Mark Glaser | Knight Foundation | January 8, 2020

Predictions are a tricky business, but there is one sure thing for 2020: local news publishers cannot depend on the old ways of doing business. The time for chain newspapers wielding a monopoly in communities is ending, and more independent and nonprofit news organizations are taking root around the country and making sure that watchdog journalism continues to thrive.

The old business model was largely dependent on print advertising and circulation revenues, and newer digital ads have been gobbled up by the voracious tech giants, Facebook and Google. That leaves local news publishers in a tough spot, but they’re increasingly finding new ways to serve the public while diversifying revenue streams. I previously highlighted “9 Great Local News Business Ideas” to show just how ingenious these publishers have become. 
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Courtney Lamdin | Seven Days | January 6, 2020

Thirteen longtime Seven Days employees are now 1 percent owners of the Burlington-based media company.

The newspaper’s founders, Paula Routly and Pamela Polston, publicly announced the transition on Monday. The development is part of Seven Days‘ succession plan, which began in 2009 when three veteran staffers — Cathy Resmer, Don Eggert and Colby Roberts — were named junior partners. Routly and Polston founded the paper in 1995.

The 13 workers’ 1 percent holdings, combined with the three minority owners’ 12 percent, represent a 49 percent ownership stake in Seven Days, a company press release said.
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Sean Stanleigh | INMA | December 31, 2019

I work on the content marketing side of the business. We are challenged by the vastness of the media landscape. Advertisers can put their dollars against campaigns on Google, Facebook, and other social platforms. Amazon is a major player. We’re still up against television, radio, and other digital media. Even print is still a thing.

If you think about formats, podcasts have emerged as an increasingly popular storytelling option, and mixed reality is edging onto people’s radars.

A lot of advertisers still think about short-term, focused campaigns. Convincing them of the effectiveness of a long-term, multi-pronged, multi-platform, multi-format strategy is a big hurdle. But it’s the approach they need to take to be successful.

Innovation inherently requires risk. In 2012, The Globe and Mail introduced its digital subscription model. Seven years ago, it was studded with risks, but over time it has become a significant revenue contributor to the business.

Data, Artificial Intelligence, and machine learning are the story of the past year. They’re going to continue to disrupt markets, economies, and jobs.

The arrival of 5G will eliminate mobile lag times and download speeds. Video and Augmented Reality, particularly on social platforms, will increase in volume and scope and become more viable. Location-based data will become more widely available and far more precise.
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Robert Weissgraeber | Forbes | January 3, 2019

I’m here to offer some hope, albeit from an unlikely place. While many journalists have bemoaned technology and blamed it for job losses — which, to be fair, holds some weight — the birth of AI-powered content generation technology offers a rare bright light for journalism, and other AI tools are making it easier for journalists to do a more thorough job under pressure.

Content generation software uses natural language generation (NLG) to create content to populate websites, generate product descriptions for e-commerce brands, produce social media content, generate BSS reports and fill media websites — among other uses. Here are three ways content generation software and other technology can be applied to help journalists:
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The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism is offering two Executive Certificates, Leading Product Strategy (April 20-24, 2020) and Leading the Audience-Centric Newsroom (March 9-13, 2020). The certificates are short, intense, small group educational experiences.

You will be learning alongside a cohort of media leaders from around the world. The certificate programs are five days long and take place at the J-School campus in midtown Manhattan.

They incorporate lectures from faculty and industry experts, workshops, fireside chats, and “behind the scenes” company visits at innovative New York-based media organizations.
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Sara Fischer | AXIOS | December 17, 2019

Facebook is spending six figures to fund a course on manipulated media and deepfakes for newsrooms, executives tell Axios. The course material has been developed by Reuters, and Facebook is funding its international expansion as a part of the Facebook Journalism Project.

Details: The free e-learning course, called “Identifying and Tackling Manipulated Media,” seeks to help journalists globally learn how to identify photos or videos that have been altered to present inaccurate information.

• It’s available online only, and takes about 45 minutes to complete.
• Reuters and Facebook will do events and panels in 2020 together around the course.

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Don Seiffert | Boston Business Journal | December 30, 2019

New England’s largest newspaper is entering the new year amid fierce battles with two of its labor unions, while the area’s largest radio newsroom is mired in a months-long struggle of its own to forge its first-ever union contract.

At the Boston Globe, this week marks one full year without a contract for the Boston Newspaper Guild, the union that represents 300 journalists and business employees. It’s the longest duration the union has gone without a contract in recent memory.

Meanwhile, at the Globe’s Taunton printing facility, negotiations are also underway with Teamsters Local 1, the Boston Mailers Union, over efforts to lay off 77 full-time and 44 part-time workers there. News of the layoffs first emerged in September, in connection with a decision to outsource mailroom work associated with Globe Direct, the direct-mail advertising service that reportedly makes tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually.

At WBUR, negotiations have been taking place since last May over a contract to cover about 120 newsroom employees. The nonprofit, NPR-affiliated radio station and website first voted last January to form a union affiliated with SAG-AFTRA, but it was several months before contract talks began with WBUR management and Boston University, which owns its radio license.
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