Wednesday 3rd March: Is Axel Springer serious or cynical about rejecting Facebook News?

March 03, 2021

Happy Wednesday! Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Chris.

The power imbalance and jostling for position among publishers and platforms has made us deeply cynical. Case in point: Axel Springer - the largest German-language publisher - has refused to join Facebook News citing the "inappropriately low remuneration" offered to participants. Is that just Axel Springer holding out for better terms, or is the publisher of Die Welt and Bild genuinely taking a stand against what it considers a competitor?

Its contemporaries are signing up: "Weekly newspapers Der Spiegel and Die Zeit are among the initial launch partners for Facebook News in Germany, according to Facebook. Daily newspapers such as the Handelsblatt and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung have also signed up."

So does that mean that Axel Springer genuinely thinks it's better to not contribute to what is ultimately a competing product, one that it thinks its competitors will get hooked on? Or is this a powerful player in a protected and lucrative market making a calculated ploy for more revenue? Time alone will tell.

Per a data analysis in 45 markets by Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center, almost half of digital news subscribers have effectively ceased using their subscription. Two questions arise: a) how does this compare to other types of subscription, and b) is the 'zombie' term now widely used for this? If so, cool.

Torstar, which owns more than 70 papers, is set to launch a gaming app to "support the growth and expansion of quality journalism". We're all for diversification and we're also aware that UK and US titles love a bit of gambling revenue... but does this then lessen Torstar's ability to cover gambling addiction etc.? One to keep an eye on.

We have endless, endless reams of data about our audiences. So why, then, is there still a disconnect? "If journalists are finally listening to the audience, why is journalism so disdained? And if solving journalism’s ailments begins with giving the audience more of a say, why does it end with so much confusion?"

This week's podcast:

Hannah Taylor, editor and founder for The Delicate Rebellion, tells us about her print magazine showcasing the work of independent female creatives, the community that has grown out of the magazine and her new online shop. She tells us how crappy teachers led her eventually to start her own magazine to encourage women to follow their creative passions.

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