We’re winding down the year and the newsletter on Revue, and everyone is looking back and looking forward. On the note of the coming shutdown of Revue, I’ve had people suggest Ghost and Beehiiv. I’ll be looking into the next home for the newsletter over the holidays and making a decision. If you have a suggestion, I’m @kevglobal on Twitter – well at least for a little while longer.

And now the newsletter. Ariel Zirulnick takes up the user needs model, which has been most notably promoted by former BBC media leader and now consultant Dmirtry Shiskin. The crux of her piece is that we in media need to look beyond our core users and use cases to really become a part of people’s lives.

The Local Media Association has a review of newsletter projects by four Canadian outlets as part of Meta’s Accelerator programme. It’s a good overview of different approaches to using newsletters for audience development and subscriber growth.

PLUS With data talent in such high demand, INMA looks at how to identify strong candidates from unconventional backgrounds. A survey for why people have left US public media after a spike in departures including some high-profile talent in the past year. Experimentation is in the air when it comes to news and information websites. After settling into a relatively stable pattern for the last decade, site design is getting a shake-up.

Journalism doubles down on user needs » Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org

“If we continue to study just the tiny portion of a person’s day that they spend consuming journalism, we will miss innumerable opportunities to weave ourselves into people’s lives.”

An interesting piece by Ariel Zirulnick: “The user needs framework currently copy and pasted from newsroom to newsroom focuses just on people’s news consumption habits. If we continue to study just the tiny portion of a person’s day that they spend consuming journalism, we will miss innumerable opportunities to weave ourselves into people’s lives.”

4 email campaign themes that grew reader revenue for Canadian publishers – Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation — localmedia.org

In nine months, publishers collectively added more than 23,000 newsletter signups — which led to 4,700 new members, subscribers or donors and generated more than $1 million.

Whether it’s campaigns to increase the number of subscribers or onboarding campaigns to help retain those newly acquired subscribers, this is a good overview of four types of newsletters and how publishers in Canada used them to grow reader revenue.

Media companies, data teams should question hiring culture to attract better talent — www.inma.org

Does the hiring culture at your news media organisation — and within your data team — make it more difficult to bring in and keep promising talent?

Some tips on how to identify and recruit talent from unconventional backgrounds.

Publishers: Does the 80-20 rule apply to audience metrics? | What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News — whatsnewinpublishing.com

Can the 80-20 Rule be used to spotlight the types of content that deliver the best audience engagement? Identifying the content that drives the biggest share of audience engagement is crucial for publishers; knowing what works best can help fix overall content strategy and guide targeting for specific audiences. The Data Science team at analytics …

A good practical piece. In my previous role, I found that a modified Pareto distribution helped to filter out noise in the data. We also used the Audience Explorer Dashboard to segment our audience based on loyalty and identify content that was likely to convert audiences who had demonstrated some affinity towards membership.

We asked people why they left public media, and here’s what they told us — current.org

Here’s what we learned from our survey about why people leave public media, based on more than 300 responses.

As someone who left US public media in April, this leapt out at me. The top two

Bezos appears to lose interest in the Washington Post as its tech ambitions wither | Semafor — www.semafor.com

Employees and observers of the Post are left wondering what Bezos is doing with the publication.

The drum beat of stories about the Washington Post being a bit adrift are increasing.

What The Verge’s website redesign tells us about the future of media | What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News — whatsnewinpublishing.com

The Verge has a new website design that rethinks the experience of news readers. What does this move say about the state of news media? The Verge’s radical website redesign was announced three months ago, and one of America’s biggest tech news publishers is still the talk of the town. While most news websites tend to highlight …

A response to social media and focus on the homepage. The latter does not surprise me. I’ve seen the analytics of a lot of digital properties, and the amount of time spent on the homepage is tremendous, and the challenge is really to get people to engage more with the entire site.

Whither the Metaverse

Two pieces that demonstrate the challenges but also continued commitment that Meta has to the Metaverse.

Virtual Reality Pioneer John Carmack Is Leaving Meta – The New York Times — www.nytimes.com

John Carmack, who was chief technology officer of Oculus, which Meta bought, is departing the company.

