#42 — New subscription publications & lessons from Scandinavian publishers
Happy Sunday to all our subscribers and welcome to those of you who are new around here 👋
In this weeks roundup of the biggest stories in digital publishing we’re weighing in on subscription fatigue, local and community news, video strategy and whether calendars could be the next great publishing tool!
💯 Top picks
Veteran tech journalist launches a new subscription publication
After working at big names such as Recode and Business Insider, Dan Frommer is launching his own subscription publication: The New Consumer. It’s going to focus on the changing landscape in e-commerce, online advertising and direct-to-consumer brands.
💸 Business models
“Never stop challenging yourself”: Lessons from Scandinavian publishers
Publishers in Norway and Sweden have shared their experiences, successes, and failures in growing their digital subscription business during the INMA Scandinavian Subscription Week. Here’s some of the highlights!
‘Subscription Fatigue’: Nearly half of US consumers are frustrated with streaming
As the amount of TV streaming services grows, with even more on the way from the likes of Apple and Disney, consumers are growing tired. In a recent survey, 47% of US consumers said they were frustrated by needing a growing number of subscriptions to access the content they want to see. Always interesting to see how subscriptions play out in different industries!
✍️ Modern journalism
Decoding metrics means embracing journalism that matters [Podcast]
Last week we shared an article summarising a report from the American Press Institute about building metric-savvy newsrooms. The authors of that report, Betsy O’Donovan and Melody Kramer, spent some time with the It’s All Journalism producers to discuss their findings in this podcast.
What would journalism look like if it was generated from within communities? [Report]
This new report from the Engaged Journalism Accelerator was based on findings from a two-day workshop with 30 European practitioners. It approaches the question: What would journalism look like if it was generated from within communities rather than for communities?
Facebook enters the news desert battle, trying to find enough local news for its new feature
With more and more US communities losing local news completely - Facebook has decided it thinks it can help. They’re going to be working on sharing data and providing grants and mentorship to selected communities.
Medium's letter to writers and publishers
Medium posted this official call for partners to produce content that will be accessed by Medium Members, who pay $5 per month to access ad-free stories. Make sure you stick around to the bottom of the article to read the section titled: “Hasn’t Medium done this before?” 🙃
👩💻 Technology
Look for the union label (it’s coming to a podcast company near you)
Issue #200 of Hot Pod is here covering the latest news in podcasting including a union push at Gimlet. These newsletters written by Nicholas Quah always provide an inviting and in-depth read. Makes sure you check it out (and subscribe) if you’re interested in the podcast industry!
Inside The New York Times’s video strategy
Discover how the NYT is experimenting with new approaches to video and content in this interview with Nancy Gauss, executive director of video.
The New York Times built an open source documentation site
NYT have also released an open source documentation/wiki site that pulls content from Google Docs and outputs it into a library!
🤷 WTF?
Calendars might be the next great online publishing tool
Publishers are increasingly using calendars to keep readers alerted about important events, as well as to drive traffic back to their website via reminders to check out their latest posts!
