Industry News
TIME Buys Marketing Website Builder, Brandcast
TIME’s acquisition of Brandcast is its first sale since Marc and Lynne Benioff bought the publication from Meredith in 2018. The Benioffs were early Brandcast investors and will use the technology to build custom content websites for Time’s advertising clients, new newsletters, editorial projects, and smaller verticals.
Study Shows Young Americans Follow the News Daily, But Are Not Satisfied
The Associated Press team did a study in which they found pokes holes in the idea that young people aren’t interested in news. Approximately 71% of people ages 16 to 40 get their news from social media, and 45% get information from traditional sources. This proved that over a quarter of young people pay for one new product, and a similar percentage have donated to at least one non-profit news organization.
Twitter Announced the New Edit Function
Twitter announced at the beginning of September that they would add the edit functionality to their platform. This was perhaps the most significant shift for Twitter since 2017 when they increased the character limit from 140 to 280.
Demand for Super Bowl Ads is high despite the Ad-market falling
Fox Broadcasting announced it has sold 95% of its commercial inventory for Super Bowl LVII. The high demand for the Super Bowl comes as some media companies have reduced their outlook for ad revenue as companies have started to decrease costs in preparation for the predicted market recession. Last year’s Super Bowl cost advertisement was around $5.5 million, and it’s expected this year will be slightly higher or in the same range.
NBC is considering cutting down programming times
Broadcast television has been diminishing in popularity which has caused media outlets like NBC to consider reducing the number of hours its programs run on prime-time TV, which will be an enormous cost-cutting move. NBC is considering giving the 10:00 to 11:00 pm program to local TV stations, reducing their broadcast by seven hours per week. The decision has yet to be made, and if agreed upon, it will probably happen in 2023, when they must decide which content they want to cut.
Cable News has a more significant effect on polarization than social media
After the past two election cycles, concern has risen as social media has radically transformed the information ecosystem. However, research found this statement false and concluded that television is the top driver of partisan audience segregation among Americans, not the web. Moreover, the study found that news consumers are much more likely than web consumers to maintain identical biased news diets over time, not looking very deeply at different news sources.
The New York Times Workforce is Opposed to Return to Office Plans
Several journalists from the New York Times are unwilling to return to the office due to the risk this may pose to their health and their loved one’s health. The journalists have been without a contract since March 2021, and the staff hasn’t gotten raises in more than two years despite decades-high inflation and rent increases. Employees argue that they have contacted the leadership team several times regarding monetary compensation, but they have received no response, which has made them more reluctant to come back to the office. The New York Times has tried the return to office project several times but has failed because of workers’ discontent.
Career Moves
Washington Post Names New Climate Editor
Katie Zezima will start her new role at the Washington Post as a climate editor overseeing the science and impact team on September 12th. Before this role, Zezima was an assignment editor focusing on the pandemic.
Business and tech correspondent Jo Ling Kent departs NBC
Jo Ling Kent, a business and tech correspondent with NBC News, has left the organization after six years. She has worked as a reporter for several top-tier media sources, such as Fox Business, CNN, and ABC News, where she started her career.
Publication Spotlight
Vox Media Will Host 100+ Events in 2023
Vox Media aims to reintroduce several previously postponed events from Group Nine titles. Of the more than 100 events, 70% are branded, bespoke events in partnership with advertisers. In June, for a fashion brand that wanted to align with the Pride Parade in New York, Vox Media created an activation in which a photographer captured “chosen family” photos for attendees to share on social media. In 2023, Vox Media hopes to bring back the PopSugar event Playground, aimed at a young female audience, as well as Girl Talk, which reaches a similar demographic but strikes a more substantive tone. Meanwhile, it plans to continue growing new editorially rooted events like Stay Tuned with Preet Live, Hot Pod Summit, and The Cut’s How I Get It Done dinner series, which can help Vox Media generate exclusive content that helps power its subscription pipeline.
