Monday 30th January: BuzzFeed and Meta seek new fortunes in the creator economy

January 30, 2023

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WSJ News Exclusive | Meta Pays BuzzFeed Millions to Generate Creator Content for Facebook and Instagram

The partnership marks latest iteration of yearslong relationship between digital publisher and social-media giant.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/meta-pays-buzzfeed-millions-to-generate-creator-content-for-facebook-and-instagram-11674693687?fbclid=IwAR1uljB3e6j1qxzWa_9PHYupmE44lP02Ov3BvD6fD1rJzclBZo72-hR2IME&utm_source=pocket_reader

Loads of news coming out of BuzzFeed lately, from its use of AI to generate quizzes and listicles - on the back of which its stock rose 120% - to this extension of its partnership with Meta. Effectively, the pair of them will be cashing in on the creator economy by generating content specifically focused around creators. 

From Meta's point of view, this is presumably in service of highlighting its own suite of creators. Faced with incursions from TikTok and Snap, it's trying to prove that its own platforms are best for creators to launch a career (and the fact that it comes with a big wodge of marketing spend doesn't hurt). From BuzzFeed's point of view... it's money. And they need it.

We cover this in greater detail in today's new episode of the podcast, but the big takeaway from me is that we've apparently time travelled. After all, when was the last time you heard of Meta striking a deal with publishers to create content for its feed? And when was the last time you heard about non-news content from BuzzFeed? BRB I'm going to stick a bet on Trump winning the 2016 election.

This one's so, so depressing. The context is that journalist Nick Cohen has been accused of misconduct by former colleagues at the Observer - one of whom, Lucy Siegle, cited a Press Gazette article about Cohen in her complaint to IPSO. However, without her knowledge, Press Gazette had amended the article and removed material that cast Cohen in a bad light. It's a terrible look for Press Gazette, and its editor-in-chief Dominic Ponsford has serious questions to answer.

BBC Arabic radio goes off air after 85 years of broadcasting

The first foreign language radio of the British Empire Service, set up to counter the German and Italian propaganda, began its life in 1938

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bbc-arabic-radio-closes-after-eighty-five-years

This one's interesting - not just because it speaks to the global impact of the BBC having to cost cut, but because of the context in which BBC Arabic originally launched: "The Arabic station's first show was aired at 4:45 pm London time on 3 January 1938, as Nazi Germany and fascist Italy spread propaganda over Arabic airwaves about Britain's presence and interests in the Gulf and the Middle East."

AP apologises and deletes widely mocked tweet about ‘the French’

Organisation clarifies initial advice, which included term in list of phrases it thought could be dehumanising

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jan/28/ap-issues-clarification-over-its-advice-not-to-use-term-the-french?CMP=share_btn_tw

No, I'm sorry, this is too funny to be forgotten. The Associated Press - in an otherwise well-meaning move meant to clarify its ban on dehumanising language - somehow managed to include 'the French' among a list that also included the poor, the mentally ill, the wealthy, the disabled, the college-educated, etc. Phenomenal work all round, no notes.

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This week we hear from Gaby Huddart, Group Editorial Director at Hearst UK and Editor in Chief of Good Housekeeping. We talk about celebrating the brand’s centenary last year with their first multi-day live event, what a Good Housekeeping reader looks like today, and why it’s so important for the title to be future-facing. She also discusses how readers’ attitudes to their homes have changed over the pandemic, and the role the Good Housekeeping Institute plays in building trust.

In the news round-up the team examines some of BuzzFeed’s moves from the past week – including striking a partnership with Meta and embracing our new AI overlords. For the news in brief, we discuss the FT burning out trying to run a Mastodon server, the US government’s latest moves in the war on Google hegemony, and the apparent dwindling of interest in the super-rich for funding newspapers and magazines.