Tuesday 25th May: Vice Media Group produces more Stories than text or video

May 25, 2021

Good morning. Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Peter.

Don't worry, it's not a pivot, but the Stories Studio mobile app developed by Vice Media Group last year has definitely swung some focus to stories-style content. Launched in June, more than 250 Vice employees now use Stories Studio to generate over 3,000 pieces of original content every month.

Vice’s titles now create more story-style content in a month than traditional text- or horizontal video-based content. The reason is average impressions per post are up 72%. Vice World News has used the format to grow its Instagram audience from 100,000 to more than 600,000 over the past six months.

Maybe most important for the cash-strapped digital media company, the revenue Vice generated from stories content nearly doubled in Q1 2021 compared with 2020. “It’s well exceeded my expectations,” Vice chief digital officer Cory Haik told Digiday. “Original content creation on these platforms is where the action is.”

The digital startup sector for local news is on the up as legacy newspapers decline. Poynter says there's philanthropic funding available and displaced journalists eager to recommit to a community news mission. But founders need to be thinking hard about sustainability in communities where advertising and reader revenues are not easy to come by.

Reach has agreed to pay back up to £4m to staff who accepted pay cuts at the start of the Covid-19 crisis last year. In April, the company took the 'difficult decision' to cut salaries for a three-month period. “Having considered this in recent weeks we have decided to reimburse colleagues for the April to June 2020 pay reduction," said a spokesperson.

Time Editor-in-Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal has written to staff to let them know a number of role changes, promotions and new hires. The changes will support the publication's ambitions to grow subscriptions to 10 million by 2030, strengthen its daily digital offering, push innovation and to 'continue the essential work of bringing inclusivity, transparency and empathy'.

This week's episode:

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.

We’re looking to establish a regular meetup (virtual at first, but hopefully face-to-face in the future) for people working on podcasting in publishing companies to come together and share tips, learnings, and help each other with challenges. Our first group call is on Wednesday 26th May at 16.00 BST - learn more and RSVP on this link!