to quality."
First, the big one. Gannett and Tribune are engaged in a nasty fight over Gannett's attempt to purchase Tribune and solidify its place as, by far, the largest newspaper chain in the U.S.
Tribune is telling stockholders that Gannett is trying to "steal the company" and is adopting a "poison pill." Gannett is urging Tribune shareholders to withhold board votes. Tribune's #2 shareholder supports a sale.
Meanwhile, Tribune has outlined a plan to expand the Los Angeles Times globally and is in talks with the Washington Post about using its CMS.
The biggest newspaper consolidation-and-newsroom cuts news this week came not from the realm of corporate boardrooms, but rather the nonprofit journalism-supporting think tank and training organization, Poynter.
The Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times bought and folded rival daily Tampa Tribune, laying off the entire newsroom. At Nieman Lab, Josh Benton asked if this the continuation of an old trend or the start of a new one?
Elsewhere, Paxton Media Group purchased The Elkhart Truth in Indiana, and South Carolina’s top daily bought an alt-weekly in the state capital.
The Boston Globe announced buyouts, again. The Denver Post is seeking a buyout for 26, would reduce newsroom by 1/3 in a year. Stressing ‘company loyalty,’ Las Vegas Review-Journal threatened to fire staff who share internal information. And locals outlined a plan to save the Pioneer Press from its hedge fund owners and talked about Digital First Media's plan to "harvest" the declining newspaper business there.
Related: A laid-off journalist reflects: "The newspaper didn’t love me back."
Facebook under fire for manipulating news traffic
Leaked documents show human intervention at almost every stage of Facebook's news operation.
The piece that set off a firestorm this week: Former Facebook workers: We routinely suppressed conservative news. Facebook refutes Gizmodo report that it was censoring conservative news.
Facebook’s trending stories leak shows it isn’t too different from average news orgs: flawed, human, a little biased.
The real problem with Facebook and the news.
A guide to building audience through community engagement
The American Press Institute has released a new study on the "best ways to build audience and relevance by listening to and engaging your community."
Related: That scary user feedback, and how 'scary' can actually mean 'really, super good.'
Making sense of engagement editors, social metrics and analytics. Actually use the material users give you, and other ways to improve audience engagement. A community engagement guide for nonprofits. How libraries are curating current events, becoming community debate hubs. What libraries can learn from the media, and vice versa.
Google hopes to push more traffic to local news sources
Some potentially good news for local media: Google News is setting up a "local source" tag for local coverage of major news stories, so that the original or most local source for a story isn't buried by the size and SEO power of national outlets.
News About Local Independent Online News Sites
BILLY PENN EXPANDS: Billy Penn taking its formula to Pittsburgh with help from Gannett investment. It will be called "The Incline."
CT MIRROR: Where should news apps go? With ‘Citizen’s Toolbox,’ the CT Mirror provides an answer.
IOWA WATCH: Iowa Watch forum explores free speech on college campuses.
PRO PUBLICA: With new columns and newsletters, ProPublica is trying to attract new readers and have more fun.
RIPPLE: Ripple wants to deliver local news — and it wants your help writing it. Local news startup Ripple apologizes for taking other people's news.
THE LENS: Society of Professional Journalists contributes $10,000 to The Lens' legal battle with City of New Orleans.
Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue
AD BLOCKING: Most people aren't willing to pay even $1 a year to avoid mobile ads. ‘Another way to tax’: Publishers scoff at the Adblock Plus micropayment scheme. Now it's The Wall Street Journal is coming for ad-block users.
AD BUBBLE?: Google: End of the online advertising bubble.
CMS: Now on media's CMS checklist: distributed publishing, monetization.
DATA: When newsrooms don’t own their data, other companies profit.
MOBILE: The mobile disruption: New report provides insights into navigating the growing mobile news ecosystem. Ten rules publishers should follow when devising a mobile-only strategy. Marketers struggle with effective mobile ads. In the mobile Web vs. mobile app question, the answer is both.
NONPROFITS: As grants and gifts boom, American Press Institute report tackles the ethics of nonprofit journalism funding.
