video Archives - News/Media Alliance https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/tag/video/ Fri, 26 Jan 2024 22:00:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 News Take: Candid Conversations with Industry Leaders https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/newstake/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/newstake/#respond Tue, 13 Dec 2022 14:00:58 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12021 News Take, podcast interviews with thought leaders and other influencers in the news and magazine media space.

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A series from the News/Media Alliance

Watch the first episode of the Free Press Focus subseries, out now!

The News Take podcast is a series of interviews with thought leaders and other influencers in the news and magazine media space sharing insights and perspectives with News/Media Alliance staff on timely events topics of interest. Guests will share their “take” on the news about news and magazine media, exclusively for Alliance members!

Subscribe to the News Take podcast on SpotifyApple, and Google podcasts.

Free Press Focus subseries:

Episode 1: Preventing Another Capital Gazette Shooting: Why We Need The Journalist Protection Act (Guests: Paul Gillespie, Capital Gazette and Dan Shelley, RTDNA)

Now available: Season 2:

Episode 201: News Nutrition Labels: How NewsGuard is Helping Fight Misinformation Online (Guest: Gordon Crovitz, NewsGuard)

Episode 202: How the American Press Institute is Inspiring Cultural Transformation in News Media (Guests: Samantha Ragland and Elite Truong, American Press Institute)

Episode 203: Pioneering Innovation at Legacy Magazine and News Media Brands (Guest: Lisa Hughes, The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Episode 204: Navigating the Digital Media Transition: Lessons from the Music Industry (Guest: Cherie Hu, Water & Music)

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

Stream all 12 episodes of Season 1:

Episode 101: Local News: Understanding What Readers Want and How to Deliver it to Them (Guests: Jim Bernard, Star Tribune and Mike Orren, The Dallas Morning News)

Episode 102: Tech Trends: What Publishers Need to Know (Guest: Aram Zucker-Scharff, The Washington Post)

Episode 103: Leveraging Products to Connect with Your Audience (Guest: Kim Bui, Arizona Republic)

Episode 104: Encouraging and Sustaining Diversity in News Media (Guest: Mitra Kalita, URL Media)

Episode 105: Protecting Journalists Reporting on Russia’s War in Ukraine (Guest: Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Committee to Protect Journalists)

Episode 106: Tapping Into the Potential of Blockchain for News Publishers (Guest: Julien Genestoux, founder and CEO of Unlock)

Episode 107: Committing to Product Thinking in the News Industry: Putting Readers First (Guest: Feli Carrique, Executive Director, News Product Alliance)

Episode 108: Print, Logistics and Delivery in a Transitional Age (Guests: Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post and Dan Schaub, McClatchy)

Episode 109: The State of Advertising and Local News (Guest: Gordon Borrell, Borrell Associates)

Episode 110: Update on News Deserts and Local News Trends (Guests: Penny Muse Abernathy and Tim Franklin, Medill Journalism School Local News Initiative at Northwestern University)

Episode 111: Outsmarting Google and Facebook: Helping Publishers Grow Their Audience Outside the Dominant Platforms (Guest: Rand Fishkin, SparkToro)

Episode 112: Lessons in Practicality from The Daily Memphian: “A Lot of People Don’t Know We’re a Nonprofit” (Guest: Eric Barnes, The Daily Memphian)

News Take Production Team:

Host and Executive Producer: Rebecca Frank, VP, Research & Insights, News/Media Alliance

Free Press Focus Subseries Host: Charlotte McBirney, Senior Counsel and Director, Public Policy, News/Media Alliance

Production Support, Editing & Distribution:

Georgi-Ann Clarke, Social Media & Content Manager, News/Media Alliance
Rachel Fox, Manager, Membership & Events, News/Media Alliance
Lindsey Loving, Director, Communications, News/Media Alliance

Audio & Video Engineer: Current Media Group

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Press Briefing: National Polling Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Support the JCPA (Video Recording) https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/press-briefing-national-polling-shows-americans-overwhelmingly-support-the-jcpa-video-recording/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/press-briefing-national-polling-shows-americans-overwhelmingly-support-the-jcpa-video-recording/#respond Wed, 24 Aug 2022 18:00:50 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12980 During this briefing, Douglas Schoen, Founder and Partner of Schoen Cooperman Research; Chris Reen, President & CEO of Clarity Media Group; and Danielle Coffey, Executive VP & General Counsel at the News/Media Alliance discuss the national poll results on the JCPA and the widespread support for this important legislation.

