Small but mighty today. Twitter's new subscription app has appeared in mobile app stores, and Digiday has a great look at the work that Twitter had to do to increase its product release cadence and start pushing product at the same tempo as its industry peers.

CNN extends its 5 Things franchise. What began as a newsletter has expanded into a successful podcast and now TV.

A thought-provoking piece by a US public media consultant about whether local stations can support podcasts plus a general news offering.

Don't Be Shy about Being Niche

Why now is the golden age of publishing: Heard on the Web’s Bo Sacks | What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News — whatsnewinpublishing.com

This week we hear from Bo Sacks, a columnist and lecturer with a long career history in magazines and publishing. He talks about trends that have come and gone, why he thinks print is strong as a niche product, and why we’re currently in the golden age of publishing. As the publisher of ‘Heard on …

A golden age? "...we’re doing things we never dreamed about doing before. new platforms come out every day that facilitate communication, taking the broad range of what publishing is."

Twitter Subscription App Appears in Stores

Twitter lists paid-for ‘Blue’ subscription service on app stores | Twitter | The Guardian

Appearance in Apple and Android stores signals long-rumoured launch may be imminent

Collections and undo are two of the features expected in the new 'Blue' subscription service.

‘Playing to their strengths’: Twitter’s revved-up product focus piques publisher, advertiser interest — digiday.com

After years of criticism for being indecisive, Twitter has finally started to spread its wings, shipping a torrent of product changes this year.

A really good deep dive (subscription content) into the updated product mix that Twitter is rolling out. " In the summer of 2020, about a year and a half after Twitter committed to overhauling its infrastructure to allow more rapid development, it completed that work. That change helped Twitter significantly increase its development capacity and the company entered 2021 hoping to push those capabilities much further."

It shows the importance of the foundational work that is necessary to unlock a faster pace of product development.

CNN Builds on a Tent Pole Digital Product

CNN is turning its 5 Things newsletter into a franchise that spans podcasting and TV — digiday.com

CNN Digital is stretching its 5 Things email newsletter from a daily article roundup into its own franchise including TV and podcasts.

"The 5 Things podcast now accounts for 43% of CNN’s total podcast downloads, according to Courtney Coupe, SVP of CNN Digital Productions." It's a good example of creating a 'strong value proposition' and then building on that core product.

US Local Public Media Need to Make Choices

Podcasts vs. local news: an either-or proposition? | Current — current.org

"For small and midsize media organizations, a new focus on podcast excellence may mean getting out of the comprehensive local news business."

Lots of good points here including the how unsustainable the pandemic pace is in newsrooms and how public media and media in general need to be clear about priorities. Can US local public media do podcasts and a general local news offering? Probably one or the other.