This week Andrea Barbalich, Editor in Chief of The Week Junior US and The Week’s Chief Executive Kerin O’Connor tell us about the upcoming US launch of the children’s news title. They tell us about kids’ relationship with print, children and curiosity, and how there’s no place for kids in social media’s outrage economy, but you can sell subscriptions to parents on Facebook.
In the news roundup, the team discuss a bad week for the BBC, but a good year for digital news outlets.
News in brief:
- Byte has been launched to fill that Vine-shaped hole in your heart. Unlike TikTok, it only allows for six second videos. The two things people are really focusing on are that Vine-like brevity – and the fact that it’s going to trial a rev-share model with creators
- Chris thinks Serial was bad journalism but a good demonstration of the power of podcasting as a medium. Now the company behind it is up for sale
- The Economist is expanding its coverage overseas ahead of the US presidential election by launching a new 2020 newsletter and podcast called ‘Checks and balance’
- Apple is discussing making original podcasts related to programs on its Apple TV+ video streaming service
- Dozens of regional brands owned by Reach, including the Manchester Evening News and the Newcastle Chronicle, have joined forces this week to highlight the climate emergency in a #Do1Thing campaign
- The Athletic has raised $50 million in another funding round to grow their editorial operations overseas. The subscription-based digital sports media company is now valued at roughly $500 million
- Britain is planning sweeping new online protections for children’s privacy. The rules will require platforms like YouTube and Instagram to turn on the highest possible privacy settings by default for minors
- UK publishers lost £170 million in digital revenue last year, as ‘brand safety’ tech designed to stop ads appearing next to content about things like shooting and terrorism also blocked them from appearing in some of the most popular stories of the year
- Seeya later IGTV button. The button has been dropped from the main Instagram app, and TechCrunch reports that “only 7 million of Instagram’s 1 billion-plus users have downloaded its standalone IGTV app in the 18 months since launch”
- Instagram and TikTok appear to be neck and neck in terms of monthly active users, with both sitting at around the 1 billion mark. This is a seriously impressive achievement for TikTok, which is less than 3 years old
- Emma Tucker is the first female editor of The Sunday Times since 1901. The first female editor of the Sunday Times was Rachel Beer, the aunt of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon, who held the post between 1893 and 1901
- YouTube signs exclusive streaming deal for Activision esports like Call of Duty and Overwatch, taking exclusivity away from Amazon’s Twitch
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