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A national survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research for the News/Media Alliance shows that 70 percent of Americans support Congress passing the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), legislation that would allow small and local news outlets to collectively negotiate with the Big Tech platforms, such as Google and Facebook, for fair compensation for the use of their content.

During this briefing, Douglas Schoen, Founder and Partner of Schoen Cooperman Research; Chris Reen, President & CEO of Clarity Media Group; and Danielle Coffey, Executive VP & General Counsel at the News/Media Alliance discuss the poll results and the widespread support for this important legislation.

Watch the recording here:

Watch on YouTube

 

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News Take Episode 106: Tapping Into the Potential of Blockchain for News Publishers with Julien Genestoux https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-106-tapping-into-the-potential-of-blockchain-for-news-publishers-with-julien-genestoux/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-106-tapping-into-the-potential-of-blockchain-for-news-publishers-with-julien-genestoux/#respond Tue, 07 Jun 2022 13:00:47 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12524 On this edition of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with founder and CEO of Unlock, Julien Genestoux, about the potential opportunities and uses of blockchain technology by news publishers.

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Guest: Julien Genestoux, founder and CEO, Unlock

“I think right now the web is ‘sick’ of its business model, from the fact that we monetize everything for attention. … What blockchain brings us is actually the ability to think about alternative business models, the ability to think about things in other ways, to say OK, who owns what piece of content, how it is owned, who gets access to what, and do that in a transparent protocol way rather than a platform-owned way.”    

– Julien Genestoux, Unlock

What is blockchain and how do NFTs work? How can news publishers use blockchain to grow revenue? What would a membership model based on NFTs look like, and what benefits could it offer over the traditional advertising revenue model? What is Web3 and why do we need it?

On this edition of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with founder and CEO of Unlock, Julien Genestoux, about the potential opportunities and uses of blockchain technology by news publishers. In this candid discussion that takes a critical look at the current state of the Web, Julien reviews the basics of blockchain and why it could offer a more secure and more exciting alternative to the attention-based, platform-driven experiences found on today’s Web. He then provides a look at what lies beyond the initial applications, to the potential of blockchain specifically for news publishers, for purposes such as monetizing content and using NFTs in membership models.

Listen or download the audio file to listen offline:

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 bio

Julien Genestoux is founder and CEO of Unlock, an access control protocol built on a blockchain that enables creators to monetize their content or software without relying on a middleman. He describes himself as an entrepreneur, unconditional web advocate, and a hacker. He has built two profitable start-ups, one of which was Superfeedr, which became one of the leading real-time web APIs and was later acquired by Medium. At Medium, he led the company’s SEO effort and quadrupled the share of traffic it receives from search. He co-authored the W3C WebSub protocol and spoke at numerous international conferences and events. He talks about NFTs, Web3, crypto and the Open Web.

For more information about Unlock:

Contact Julien: @Julien51 on Twitter and Julien Genestoux on Facebook and LinkedIn

Visit the Unlock website

 

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

Watch the previous episode: Protecting Journalists Reporting on Russia’s War in Ukraine

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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News Take Episode 105: Protecting Journalists Reporting on Russia’s War in Ukraine https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-105-protecting-journalists-reporting-on-russias-war-in-ukraine/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-105-protecting-journalists-reporting-on-russias-war-in-ukraine/#respond Tue, 10 May 2022 13:00:59 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12450 On this episode of News Take, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Program Director, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) shares details about the situation on the ground in the Ukraine, including the environment for journalists; the threats to press freedom in the Ukraine and Russia; the role of journalists from other countries reporting on the war; how journalists are navigating and combating misinformation and propaganda about the war; how they are staying safe; and what we can do to help

