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Digital News Report 2022: Four key implications for publishers — digitalcontentnext.org

The Reuters Institute's 2022 edition of the Digital News Report is out now - and hoo boy that's some tough reading for the news industry. Subscriptions are somewhat up, but trust is way down. There are green shoots in here - but at some point we need to stop talking about hope for some aspects of the news industry and address the endemic issues that are hamstringing journalism's ability to make money.

For Digital Content Next, Damian Radcliffe has spoken to the report's lead author Nic Newman to discuss some of those endemic issues. The scariest stat this year is around news avoidance, specifically selective avoidance which sees audiences checking out of news around topics that scare, depress, irritate them etc.

Happily, Newman has some ideas of how to fix it: "First, he argues, we need to make news content more accessible and easier to understand. 'This is one of the reasons why young people and less educated groups selectively avoid the news.' He also notes that content is typically produced for avid news consumers."

Morgan Stanley sponsors Washington Post content, takes down paywall — www.mediapost.com

This isn't the first instance of a brand effectively subsidising free content for users by paying to take down a paywall (albeit only around a specific content series). We've seen it at local, regional and national levels now - and I strongly suspect this won't be the last example of it.

The NYT’s next era isn’t about news — thehustle.co

As digital consumption rises, The New York Times is evolving into a product company. Having set its sights on 15m paying subscribers by 2027, it's having to broaden its product range to include games, recipes, and more.

Russia bans 29 UK journalists, including Guardian correspondents — www.theguardian.com

There's no clearer indication that Russia is losing the information war around its invasion of Ukraine than this. On a lengthy list of people it's banned for spurious reasons, it has included 29 UK journalists. Frankly that ban is a badge of honour.

This week's podcast

Morning Brew Managing Editor Neal Freyman on the future of editorial newsletters — voices.media

This week we catch up with Neal Freyman, managing editor at Morning Brew. We hear about what’s changed in the newsletter ecosystem since, what the rise of the individual journalist-led newsletter means for creators, and what new verticals he wants to launch newsletters in.

NEW Conversations episode: Affino’s Markus Karlsson and TTG Media’s Steve Hinds on unlocking the benefits of software systems consolidation — voices.media

Publishing is way behind other industries when it comes to technology consolidation. Compared with five or six key software platforms in most sectors, it is not uncommon to see publishers running their businesses on tens or even hundreds of separate set ups. This episode, Affino CEO Markus Karlsson and TTG Media Product Manager Steve Hinds join us to talk about the benefits of systems consolidation, the challenges publishers face, and how they can get started.