Meta Will Continue to Invest Big in the Metaverse in 2023, According to CTO | Social Media Today — www.socialmediatoday.com

Social Media Today

Working at a company like Pugpig where we build apps for hundreds of media brands, we keep a close eye on the app stores, and big changes could be coming as the EU rolls out new regulations. Google already allows side loading from third-party app stores. Apple is considering making a similar move by 2024 in anticipation of these new regulations. The devil will be in the details, especially when it comes to the cut that Apple might take, even for app sellers who sell outside of the app store.

There was also big news this week that will affect this newsletter. After weeks of rumours, Twitter announced that it will be shutting down Revue, which it bought last year. That is the platform that I use for this newsletter. I’ve been reviewing my options, and I’ll be moving first the newsletter first thing in the New Year. Please watch this space.

We’ve also got predictions for journalism next year, which include a call for clarity from leaders and a focus on new products. Plus, we look at the fallout from a ransomware attack at Norway’s largest local publisher. Plus industry news from NPR and Spotify.

Predictions for Journalism in 2023: newsroom leadership, product, and revenue | Media news — www.journalism.co.uk

The second installment of our annual predictions looks at the skills journalists will need in the year ahead and the news products that are likely to grow

There are predictions of a tough time ahead, but also calls to focus on products and growing revenue. On the individual level, it’s also a time to learn new skills so that you can adapt. I really appreciate Lucy Kueng’s point of view. Leaders need to focus on the must-win battles. During turbulence, clear priorities are a must.

Will Apple Allow Users to Install Third-Party App Stores, Sideload in Europe? – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com

Apple Inc. is preparing to allow alternative app stores on its iPhones and iPads, part of a sweeping overhaul aimed at complying with strict European Union requirements coming in 2024.

INMA: How can product help newsrooms connect to users? — inma.org

During Wednesday’s Webinar, INMA Product Initiative Lead Jodie Hopperton led a discussion about how product and newsrooms can work together to reach users in an increasingly digital environment.

This definitely caught my eye due to my work at Pugpig. Apple is expecting to allow side loading and third-party app stores in the EU by 2024. The move anticipates changes in EU regulation, but coverage across the internet highlight that European countries are not alone in reviewing competition in app stores.

Twitter Shuts Down Revue Newsletter Platform Following ‘Twitter Files’ Response from Former CEO | Social Media Today — www.socialmediatoday.com

Social Media Today

And this is the news that will mean that this newsletter will be moving. Expect details early in the New Year.

Rising costs force more digital innovation » Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org

“Those who moved fast over the past five years will come out on top, and those who didn’t will struggle, fire staff, and disappoint customers and advertisers with clunky sites, second-grade apps, and increasingly thin newspapers they’ll still try to charge the earth for.”

The introductory pull-quote sums up Peter’s points well. “Those who moved fast over the past five years will come out on top, and those who didn’t will struggle, fire staff, and disappoint customers and advertisers with clunky sites, second-grade apps, and increasingly thin newspapers they’ll still try to charge the earth for.”

“Hacks occur at the most inconvenient times”: Lessons from Amedia’s Christmas shutdown | What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News — whatsnewinpublishing.com

Between December 27th – 28th last year, one of Norway’s largest media groups – Amedia – was hit by a catastrophic ransomware attack that shut down its printing presses and also impacted the company’s advertising and subscription systems. Here are the key takeaways… Editor’s Note: Our thanks to Jim Bilton of wessendenbriefing for the original …

Lots of important lessons here because the cost is extreme. “In all, it took €3 million and nine months to get back to where it was before the attack, not to mention the loss of ongoing tech development and, crucially, user trust.”

NPR cancels internships, citing economic woes | The Hill

National Public Radio on Monday said it would do away with its annual summer internship program as a cost-cutting measure. “We are seeing a worldwide set of economic challenges that have weakened the advertising industry and negatively affected media and technology companies. A major portion of NPR’s revenue comes through corporate sponsorships which are sensitive…

The US public radio broadcaster is making cuts to try to protect staffing level as sponsorship drains away as the US enters a recession.

Spotify is ending production of several of its live audio shows • TechCrunch — techcrunch.com

Spotify looks to be scaling back its live audio ambitions, as the company is ending production of several of its live audio shows.

Spotify has pinned a lot of hopes on its original spoken word content. That has mostly been podcasts, but they dipped their toe into live audio, mostly focused on sports. Some of those sports shows will remain, but a good chunk of them will be going dark.