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Guest: Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Program Director, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

“For journalists outside of Ukraine, regardless of where they are from, they still play a critical role because the world needs to pay attention to that, and they’re explaining that to their audiences in way that is easier for them to understand the nuances and the problems of the conflict. They’re bearing witness, and we need as many witnesses as possible for something like this. For today, and for the record, for generations to come.”
– Carlos Martinez de la Serna,
Committee to Protect Journalists

Typically, News Take is where we talk about the latest innovation and get into the weeds about trends taking place in the news media industry. But in this episode, we turned to a more serious topic, which is how journalists are covering the war Russia is waging against the Ukraine.

Since Russia’s first attacks on Ukraine in late February, dozens of journalists have been injured or killed while reporting on the war. Journalists are literally risking their lives to bring the latest news and information about the war to people around the world. So while we could talk about the latest news products, the dire situation in the Ukraine is really the biggest thing happening in the world right now, and what we do as news publishers literally impacts what people know and how people perceive the war, so we felt it needed and deserved our attention here.

On this special edition of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with Carlos Martinez de la Serna, Program Director, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), who shares details about the situation on the ground in the Ukraine, including the environment for journalists; the threats to press freedom in the Ukraine and Russia (as well as around the world); the role of journalists from other countries reporting on the war; how journalists are navigating and combating misinformation and propaganda about the war; how they are staying safe; and what we can do to help.

This episode was recorded on April 21, 2022.

Listen or download the audio file to listen offline:

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Speaker bio

Carlos Martinez de la Serna has been with CPJ since 2018. Prior to CPJ, he worked as a reporter and digital journalist in the U.S., Spain, and Japan, covering issues including current affairs, biomedical research, and North Korea’s nuclear program. He is a founding member of the mapping startup Carto, co-founder of the nonprofit organization porCausa, and a former director of digital innovation at Univision News. Martinez de la Serna is a research fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and a former John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University.

 

Watch the next episode: Tapping Into the Potential of Blockchain for News Publishers 

Watch the previous episode: Encouraging and Sustaining Diversity in News Media 

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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News Take Episode 104: Encouraging and Sustaining Diversity in News Media https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-104-encouraging-and-sustaining-diversity-in-news-media/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-104-encouraging-and-sustaining-diversity-in-news-media/#respond Tue, 12 Apr 2022 13:00:45 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12353 On this episode of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern and Kalita have a heartfelt discussion about her journey from being a busy CNN Digital executive to starting her own newsletter and media company, URL  Media, in Jackson Heights, New York City amidst a pandemic and racial justice movement.

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Guest: Mitra Kalita, co-founder and CEO, URL Media

“From a mission perspective, we did not want Black and Brown audiences to be only charitable endeavors. We see our people as a very important, vital, necessary market.” – Mitra Kalita, URL Media

You know you were meant to be a journalist when, as a pre-teen, you created a newspaper to protest your parents’ decision to move your family from Puerto Rico to New Jersey! That is exactly how Mitra Kalita, co-founder and CEO of URL Media, got her start in journalism.

On this episode of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern and Kalita have a heartfelt discussion about her journey from being a busy CNN Digital executive to starting her own newsletter, Epicenter-NYC, and media company, URL  Media, in Jackson Heights, New York City amidst a pandemic and racial justice movement. During this light-hearted and honest talk, Kalita shares how she and her business partner were able to achieve instant scale, launching the URL Media network with seven million users, and how they’ve embraced a for-profit business model at a time when many similar groups were launching as nonprofits. In addition, she shares advice for improving diversity in content as well as in the newsroom, including ensuring changes to improve DE&I are lasting and become a part of the organization culture.

Listen or download the audio file to listen offline:

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 bio

Mitra Kalita is a veteran journalist, media executive, commentator and author of two books. She is the co-founder/ CEO of URL Media, a network of Black and Brown community news outlets that share content and revenue. URL Media works with mainstream newsrooms to syndicate content and partner on diversity initiatives in content, staffing and culture. She is co-founder and publisher of Epicenter-NYC, a newsletter designed to help New Yorkers get through the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the newsletters The Unmuted and The Escape Home.

