In this video featuring highlights from the News/Media Alliance Industry Summit, held on September 30, 2022 in New York, speakers offered expert tips and actionable insights on trending topics, including using data to deepen reader engagement, expanding ecommerce opportunities, and the future potential of Web3 in the context of news and magazine publishing.

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Speakers featured (in order of appearance): Scott Stein, USA TODAY/Gannett; Linda Li, SVP & General Manager, Wirecutter (The New York Times); Tyler Sperry, Director, eCommerce +
Affiliates, America’s Test Kitchen; Alysia Borsa, Chief Business Officer and President of Lifestyle, Dotdash Meredith; Beth Diaz, Vice President, Audience Development and Analytics, The Washington Post; Robin Berjon, Former VP, Data Governance, The New York Times

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day
License code: 3TCNKHDLZCSHBI9Q

Panel Recaps:

Session 1: Using Data to Deepen Reader Engagement

Session 2: Expanding eCommerce Opportunities

Session 3: Could Web3 Really Be a Thing for Publishers?

Related:

Full session recording: Fireside Chat with Robin Berjon: Could Web3 Really Be a Thing for Publishers?

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Guest: Eric Barnes, The Daily Memphian

What are some of the things to consider when starting a local newspaper? How can you be nonprofit and still operate like a for-profit newspaper? How did you attract subscribers in a competitive market? What went better than you expected and what didn’t go as well? What have you learned about finding the best revenue mix? What should someone thinking about starting a local newspaper know before they get started?

In this episode of News Take, News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with Eric Barnes, CEO of The Daily Memphian (Tennessee), about his experience over the last four years launching a nonprofit local newspaper. Eric takes us from the very initial discussions and fundraising steps, to deciding whether to publish a print edition or be a purely a digital news publication, to how they decided what to charge for subscriptions and how they structure their organization to allow them to employ 40 newsroom staff (Hint: It’s not on pure philanthropy!) He shares everything, from how they took cues from the community to chart a practical course for advertising, fundraising, and reporting; to why they don’t do sponsored content and scaled back on podcasts; to how they found a balance that is working for them. This must-listen primer on launching a nonprofit digital news publication is full of practical tips and takeaways for anyone wanting to run a news publishing business!

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Speaker bios

Eric Barnes

Eric is CEO of The Daily Memphian, an online daily news source in Memphis that launched in September 2018. For ten years, Eric has hosted “Behind the Headlines” on Memphis’ PBS station, a weekly news show focused on local government, business and the community. Since 2019, he has also hosted “The Sidebar,” a podcast on The Daily Memphian and radio show on local radio station WYXR, that focuses on arts, culture and everything in between. Eric is also publisher of a group of community newspapers in Tennessee, and a former president and current board member of the Tennessee Press Association. He is currently president of the American Court & Commercial Newspapers and is on the board of the Local Media Association. He is a novelist and a published short story writer, and has a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s from Connecticut College.

Watch the previous episode of News Take

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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Guest: Rand Fishkin, SparkToro

“My position is, How do we help marketers find the sources of influence that their audience pays attention to outside of these big ecosystems? Because we think that’s not only good for the advertiser, it’s good for the publisher, too. If you’ve built a great audience, you should have people coming to you who want to reach that audience, you shouldn’t have to participate in Google’s extremely low payout advertising network or FB’s or put all your content on TikTok for free. Those mechanisms for driving revenue, we think are fundamentally biased and unfair.”

– Rand Fishkin, SparkToro

What can publishers do to get out from under the dominant tech platforms that control the digital advertising space? How have other industries pushed back on Google’s scraping of their data and coming between them and their audience? How can publishers take back control of our audience data so that we’re not having to go through Google, Facebook and the other tech platforms to reach our own audience?

