Wednesday 2nd February: Why the New York Times has acquired Wordle

February 02, 2022

Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Peter.

Nice to lead the newsletter with a piece from one our own. Mr Chris Sutcliffe has been writing about The New York Times acquisition of everybody's favourite word game Wordle, launched just eight months ago and sold for seven figures.

As Chris says, it sits nicely alongside the rest of the word-based games in the NYT's Crosswords app, which has been credited with signing up hundreds of thousands of people to the NYT portfolio.

The big challenge for the team at the Times is how, or even if, they can monetise their investment. They've promised to keep it free for now, but players are already grumbling that any attempt to charge will see them bail. This thread from Matt Taylor is great on how Wordle is a great fit with the NYT, but they'd better hope it isn't a flash in the pan or that they inadvertently piss off 10,000,000 adoring fans.

According to Hold the Front Page the Mail on Sunday is reporting that tech platforms will be encouraged to negotiate payment deals with news organisations in a plans modeled on a system introduced last year in Australia. The move to introduce supporting legislation is apparently being driven by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, so, maybe don't hold your breath.

Read this Media Post coverage (or watch the video) of a recent industry round table if you're in the mood for an unvarnished opinion on all that is wrong with the world of modern media. Don't read it if you're close to the edge and in need of reassuring professional optimism. Veteran media journalist Bob Garfield said, “We’ve lost to the bad guys. God bless us all, but I’m not, needless to say, optimistic".

Calling all journalism students! Applications are open for the GNI Student Fellowship, offering paid work placements for students and graduates across Europe. There are 30 newsrooms in 14 countries opening their doors to students from all backgrounds interested in journalism, technology, multimedia or product design. The deadline for applications is 15 March, 2022.

This week's podcast:

This week’s guest is Alastair Brian, fact-checking lead at The Ferret. He spoke about out the realities of modern fact-checking, how to win over new readers who don’t have a pre-existing trusted relationship, and how community is at the heart of any sustainable revenue stream.

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