Previously, Mitra was Senior Vice President at CNN Digital, overseeing the national news, breaking news, programming, opinion and features teams. She also worked in leadership roles at the Los Angeles Times and Quartz. She sits on a number of journalism industry boards, most notably, the board of the News Media Alliance.

Related links

URL Media

Epicenter-NYC

 

Watch the next episode: Protecting Journalists Reporting on Russia’s War in Ukraine 

Watch the previous episode: Leveraging Products to Connect with Your Audience 

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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News Take Episode 103: Leveraging Products to Connect with Your Audience https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-103-leveraging-products-to-connect-with-your-audience/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-103-leveraging-products-to-connect-with-your-audience/#respond Tue, 08 Mar 2022 14:00:04 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12282 On this episode of News Take, Alliance President & CEO David Chavern sits down with Kim Bui, Director of Product and Audience Innovation at the Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com, about how to leverage the latest trends in digital products to connect with your audience and be useful to them, while at the same time building trust and emphasizing community-centered journalism.

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Guest: Kim Bui, Director of Product & Audience Innovation, Arizona Republic

“The product side is a personal interest of mine in that it really is the ‘how’ – I love looking at how we can tell better stories, how we can integrate better with our audience’s lives, listen to them, become more useful, and really get away from the pedestal style journalism that has ended up with us not being trusted by a majority of people.” – Kim Bui, Arizona Republic

What comes first, the product or the user? How do we close the gap between the addressable market and market penetration? What are ways to use newsletters and text notifications to get personal with readers? How can we position ourselves now with younger readers and Gen Z readers as a useful news source? What are the “winners” in the news product space doing that we are not?

On this episode of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern chatted with Kim Bui, Director of Product and Audience Innovation at the Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com, about how to leverage the latest trends in digital products to connect with your audience and be useful to them, while at the same time building trust and emphasizing community-centered journalism. The conversation flows into a discussion of the evolving workplace and how Kim’s columns, “Sincerely, Leaders of Color” and “The Middles” reflect the importance of improving diversity in news media and providing education to those emerging leaders who are navigating unfamiliar management and leadership roles.

Listen now or download the audio file to listen offline:

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 bio

Kim Bui is the director of product and audience innovation at the Arizona Republic. She’s focused her career on leading real-time news initiatives and creating new storytelling forms for digital, print and broadcast companies catering to local, national and global audiences. Prior, she was editor-at-large for NowThis News, focusing on original, social reporting and breaking news. She was also deputy managing editor for reported.ly, a digital media startup specializing in social journalism. She’s been a speaker, trainer and teacher on digital and social journalism at universities, conferences and gatherings worldwide. She writes a syndicated newsletter for emerging leaders and managers, The Middles.

Related reading

Sincerely, Leaders of Color

The Middles

The Key to Gen Z: Insights and Ideas to Build Lasting Relationships

 

Watch the next episode: Encouraging and Sustaining Diversity in News Media

Watch the previous episode: Tech Trends: What Publishers Need to Know

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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News Take Episode 102: Tech Trends: What Publishers Need to Know https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-102-tech-trends-what-publishers-need-to-know/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/news-take-episode-102-tech-trends-what-publishers-need-to-know/#respond Tue, 08 Feb 2022 14:00:57 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12219 News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern had an energizing conversation with Aram Zucker-Scharff, Engineering Lead for Privacy & Security Compliance at The Washington Post, that got in-the-weeds about the kitchen sink of ad tech topics, including site monetization; improving privacy and the user experience; optimizing site performance using Core Web Vitals; and more.

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Guests: Aram Zucker-Scharff, The Washington Post

“For the first time, we actually have the potential to create a real shift that benefits our users, our business, and our society, and that’s a win, win, win.” – Aram Zucker-Scharff on the shift to contextual-based targeting

Ad tech, Privacy and Performance, oh my! News publishers working to adapt to a privacy-first digital landscape before the inevitable end of the third-party cookie can easily become overwhelmed and may not even know where to start.