In this episode of News Take, News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern is joined by Rand Fishkin, cofounder and CEO of audience research software firm SparkToro, for a fascinating conversation about the big tech platforms, their algorithms, and how the Internet has evolved from a once equitable environment that was mutually beneficial, to now favoring only a handful of giant tech platforms today. Rand paints a picture of the digital marketing landscape businesses must navigate today, highlighting concerns with tech platforms’ walled gardens in which they intentionally try to keep you from leaving. He shares SparkToro’s research on “zero click searches” that has gained attention from marketers worldwide on how few web searches now result in a click through to the original content. And he explains how his company helps marketers understand their audience’s behaviors and preferences without having to rely on Google and Facebook, and the importance of taking back ownership of your audience relationships and data.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the News Take podcast by clicking “Follow” and selecting your preferred podcasting platform, or click on your preferred platform: Spotify, Apple, Google.

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Speaker bios

Rand Fishkin is cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, a software company that provides unique audience research and insights, aggregated from tens of millions of verifiable public social and web profiles, to make channels outside Facebook and Google accessible to everyone. Rand started SparkToro in 2018 with Casey Henry. Prior to that, he was CEO of Moz, where he raised two rounds of funding, led three acquisitions, and a rebrand. From 2007 to 2014, he grew the company to over 130 employees, more than $30 million in revenue, and web traffic to over 30 million visitors a year. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through his writing, videos, speaking, and his book, Lost and Founder. Rand previously co-contributed to two other books: Art of SEO, and Inbound Marketing & SEO. He’s been profiled in the Seattle Times, featured in Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, named to BusinessWeek’s 30 Under 30, written about in Newsweek, The Next Web, the Inc 500, and hundreds of other publications.

Additional Resources

In 2020, Two Thirds of Google Searches Ended Without a Click (Sparktoro)

White Paper: How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism (News/Media Alliance – features SparkToro’s zero click research)

Watch the next episode: Lessons in Practicality from The Daily Memphian: “A Lot of People Don’t Know We’re a Nonprofit” 

Watch the previous episode: Update on News Deserts and Local News Trends

View all episodes

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arlington, VA – The News/Media Alliance has released the latest installment of the Magazine Media Factbook. The Factbook provides updated research trends and data points that highlight the continued enthusiasm for magazine media, as well as the strong credibility and trust magazine media enjoy with their readers. The Factbook’s insights on magazine consumption and audience preferences aid magazine and advertising professional collaboration and enhance their advertising efforts.

The Factbook, originally a product of MPA – The Association of Magazine Publishers, which merged with the News Media Alliance on July 1, 2022, is being published this year by the newly combined organization, the News/Media Alliance. News/Media Alliance members represent many of the largest and most renowned brands in the magazine and news publishing industries. The combined industries represent over $40 billion in annual revenue.

“Magazines provide an ideal environment for advertising that inspires action, and the Magazine Media Factbook confirms that through its in-depth research statistics and insights,” said Alliance President and CEO, David Chavern. “Our members are trusted sources of information that readers want and need, with thoughtful, relevant and interesting ads that make readers feel heard and understood. That translates to more sales and a greater return on investment for marketers.”

Highlights from the 2022 Magazine Media Factbook:

• Overall audience across print and digital grew in 2021 to 222.2 million readers.
• Magazine launches rebounded from the height of the pandemic, doubling to 122 new titles in 2021.
• More than half of individuals in every age group interact with magazines on social media.
• People of all ages still enjoy experiencing magazines in print, including nearly six in ten 18-34 year-olds (58 percent) who say they love the touch and feel of a printed magazine.
• Magazine readers influence others’ shopping behaviors and are above-average spenders in several purchasing categories.
• Devoted magazine readers are wealthier, enjoy exclusive luxury products and services, and are more likely to pay premium prices in certain retail categories.
• Advertising in magazine media is effective:
  • Over 90 percent of women 18-34 took action after seeing an ad in both a magazine and its website, and research from Dynata shows that magazine prints ads provide brand lift when it comes to growing consumer awareness and purchase intent.
  • Fifty-seven percent of adults ages 18-49 say ads in magazines fit well with the content, more than other media.
  • The number of magazine website advertisers increased 23 percent in 2021 vs. 2020.

