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Our friends over at Poool have launched a festival for their B2B publication The Audiencers. It’s got a fab line-up of sessions and speakers (including our very own Peter Houston on making newsletters valuable) – check out the agenda here.

Today’s Media Roundup is brought to you by The Audiencers. (Book this ad slot)


National Geographic lays off its last remaining staff writers

The magazine, which remains among the most read in the U.S., has struggled in the digital era to command the kind of resources that fueled the deep reporting it became known for

 

Magazines laying off writers to cut costs is hardly a new story. But what is particularly depressing about this news is that this is happening at one of the most read magazines in the U.S. If you can’t make the economics work with 1.2 million subscribers, either something is very wrong with your model, or print truly is doomed.

Print copies will no longer be sold on newsstands, articles will now be contracted out to freelancers or – I quote – “pieced together by editors”, and the small audio department has been shuttered. Even photography contracts, which allowed professionals to spend months capturing the iconic images NatGeo is famous for, have been heavily curtailed.

It’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel for the print title. Cutting content budgets never works as more than a short term measure in publishing, and this is one title that will especially hurt from the loss of deep, long-form reporting.


 

Mapping the digital newsstands market

Digital Content Delivery Systems (DCDS) is the over-arching term that captures the changing face of digital magazines.

There’s no clear cut definition of what counts as a digital magazine these days, given the wide variety of formats and delivery methods. For FIPP, Jim Bilton breaks down changes in the digital magazine market, what is driving consumer behaviour, and regional spending trends.


 

UK publishers believe Apple could be forced to pay for news under new law

UK publishers believe that Apple could be forced to make news payments through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.

There are an awful lot of ‘what if’s’ here but its interesting to note that some publishers are pushing for Apple to be explicitly named in the UK’s upcoming Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. Apple already does advertising revenue share for publishers in its News product, and has various subscription and direct payment arrangements in place for publishing partners of its premium Apple News+ tier, so will organisations really risk jeopardising those relationships?


 

Publisher brands with the most digital subscribers

English-language publisher brands, ranked by total number of paying subscribers with digital access to their subscription products.

A fun list to finish Friday with! Toolkits have put together a ranking of the top English-language publisher brands, ranked by the total number of paying subscribers with digital access to their subscription products. As always with these types of rankings, it’s striking the difference between the top few players, and everyone else.


More from Media Voices

 

Big Noises: Shirish Kulkarni on why there are no quick fixes in media

Media analyst Shirish Kulkani explains why news avoidance is a rational response to the current news ecosystem – and what to do about it.

 

Want to differentiate your media business? Hire more ‘weirdos’

Amy Kean explains why media businesses struggle to differentiate themselves, and why we need more ‘weirdos’ in the industry.

 

Media Voices at FIPP Congress 2023: Resilience in the face of disruption

Peter Houston headed back to Cascais for FIPP Congress 2023, and heard from leading publishers about building resilience.

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