What does the shift towards privacy mean for news publishers and how they approach ad targeting? Is decreased reliance on third-party tracking a good thing for the industry? What are Core Web Vitals and why should news publishers care? How does my news site’s performance tie in to reader trust? What are things publishers can do right now to improve site performance? What is W3C and how can publishers take advantage to get their voices heard?

These questions and more will be discussed on this episode of News Take. News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern had an energizing conversation with Aram Zucker-Scharff, Engineering Lead for Privacy & Security Compliance at The Washington Post, that got in-the-weeds about the kitchen sink of ad tech topics, including site monetization; improving privacy and the user experience; optimizing site performance using Core Web Vitals; and more.

This episode was so full of interesting facts and actionable insights, we didn’t want it to end. The nuggets of wisdom will come faster than you can write them down, so it’s a good thing this conversation was recorded and you can re-watch it to your heart’s content!

Listen now or download the audio file to listen offline:

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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Download closed captioning transcript

Speaker bio

Aram Zucker-Scharff is the Engineering Lead for Privacy & Security Compliance at The Washington Post, where he works with publishers to maximize site performance and revenue. He has also worked on The Post’s Ad Tech R&D and Big Data teams. Aram has developed open-source tools for publishers and consulted on content strategy and digital newsroom workflows. He was one of Folio Magazine’s 15 under 30 in the magazine media industry.

Related reading

“Why The Ad Industry Should Care About Core Web Vitals – And The Impact For Publishers Who Ignore The Dreaded ‘Layout Shift’” (AdExchanger) – by Amanda Hicks, director of product for The Washington Post’s Research, Experimentation & Development (RED) team.

 

Watch the next episode: Leveraging Products to Connect with Your Audience

Watch the previous episode: Local News: Understanding What Readers Want and How to Deliver it to Them

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.

News Take Production Team:

Host and Executive Producer: Rebecca Frank, VP, Research & Insights, News/Media Alliance

Production Support, Editing & Distribution:

Georgi-Ann Clarke, Social Media & Content Manager, News/Media Alliance
Rachel Fox, Manager, Membership & Events, News/Media Alliance
Lindsey Loving, Director, Communications, News/Media Alliance

Audio & Video Engineer: Current Media Group

Back to top

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News Take Episode 101: Local News: Understanding What Readers Want and How to Deliver it to Them https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/newstake-episode101/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/newstake-episode101/#respond Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:00:52 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=12025 In this episode of News Take, Alliance President & CEO David Chavern sits down with Jim Bernard, SVP for Digital at the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune and Mike Orren, Chief Product Officer at The Dallas Morning News for a candid conversation about the challenges and opportunities that arise from understanding your readers and subscribers and how to give them what they want, all while prioritizing revenue.

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Guests: Jim Bernard, Star Tribune and Mike Orren, The Dallas Morning News

Is there such a thing as a typical reader or subscriber? What role does the e-Paper play in the transition to digital (and why did our speakers initially despise the product)? Do new storytelling formats such as podcasts and social media present viable business models, and how can news publishers successfully venture into this space? What are news publishers getting right on the tech side, and where do they still need to improve?

In this episode of News Take, News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern sits down with Jim Bernard, Senior Vice President for Digital at the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune and Mike Orren, Chief Product Officer at The Dallas Morning News for a candid conversation about the challenges and opportunities that arise from understanding your readers and subscribers and how to give them what they want (and when, where and how they want it) – all while prioritizing revenue (because at the end of the day, newspapers need to sell subscriptions). From the differences between print and digital subscribers and their desires, preferences, and behaviors, to why the e-Edition is a valuable product, to approaches to experimenting with new forms of storytelling (including audio and video), to their most exciting plans for 2022, Orren and Bernard draw from their leadership experience to offer insights on navigating the constantly changing news consumption landscape.