Alliance members can access the full Factbook here (member login required). All others may request a copy of the Factbook by emailing Alliance Vice President of Research & Insights, Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

The post News/Media Alliance Releases 2022 Magazine Media Factbook appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern has accepted a position at the Consumer Brands Association as President and CEO. The Consumer Brands Association press release has details about his new role.

Below is a statement from Maribel Perez Wadsworth, President of Gannett Media and Chair of the Board of the News/Media Alliance, about David’s contributions to the organization:

“We are grateful for David’s many contributions to the news and magazine industries during his tenure at the News/Media Alliance. Under David’s leadership, the Alliance was completely rebuilt and transformed into a powerful and effective champion for the future of quality journalism. The organization now enjoys the support of a broad range of the great news and magazine publishers, from the largest national outlets to a wide array of small and local publications. Most important, publishers are now aligned and fully focused on the need to fight for a digital future that rewards and sustains great reporting. This includes the immediate fight for the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act.

David will remain with the Alliance until the end of the year to continue that fight through the end of this Congress. The Alliance also benefits from having a strong team and we are confident in the organization’s continued growth and impact. We will begin the process of working with David on a transition plan and identifying his successor.”

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Guests: Penny Muse Abernathy and Tim Franklin, the Medill Journalism School Local News Initiative at Northwestern University

“In this vast country, newspapers have historically been the prime, if not the sole source, for most small and mid-size independent communities. So, if you lose a newspaper, you’re losing the person who shows up to cover the school board meeting, the person who shows up to cover the county commissioner or even the zoning policy changes that can be quite controversial and affect the long-term quality of life of a community. The good news is I think there are a lot of things that are going on that can stem that, that range from policy solutions to new funding opportunities to new business development.“

– Penny Muse Abernathy, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

“What comes behind a news desert? We know that Facebook Groups emerge in these communities. … But as we know even as well-intentioned as those good people can be, that’s not the same as vetted, reported local news and local journalism. As so what happens is you have the, in some cases, unintentional spread of misinformation in those communities, and especially at a time when our democracy is already facing challenges, and at a time when we’re coming out of a pandemic, we know the need for accurate, credible, reliable news and information.”

– Tim Franklin, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

What is the state of local news today? What’s changed, where are there still concerns? What makes a community vulnerable to becoming a news desert? What does the future hold for the print newspaper? What are the most powerful opportunities for policy to help local news grow and thrive? What are some examples of positive outcomes and how can other news publishers emulate their success?

News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with the authors of now well-known research throughout the industry on the phenomenon known as news deserts, Penny Muse Abernathy and Tim Franklin of the Medill School of Journalism’s Local News Initiative at Northwestern University. In this thought-provoking conversation, Abernathy and Franklin share the findings from their latest update to The State of Local News report, released this summer. The previous edition of the report by Abernathy, released by the University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media in 2020, revealed startling trends on the prevalence of news deserts, finding one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have closed since 2005. But there are reasons to be optimistic, and Abernathy and Franklin provide their thoughts on how the trend could yet be reversed. The two journalists-turned-academicians discuss innovations in digital publishing, as well as the introduction of non-advertising focused revenue models, including subscriptions and membership models, nonprofit organization structures, and other revenue models, that they say could offer a path for publishers who are living in areas that are vulnerable to becoming a news desert, as well as those who want to start a newspaper in a news desert.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the News Take podcast by clicking “Follow” and selecting your preferred podcasting platform, or click on your preferred platform: Spotify, Apple, Google.

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Speaker bios

Penny Muse Abernathy is a visiting professor at the Medill School. While at Medill, Abernathy is collaborating with the school’s Local News Initiative and Spiegel Research Center on local news-related projects, research and teaching. Abernathy is a former senior business executive with The New York Times, Harvard Business Review and Wall Street Journal, and was the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina from 2008 to 2020. Her research focuses on the implications of the digital revolution for news organizations, the information needs of communities and the emergence of news deserts in the United States.

