The many applications of newsletters to building a sustainable media business

PLUS How generative AI will put even more pressure on volume publishers

Kevin Anderson
May 23, 2023

At Pugpig (we build apps, sites and archives for publishers), where I work as the consulting director, we’re currently writing a report on retention because from what we’re hearing around the industry and from customers, retention is one of the major themes of the year. And I guess it supports our research direction in that I have articles about retention in my reading today. One is from India, where we have a playbook about how to manage retention across the customer lifecycle. It tracks at every step of a user relationship how you can manage the relationship.

Media companies should take advantage of customer lifecycle to prolong retention

Managing customer lifecycles allows news publishers to optimise revenue, boost engagement habits, and increase perceived value of membership that can effectively reduce the motivation to churn.

www.inma.org/blogs/digital-subscriptions/post.cfm/media-companies-should-take-advantage-of-customer-lifecycle-to-prolong-retention

And

How subscriber-only newsletters help The New York Times boost retention - WAN-IFRA

2023-05-22. During the past couple of years, The New York Times has been aligning the strategy of its large newsletter portfolio with the company’s ambitious goal of becoming the indispensable subscription news source for every curious English-speaker around the world.

wan-ifra.org/2023/05/how-subscriber-only-newsletters-help-the-new-york-times-boost-retention

AI could help publishers prove the value of their journalism: Here's how | What’s N/ew in Publishing | Digital Publishing News

The issue with AI as a tool for creation is that it raises the question of how much human interaction is required for something to be considered ‘human-made’. Publishers should be looking for ways to demonstrate the provenance of their journalism, from inception through creation to publishing. There’s lots of talk – again – about …

whatsnewinpublishing.com/ai-could-help-publishers-prove-the-value-of-their-journalism-heres-how

Facebook to be fined £648m for mishandling user information

Decision by Ireland’s privacy regulator will set record for breach of EU’s data protection rules

www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/21/facebook-to-be-fined-648m-for-mishandling-user-information

Following UK antitrust order, Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock for $53M after buying it for $400M

Meta has finally found a willing buyer for Giphy, the animate GIF search engine it acquired for $400 million three years ago.

techcrunch.com/2023/05/23/meta-sells-giphy-to-shutterstock-for-53m-after-uk-divestment-order

Ghost papers. Journalists find themselves alone or with just a few left in the newsroom - Editor and Publisher

Across the country, more and more "ghost papers" are appearing, where you may find no publisher or editor; and a newsroom with just one reporter left. In some cases, entire “beats” have disappeared — where cities and large regions have no one covering the news. What happens to these journalists and to the communities they serve? In some cases a news desert remains. In others, we find competing media companies stepping in to fill the void.

www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/ghost-papers-threaten-to-devolve-into-news-deserts-but-new-outlets-are-investing-in-local-news-in,243767

Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse vision is over. Can Apple save it?

The CEO of the social media giant has spent billions – and still no one understands the idea. But now the world’s richest firm could change the game

www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/21/mark-zuckerbergs-metaverse-vision-is-over-can-apple-save-it

Tensions Flare Inside The Messenger, a Fledgling News Site

The company’s high-volume approach to digital publishing has led to duplicated stories and alienated some of its journalists. At least one editor has already resigned.

www.nytimes.com/2023/05/20/business/the-messenger-news-startup.html