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Let’s talk about the media’s zombie problem — thefix.media

Jakub Parusinskai over at The Fix says that after a decade of steady decline, media has a zombie problem. Our sector is plagued by organisations too weak to fulfill a 'social role' but strong enough to crowd out newcomers.

In economics, a zombie company is a firm needing constant bailouts to survive. Jakub gives the example of Japan's zombie banks - not strong enough to expand lending and grow the economy, but getting in the way of new players that could provide alternatives. The parallels with local news are all too stark.

The point is, ultimately, not all media companies can be saved. Jakub acknowledges that there are difficult challenges in deciding how to close down a struggling business and start again. "But we need to tackle them if we want to save our industry from the undead, and help those fighting a losing battle dedicate their energy to building a better future for journalism."

Substack invests in 'thoughtful and nuanced' local news — www.pressgazette.co.uk

Startup newsletters serving Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool in Northern England have been given financial backing from US-based Substack. The newsletter platform has awarded cash grants of up to $100,000 each to 12 local journalism projects, worldwide.

Blackstone's purchase of IDG is about data, not publishing — www.mediapost.com

Private-equity giant Blackstone has bought International Data Group for $1.3 billion. The deal follows IDG's acquisition of a B2B sales and marketing business and an IT pricing service, both bolstering the publisher's first-party data offering.

Facebook to end special treatment for politicians after Trump ban — www.theverge.com

Maybe politicians aren't special after all, at least not in the eyes of Facebook. Posts made by elected officials will, for the first time, be opened up to exactly the same rules that Facebook moderators apply to everyone else. Thanks President Trump, you maybe did some good after all.

This week's episode:

Decanter Editor in Chief Chris Maillard on refreshing Future’s wine brand for its loyal readers — voices.media

In this week’s episode we hear from Decanter’s Editor in Chief Chris Maillard about the challenge of refreshing Future’s newly-acquired wine brand – without alienating its incredibly loyal readership

Eurosport’s Aude Baron discusses turning evergreen content into success in podcasting with Podinstall’s Sarah Toporoff — voices.media

For publishers with a well established content workflow, adding podcasts can seem like a daunting task. But, as this Conversations episode demonstrates, those publishers already have what is needed to create and distribute podcasts that add value to your audience and business alike.