Tim Franklin is Senior Associate Dean, Professor and John M. Mutz Chair in Local News at the Medill School , where he is leading the Local News Initiative, a research-and-development project designed to bolster the sustainability of local news in America, and the Medill Metro Media Lab, a project funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation to strengthen the local news ecosystem and journalism education in the Chicago area. Franklin was appointed earlier this year by Governor J.B. Pritzker to serve on the Illinois Local Journalism Task Force, a bipartisan group studying the local news crisis in the state and recommending potential policy solutions. Before joining Medill in 2017, Franklin was President of The Poynter Institute, a leading international school for journalists and a media think tank.

Additional Resources

The State of Local News 2022 (Medill School of Journalism’s Local News Initiative, Northwestern University)

Watch the previous episode: The State of Advertising and Local News

Watch the next episode: Outsmarting Google and Facebook: Helping Publishers Grow Their Audience Outside the Dominant Platforms 

View all episodes

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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Guest: Gordon Borrell, Borrell Associates

“If we don’t understand that the people who really support the newspaper are the advertisers, and they need to be able to use the newspaper company to help them sell things, to help them grow their business, if we fumble that, we don’t have a newspaper.”

– Gordon Borrell, Borrell Associates

In an environment with ever-increasing advertising options, what do local advertisers want today? As everything becomes more digital, what changes are happening across media, and what are the opportunities for local news publishers to stand out? What do marketers uniquely value about local news media and how can publishers capitalize on that? 

News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern dives into these questions and more in this episode of News Take with Gordon Borrell, founder of advertising tracking firm, Borrell Associates. In this candid conversation, Borrell shares his insights on the evolving world of local advertising and what advertisers are looking for specifically from local news publishers, as well as how publishers can be more valuable by serving as advisors to advertisers on how to tell their story.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the News Take podcast by clicking “Follow” and selecting your preferred podcasting platform, or click on your preferred platform: Spotify, Apple, Google.

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Speaker bios

Gordon Borrell founded Borrell Associates in 2001 and has become the local media industry’s leading analyst. He is ranked in the top 2 percent among Gerson Lehrman Group’s 150,000 consultants worldwide and is quoted in Ad Age, MediaPost, Editor & Publisher, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and other publications. Prior to starting Borrell Associates, Gordon was vice president for new media for Landmark Communications, where he started his career 22 years earlier as a newspaper reporter. He is past chairman of the Local Media Association and of the Local Media Foundation. Gordon has five children and lives with his wife, a writer and book author, in Hampton Roads, Va.

Related viewing

Episode 39: Why Newspaper Advertisers Keep Buying

Watch the next episode: Update on News Deserts and Local News Trends

Watch the previous episode: Print, Logistics and Delivery in a Transitional Age

View all episodes

Send us your suggestions

Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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The post News Take Episode 109: The State of Advertising and Local News appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Guests: Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post and Dan Schaub, McClatchy

“Is there another product you can purchase that is literally updated throughout the day, 24/7 that you can read in multiple formats? Probably not.”

– Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post

Regarding print or digital news consumption: “It’s not ‘or,’ it’s ‘and.’ Our mission is to enhance and improve the communities we serve and to bring to life free speech in each and every local community. And whichever platform that happens on, that’s great. Today’s digital reach is a multiple of 10x any reach we ever had when we just relied on a printed material to go to a home. We’re doing substantially better at taking our journalism to our markets because we’re using the “and” theory.

– Dan Schaub, McClatchy

What is the role of the print product in an age when people are increasingly consuming news digitally? What challenges are newspapers currently facing in satisfying the demand for the print product? What are the operational and/or cost pressures newspapers must contend with? How do newspapers find people to do the multiple hands-on pieces of production and delivery? How is consolidation in the print industry impacting business decision-making? What are the challenges for newspaper delivery, and what does it looks like in the not-too-distant future? How can newspapers’ delivery networks and distribution knowledge be valuable on a macro scale?

