LinkedIn on 'hiring spree' PLUS US local media co-op collapses, lessons to be learned

January 10, 2022

BusinessInsider reports that LinkedIn is beefing up its content team as it tries to encourage people to spend more time on the platform. In addition to its news team, it is also looking to hire a "40-person team for creators".

I'm also flagging up coverage of the collapse of a local media co-op in my own backyard. I live in the Cleveland, Ohio, area and just south of us is the city of Akron. The Devil Strip was an arts & culture digital magazine that only launched in 2014, but only moved to a co-op model in 2020. This is a tough story. In a letter to the members and the community, the three remaining board members described how debts were more than $80,000 higher than reported and that the co-op structure as constituted made it almost impossible to move forward. They had struggled to have a quorum that would allow them to make decisions. The three board members also described an over-reliance on grant funding. In the end, the board members, on the advice of their lawyers, had no action left but to resign. This is a tough, tough story, but hopefully, some lessons will be learned for others pursuing a co-op model.

PLUS Spotify is launching a new ad format for podcasts. A study in the US finds that user-generated content accounts for 39% of media consumed on a weekly basis. Clubhouse may be fading in the US, but it still has an active user base on South Asia. A retrospective of a project a decade ago by LA's KPCC public radio outlet to serve English-speaking Hispanic audiences. The next round of media start-ups is going to focus on reader revenue, not traffic volume. (Seems obvious, but interesting to note nonetheless.) Also, if media folks are making resolutions to go on a media diet, what does that mean for audiences?

LinkedIn is also expanding its editorial efforts beyond news with a 40-person team for creators.

The Devil Strip news magazine in Akron will not be able to restart publication after abruptly laying off its entire staff in October, board members announced Friday.

Spotify Launches In-App Clickable Podcast Ads - 01/07/2022

User-created content accounts for 39% of media hours consumed by Americans weekly vs. 61% for traditional media, a CTA study found.

The frenzy around Clubhouse may have subsided, but many in South Asia are sticking to the app for unique reasons like reciting Urdu poetry and getting stock market tips.

News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

Ten years later, what did public media learn about Hispanic audiences from the KPCC experiment?

My New Year's Media Resolutions Revolve Around Less Media - 01/05/2022