Listen now or download the audio file to listen offline:

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Speaker bios

Mike Orren is the Chief Product Officer at The Dallas Morning News, leading the teams responsible for all digital products, marketing, business intelligence, and digital audience. Prior to that, he was President at Belo Business Intelligence, where he leads marketing, analytics, product development, strategy and sales infrastructure for A.H. Belo Corporation, publisher of The Dallas Morning News. He founded Pegasus News, the largest single-market digital news pure-play in the US in 2005, eventually selling it to a publicly-traded broadcast company. Mike has served in senior roles at American Lawyer Media and D Magazine (where he launched the first city magazine website). His work has been recognized with awards from Editor & Publisher, The Dallas Press Club, the North Carolina Press Association and The Dallas Business Journal. Mike is a graduate of Duke University.

Jim Bernard is Star Tribune’s senior vice president for digital with responsibility for the company’s portfolio of digital properties and operations, including StarTribune.com – the state’s most-visited website with 7 million unique visitors each month. He also oversees dozens of other digital products, including Star Tribune mobile apps, print “replica” edition, CityPages.com and 19 Minnesota high school sports websites. Jim joined Star Tribune in 2010 from Dow Jones MarketWatch and prior to MarketWatch, he held a series of executive positions with Dow Jones. Jim earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Iowa.

 

Watch the next episode: Tech Trends: What Publishers Need to Know

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.

News Take Production Team:

Host and Executive Producer: Rebecca Frank, VP, Research & Insights, News/Media Alliance

Production Support, Editing & Distribution:

Georgi-Ann Clarke, Social Media & Content Manager, News/Media Alliance
Rachel Fox, Manager, Membership & Events, News/Media Alliance
Lindsey Loving, Director, Communications, News/Media Alliance

Audio & Video Engineer: Current Media Group

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Facebook’s Settlement With Video Advertisers Should Worry News Publishers https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/facebook-video-settlement-worry-publishers/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/facebook-video-settlement-worry-publishers/#respond Wed, 09 Oct 2019 14:09:11 +0000 http://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=9754 Facebook has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against it after it overstated average viewing time for videos on the platform. The suit alleged that because Facebook discarded data for any views lasting three seconds or less, they were able to inflate the average watch times — by as much as 900 percent, according to the plaintiffs. These tactics are concerning as publishers enter into relationships with Facebook to populate its News Tab.

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Facebook has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against it after it overstated average viewing time for videos on the platform. The lawsuit was based on the method used by Facebook to determine viewing time for videos shared on the platform. The suit alleged that because Facebook discarded data for any views lasting three seconds or less, they were able to inflate the average watch times — by as much as 900 percent, according to the plaintiffs.

Advertisers that saw inflated metrics on videos during an 18-month period through 2015 and 2016 sued the tech giant after they claimed they overpaid for ads because of the inflated viewership numbers. Now, Facebook has agreed to settle the suit for $40 million.

Though Facebook has long claimed the lawsuit was “without merit,” they chose to settle the suit after nearly three years of litigation. Had the case continued in court, the plaintiffs could have won an estimated $100 million, meaning the out-of-court settlement nets them about 40 percent of the maximum winnings they could have received.

“Plaintiffs allege the metrics indirectly impacted billing, since (all else being equal) advertisers are likely to pay more for video ads that are being watched longer,” says the proposed settlement.

These tactics are concerning as publishers enter into relationships with Facebook to populate its News Tab. If news publishers were to experience similar inaccuracy in engagement numbers as they attempt to determine the value of their product being placed in the News Tab, news publishers would be deprived of recalibration necessary to mitigate poor performance. Transparency and trust are necessary as news publishers commit valuable content to the growth of the social media platform.

All U.S. advertisers who purchased video ads on Facebook or Facebook-owned platforms (such as Instagram) between February 12, 2015 and September 23, 2016 are eligible to receive part of the settlement. Attorneys for the class-action group have filed a motion to receive 30 percent (or $12 million) of the settlement, as well as reimbursement for approximately $730,000 in expenses, leaving around $27 million for the plaintiffs.