These questions and many more are the focus of this episode of News Take. News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with The Washington Post’s Vice President for Distribution & Customer Care, Gregg Fernandes and McClatchy’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations, Dan Schaub, about the role and value of the print newspaper product, as well as how they are innovating and evolving the product to continue to meet changing reader needs and demands. Fernandes and Schaub give their honest takes about resetting consumer expectations of the print product in a 24/7 news cycle, as well as how they have gotten creative with ways to produce and deliver the print newspaper more efficiently and cost-effectively. They also talk about how “the original gig economy” – newspaper delivery – is best positioned to capitalize on the growth of the sector as retailers and others get in on the game.

Listen or download the audio file to listen offline:

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Speaker bios

Gregg Fernandes is the Vice President for Distribution & Customer Care for The Washington Post Company. He has more than 30 years of experience in the newspaper industry and has worked in all capacities of Circulation and Marketing. Gregg is responsible for all aspects of The Washington Post’s relationship with its customers, including consumer marketing, delivery operations and customer service.

Dan Schaub currently serves as The McClatchy Company’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations. This role was designed to provide the necessary leadership and focus as McClatchy works to serve its print readers and grow McClatchy’s digital subscription base while offering an array of distribution services to homes and retail outlets throughout the McClatchy’s markets.

Watch the next episode: The State of Advertising and Local News 

Watch the previous episode: Committing to Product Thinking in the News Industry: Putting Readers First

View all episodes

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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The post News Take Episode 108: Print, Logistics and Delivery in a Transitional Age appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

News publishers and magazines have become highly experimental and deeply innovative businesses. We have larger audiences than ever — but also need to create new products and distribution systems to drive a better future. This newsletter is designed to highlight interesting ideas and provoke some thinking. Send suggestions to david@newsmediaalliance.org.

To receive ‘Expanding the View’ in your email inbox each month, click here to subscribe.

What I’ve been reading this month:

For Creators, Community is the New Follower Count (The Washington Post)
Community apps for audiences of influencers and other creators may be the future of engagement with content.

Lewis Black Sues Pandora for $10 Million Over Copyright Infringement (The Verge)
As Spotify continues to grow, comedians continue to sue for copyright infringement.

Why Republicans Stopped Talking to the Press (New York Magazine)
“Sitting down with the mainstream press has come to be seen by Republican primary voters as consorting with the enemy, and approval by the enemy is the political kiss of death.” – As we move deeper into 2022 election season, a shift in Republican strategy.

Opinion: I Stopped Reading the News. Is the Problem Me — or the Product? (The Washington Post) – A take on news avoidance, from deep within the news industry.

10 Key Takeaways for News Subscription Managers from the 2022 Digital News Report (What’s New in Publishing) – An overview of some innovative findings from the 2022 Reuters Institute report.

Meet the Lobbyist Next Door (WIRED)
Is your favorite influencer actually a lobbyist?

How Software Is Stifling Competition and Slowing Innovation (The New York Times)
“There is an advantage to software that economists haven’t really reckoned with yet. Software isn’t accelerating creative destruction today. Software is suppressing it.”

Leaked Videos Show Disney Is the Biggest Ad Tech Giant You’ve Never Heard Of (VICE)
Might the future of ads and media look a lot like the past?

Web3/Blockchain:

As more and more groundbreaking discussions about Web3 and blockchain are taking place every day, I’m dedicating a section of this newsletter to the topic and will highlight the most interesting ones each month.

Hype is a Weaponized Form of Optimism (Nieman Lab)
A contrarian take on emerging technologies.

Developer Turns ‘Future of Gaming’ Talk into a Surprise Attack on Convention’s NFT and Blockchain Sponsors (PC Gamer)
How one developer fought back against the domination of the gaming industry by crypto.

Podcasts:

The Mid-Century Media Theorists Who Saw What Was Coming  (The Ezra Klein Show)

Notable in the Twitter-verse:

Check out these accounts for more on these and other emerging topics:

Gregg Fernandes: @GreggFernandes
Steve Lohr: @SteveLohr
Amanda Ripley: @amandaripley
Ben Wofford: @BenWoffordDC
Taylor Lorenz: @TaylorLorenz

Expanding the View home

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