ICYMI: 'Burn the Ships', WAN-IFRA's Guide to 'Igniting Cultural Change' PLUS Lessons from Netflix on Improving Content Discovery

May 17, 2021

I know that I've already flagged it up, but WAN-IFRA's new guide on accelerating cultural change at publishers is good enough to mention twice. I'm working on introducing a formal product management process where I work now, and the first step in this process - putting the user at the centre of what we do is so important. As journalists, we might think we know the story, but that doesn't mean that we know the best way to put that reporting in front of audiences. We still have a lot to learn from our audiences.

PLUS, a new study shows the needs for training for journalists on how to handle online abuse, and while it focuses on student journalists, I'd say that this training is critical, especially for women in the industry.

Good lessons from the streaming wars on how to improve discovery and also a development that shows how competitive the industry is - AT&T is spinning off WarnerMedia as it looks to pay down debt.

A good piece on how to create digital experiences even as privacy becomes both a bigger issue and the technology clamps down on some of the ways that we track users.

ICYMI: WAN-IFRA's Guide to Igniting Culture Change

The internet has profoundly transformed publishing in the last two decades. Digital is now seen as the future of the industry. However, “digital transformation demands much more than mere wagers and simple intentions,” notes a new guide from WAN-IFRA. “It requires a new mindset, understanding that change is not the exception but the rule in …

It's a great piece of work from WAN-IFRA, which I've had the honour to work with over the last several years. The key lessons:

  1. Put the user at the center

  2. Adopt a product mindset

  3. Implement effective leadership

  4. Assemble a data-based strategy

Study Says Journalists Need Training to Deal with Online Abuse

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

A study "published in the Journal of the Association for Journalism Education, found that abuse has become “more commonplace, more vile and more serious” in ways that can impact young journalists’ emotional well-being and lead them to doubt their abilities."

This is really sad but also necessary. And the stories that I hear from women who I know in the industry about the horrific abuse that they routinely suffer makes this training necessary not just for young journalists but for journalist at any point in their career, especially women.

Netflix's Viewing and Objective Data in Discovery

The Netflix homepage shows viewers what the top ten most popular titles are on the service every day. But how accurate is it? Is it objective. We dug into these questions with execs from the streaming service.

An interesting look at how Netflix uses multiple streams of data to create its top 10 lists. I'm interested in this because discovery - finding good and relevant content - is such an interesting feature and doing it right such an important way to serve users.

Twitter Launching Paid Service?

Monthly $2.99 subscription includes ability to organise tweets into collections and ‘undo tweet’ button

Ever wanted to 'undo' a Tweet? Here's your opportunity. For all those times you posted a direct message to your timeline!

With looming privacy changes, how can brands deliver digital experiences while remaining compliant? The answer lies in multitouch attribution and transparency.

New Developments in The Streaming Wars

In the Attention Economy, knowing what is happening in the streaming world is important. With such growth in streaming during the pandemic, it will be interesting to see if the habit sticks as things begin to open a bit.

The streaming TV race is about to get even more competitive.

Podcasting Gaining Audiences and Ads in Oz

Podcasting: Audience and advertiser engagement insights from Nova, SCA & CRA

More data on the growth of podcasts, including on the commercial side, but from a different market than the US - Australia. (So much data from the US. It's essential to get good market data from elsewhere.)