I’ve spent the last three months elbow-deep in our data at Pugpig. We have access to the app data of more than 350 media brands who use our mobile platform, and it provides us with some unique insights from the aggregated data. We also spoke to dozens of media leaders and analysts about what the last 12 months were like and what they expect in 2023. We’ve got details about their product roadmaps for the next year, where will they be spending their innovation time, attention and resources. We’ve got details on the challenges that they are facing and what they will be doing to face them, and we’ve got data on which subscription segment is the most engaged. It’s free to download.

Plus, I’ve chosen a few of this year’s Nieman Lab predictions that caught my eye, including Cindy Royal’s look at whether news product managers need to know how to code and Gina Chua’s ongoing, positive advocacy for a rethink of journalism formats.

And we also look at Heinekin and Dentsu’s project to measure attention in their campaigns. While this is an effort in advertising, the same techniques will have an impact on journalism and content.

Pugpig 2022 State of Digital Publishing Market Report — www.pugpig.com

Where are we now and what does the future hold? We’ve created a comprehensive industry report covering the state of digital publishing.

We hope to have added to the current understanding of digital publishing, particularly on mobile. A few things stood out for me while we were doing the report. The publishers we spoke to are focused on growing their subscriber base, and to attract more subscribers and keep the subscribers that they have, they are focused on delivering more value to them – not with flashy things like AR/VR or selling NFTs – but through personalisation, the ability to tailor experiences to their loyal, paying customers. There is a lot more in the report, and I hope you take a look.

Lastly, there is an interesting piece from Interhactitives about why data journalism is disappearing in South Korea.

The innovation team, R.I.P. » Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org

“You might be forgiven for suspecting that news companies are more interested in appearing innovative than actually doing something new.”

This prediction more than anything speaks to how innovation teams can become isolated from the rest of the organisation, their innovations lauded but ultimately having less organisational impact than if they were core to the organisation itself.

The Economics at the Heart of the Times Union Standoff | The New Yorker — www.newyorker.com

Thursday’s walkout was part of a bitter contract dispute over wages—but the impasse poses a larger question about how the growing company should invest in its future.

Journalists want the paper not just to invest in technology, acquisitions and executive salaries, they also want a slice of the success at the paper, which has been held up as a model for how to navigate the digital transition.

Yes, journalists should learn to code, but… » Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org

“They’ll need to think of coding as not just a single practice, but a range of related practices.”

Cindy Royal is a giant in terms of the field of study of journalism and product management, and here she looks at the question about whether journalist and specifically journalism product managers need to learn to code. As the industry has become more technical, the answer has changed. Tech used to be far divorced from the practice of journalism, but it is now the case that the two are much more intimately linked so that journalists and product managers need deeper digital domain skills.

The traditional story structure gets deconstructed » Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org

“Despite huge changes in the technology of news, the structure of a story today doesn’t look hugely different from one in, say, 1932.”

Gina and I connected years ago over our blogs when she was writing about her thoughts about new journalism formats, and my wife Suw and I had plans to try something new after I took a buyout from The Guardian. It’s interesting to see how Gina is putting her ideas into practice at Semafor, and here she writes about thinking behind those ideas.

Semafor Will Generate 30% of Its First-Year Revenue From Events — www.adweek.com

The publisher, whose inaugural Africa Week begins Monday, will host 40-plus events in 2023.

And here is some thoughts about how Semafor will pay for it.

Next challenge for publishers is restoring revenue back to print levels – Press Gazette — pressgazette.co.uk

How publishers can restore revenue to print levels – media technology Q&A.

While this might be a piece from a the view of a specific technology provider, it is interesting to think about different revenue stream might be able to rebuild the revenue that media once had back in the days of print and broadcast TV and radio before streaming.

Why is data journalism waning in South Korea? – Interhacktives — www.interhacktives.com

Facing decreasing attention from outlets in a portal-oreinted media environment, South Korean data journalists seek

How the media market in South Korea has meant the death knell of data journalism there (or probably more precisely a certain kind of time-intensive data journalism).

Heineken Develops Attention Measurement Campaign With Teads And Dentsu 12/12/2022

Heineken Develops Attention Measurement Campaign With Teads And Dentsu – 12/12/2022

Twitter’s risky plan to save its ads business — www.platformer.news

Agree to personalize your ads — or else

You can pay to opt out of personalised ads, which means that the information that they gather as you sign up will be used to show you personalised ads.