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How Alabama Media Group Makes Local Videos with Viral Appeal https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/alabama-media-viral-videos/ https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/alabama-media-viral-videos/#respond Mon, 08 Oct 2018 13:00:03 +0000 https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/?p=7593 Long before we were talking about the “pivot to video,” Alabama Media Group was bringing  sleek, stylized videos to their local audience.

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Long before we were talking about the “pivot to video,” Alabama Media Group was bringing  sleek, stylized videos to their local audience.

“Probably about four years ago, we really started experimenting heavily with two different things: building a video team and thinking about video in a different way,” said Elizabeth Whitmire, senior director for audience for Red Clay Media, the arm of Alabama Media Group responsible for creating the company’s revenue-earning video products. “We started thinking about video more as distributed content as opposed to something we made for people who were already on our website.

“At the same time, we were really ramping up our social media strategy and looking for opportunities to build out from our main brand,” she continued.

In the years since that experiment began, Alabama Media Group has developed four distinct video-based brands: This Is Alabama, It’s a Southern Thing, SEC Shorts and People of Alabama. These are in addition to the videos they produce as part of their editorial mission and their recently launched Facebook Watch show, Chasing Corruption.

“It started with wanting to keep up with where audiences were going, reaching audiences where they are and keeping up with digital trends,” Whitmire said. “A lot of it came from thinking in an audience-first way.”

That meant not only finding and following audiences, but producing content that fit the platforms audiences were visiting. The same content that worked on the AL.com website wasn’t necessarily going to appeal to users who were discovering the outlet on Twitter or YouTube.

“Like most websites, [AL.com] is a place for all things for everybody in Alabama, which is great, but we were starting to see these smaller audiences who were really interested in one particular thing,” Whitmire explained. “That one thing might be Alabama football, and so those people weren’t necessarily interested in reading a political column or a crime story. They just wanted their football. Or someone else might be very interested in our politics coverage and not so interested in seeing a life and culture story. So, we looked for opportunities to break out of those audiences, starting with our sport audiences, which is a really big part of what we do here in Alabama.”

After creating these new brands, it was time to tie in monetization. While the Red Clay brands share commonalities with AL.com’s editorial products, there is a clear divide between the revenue side of the venture and the editorial side. With their sports videos, the tie-ins were simple. “Everyone wants to be connected to Alabama football,” Whitmire said. But even their non-football video offerings quickly became sources of revenue.

The video style that led to the creation of It’s a Southern Thing turned out to have huge appeal across the South, not just in Alabama — their largest audience, in fact, was in Texas. It’s a Southern Thing has even launched a line of branded merchandise for fans.

“We call it identity content, and all that means is that it’s something that you relate to, that you can see yourself in and that you say, ‘Oh, I’ve done that before,’” Whitmire said. “We have been producing written content like that for years and it has always been some of our top-performing content on the website, so we knew that there was an audience, and it was pretty obvious that we could translate that into video and get a similar reaction. And I think the key difference there is that not a lot of people were doing this in video form.”

Alabama Media Group’s audience-first approach trickles from editorial to revenue operations as well.

Red Clay creates videos that don’t feel like sponsored content. “We are not a content marketing division,” Whitmire explained. “We are a division that builds communities and build these social brands, and then we look for ways to pair them with advertisers to tell these stories to our fans.”

They understand that the best advertising content feels natural and does not push as product so much that it makes it impossible for the viewer to do anything but respond favorably to the sponsor.

“First and foremost, we’re thinking about our audience and what will appeal to them, because they’re not going to sit through something – and the advertisers message isn’t going to reach them – if it’s not the highly-engaging content that they’ve come to us for,” Whitmire explained.

“We certainly have our account executives out there who are talking to new advertisers and reaching out to advertisers every day, and as we’ve become better known and as we’ve grown a lot, we also have advertisers who reach out to us and want to partner with us,” Whitmire continued.

“It really depends on the type of advertising. We do straight sponsorships where they’re attaching their name to a show that we’re producing, and that process is pretty simple. And then we also do some custom work where we’re meeting with the advertisers to talk about their vision and the stories that they want to tell and then helping them to come up with a way to creatively tell that story in a way that fits our brand and will be interesting to our audience.”

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