PLATFORMS: How will local news media organizations fare in the age of distributed content?
What it’s like to set up Facebook Instant Articles: TL;DR: It sucks, but we’ll help you get through it. LinkedIn exploring its own version of Facebook’s Instant Articles. By making content just for Apple News, The Washington Post is hoping to offer a doorway to its wider coverage. "Distributed content is simply a fight for attention."
PROGRAMMATIC: Ad tech is having a premature midlife crisis.
SPONSORED CONTENT: Study identifies five types of native ads from publishers. Native advertising definitions continue to confuse. Native ads compete with news for audiences’ attention — and get it. Ads evolve into new forms as media landscape shifts.
SUBSCRIBERS: Why people pay to read The New York Times.
Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology
AP STYLE: Here’s what the AP Stylebook needs to change in its 2016 edition.
BREAKING NEWS: What constitutes breaking news?
DATA: Data journalism has a commissioning problem. Are drones a new avenue for data journalism? USC partnership brings data science to the newsroom. How j-school professors, librarians teamed up to teach data skills at Kansas.
DIVERSITY: Why journalism has a gender problem.
EDUCATION: Surprise report card: Education writers like the job.
FACEBOOK: How to take advantage of Facebook’s algorithm tweak.
FACT CHECKING: Can fact-checkers break into Facebook’s echo chambers? Scientists are fact-checking climate journalism now. Recent research reveals false rumors really do travel faster and further than the truth.
FOIA: Running into a brick wall with your FOIA request? Take it public.
INSTAGRAM: In Chicago, two brothers are using Instagram to engage new audiences for investigative reporting.
INVESTIGATIVE: An investigative reporter’s tips for everyday life. Investigative news sites redefine the journalistic business model.
JOURNALISM SKILLS: Do you need ‘superpowers’ to work in journalism? No, but …
LONG-FORM: Long-form reading shows signs of life in our mobile news world. Good news, publishers: People will read your long stories on their phones (for two minutes, anyway).
MAPS: How to create interactive maps with MapHub.
MATH: Some guidelines for rounding off long numbers.
METRICS: Die Welt’s analytics system de-emphasizes clicks and demystifies what it considers a “quality” story. Correctly and effectively using "likes" as a metric.
MOBILE: Facebook, Twitter play different roles in connecting mobile readers to news.
SNAPCHAT: Snapchat for journalists: a great big guide.
VIDEO: Periscope broadcasts will soon live on forever — here’s why that’s smart. With drone, storage and search support, Periscope takes the fight to Facebook Live. Facebook ‘Live’ doesn’t have to be live. Behind AJ+’s Facebook juggernaut. The problem of measuring video viewership.
Industry News
CHAT BOTS: Why Facebook Messenger bots haven't caught on with publishers.
CLICKBAIT: BBC to cut 'soft news' and recipes from its website. Can Pacific Standard thrive in a post-clickbait era?
FACEBOOK: Should Facebook worry about people sharing less?
GOOGLE: Google: Journalism's greatest frenemy? Google said to be exploring an 'acceptable' ads policy.
INSTAGRAM: Instagram is testing a Facebook-like profile for businesses — here’s what it looks like.
MOBILE: Mobile advertisers want to know exactly where you are. This company tells them.
NEWS CORP: News Corp stumbles in its third quarter, reports $149 million loss.
NEW YORK TIMES: The New York Times thinks digital growth will outpace print losses — just not yet.
PAYWALLS: How The Sunday Times recruits new readers beyond its paywall.
PRINT: It’s been a good week for making fun of people who are hopeful about print newspapers.
New UK daily newspaper folds only two months after launch. Why UK daily newspaper startup didn't work... and had no hope of working.
SNAPCHAT: Snapchat wants a $40 CPM for new video ads. http://digiday.com/platforms/snapchat-wants-40-cpm-new-video-ads/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digidaydis&utm_source=publishing&utm_content=160506
VIDEO: Facebook videos live fast, die young. Twitter looks to video to increase advertising sales.
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