Features

Splice News media trends: Facebook (again), Chinese drones and the Spotify of news

As a leading light of the commentariat in Asia, newsroom consultant and former alumnus of Yahoo, CNBC and Bloomberg, Alan Soon knows a thing or two about the media. Here is his roundup of developments inside the bubble this week

To sign up to his newsletter, from which this content is taken, visit the The Splice Newsroom.

FACEBOOK

The Guardian leaked what’s arguably the world’s most important editorial rule book: Facebook’s internal policy guidelines around what content to allow, and what to take down. If you think I’m overstating the importance of Facebook’s procedures, consider this: These rules govern what two billion people — the majority of them outside of the U.S. — see and, to some extent, react to that content. No other media platform has ever wielded that power. So here’s a quick primer: You can’t post “Someone shoot Trump” but you can say “Kick a person with red hair.” Here’s more.

…Emily Bell at the Tow Center makes a compelling argument: If Facebook says it’s acting in the public’s interest (assuming there’s one common public interest around the globe), then its procedures need to be public knowledge.

…Facebook doesn’t agree. “We don’t always share the details of our policies, because we don’t want to encourage people to find workarounds – but we do publish our Community Standards, which set out what is and isn’t allowed on Facebook, and why.”

…Facebook censored a Pulitzer prize-winning journo for publishing stories alleging corruption by the prime minister of Malta. It’s not clear why it did that.

…A privacy backlash is also building against Facebook with concern that the data they have could be used in ways you would never allow, such as helping advertisers target minors feeling “stressed” or “worthless.”

…Facebook will make it easier for publishers using the Instant Articles format to automatically export those articles into Google AMP and Apple News. This will go a long way in taking the load off newsrooms in publishing across multiple platforms. Many publishers have also lost interest in IA because of its poor monetisation, so this could also pull them back in.

…And finally (no more Facebook stories today, I promise) a media lecturer in Australia wants the government to consider a 25% tax on Facebook and Google’s ad revenues generated in that market, and redirecting that to fund journalism in the country.

SOCIAL TRAFFIC

If you’re running lifestyle content, you’ll want to drive them on Facebook. And if you’re on tech content, you should optimize for Google instead. Parsely ran some numbers from publishers. This is how the categories break down when it comes to traffic driving on Facebook vs Google.

Are we thinking enough about “dark social?” Advertisers are missing an opportunity if they’re simply chasing the social audience and ignoring the word-of-mouth potential of chat apps.

BUSINESS MODELS

You may not have heard of Scribd. Think of it as the Spotify of news. $9 a month gets you all the big ones — New York Times, WSJ and FT. They currently have half a million subscribers.

Did you know that Business Insider has a research unit? 40 staff, serving 7,500 subscribers who pay $2,500 for memberships.

Wirecutter — the obsessive tech review site that was acquired by the New York Times — is branching into new areas: Babies, personal finance and pet equipment.

RULES OF THE TRADE

China has rules for drone pilots. If your drone weighs more than 250 grams, you’ll have to get it registered.

…Trump wants something more in the U.S. The Administration is proposing a plan to allow authorities to track, commandeer or destroy drones flying in the country.

TRENDS

Walt Mossberg built his brand on helping people understand personal computing and the revolution created by home computers. In his final column before retirement, he talks about the end of the hardware computing as we know it and the arrival of what he calls “ambient” tech.

In many countries, Netflix streaming peaks at around 10 pm, just before people get to bed. In India, it’s 5 pm — in rush hour commute.

From Sweden — a language analysis of how some VCs talk about pitches from entrepreneurs. What emerged was a very clear bias against women. “Many of the young men and women were described as being young, though youth for men was viewed as promising, while young women were considered inexperienced.”

The rice lobby in the U.S. is pissed. Some enterprising entrepreneurs are selling something called “cauliflower rice.” Heard of rice milk?

NOTABLES

The Manchester Evening News put out a crowdfunding call to raise money for the victims of the bombing. It raised £1m in just over 24 hours.

…And in a gesture of camaraderie, The Boston Globe sent pizza to the editorial team at Manchester Evening News to keep them going. Respect.

Trump is allowed only one app on his iPhone: Twitter. Part of White House’s tactics to limit his damage.

Quote of the week
“We are not retreating – we are advancing in another direction.” — Douglas MacArthur

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