The Inner Circle Round Up: Media News You Can Use January 2019
Happy new year, and welcome back to the Inner Circle Round Up! The year has gotten off to a rough start and January has been a difficult month for the media industry, losing around 1,000 jobs. From Buzzfeed to Huffpost to Gannett, many talented journalists have found themselves looking for new opportunities - but luckily people want to use their vast networks to help. According to NPR, several journalists are creating job post threads on social media or creating spreadsheets of openings, and organizations like the National Press Club are even hosting networking events.
While it may seem like many newsrooms are downsizing, we know the media is resilient. We’ve still found some new outlets and opportunities that are on our radar:
What’s New (and New-ish)
NewsPack: News publishing platform brought to you by Wordpress & Google
Google, in partnership with Automattic and Wordpress, has invested $1.2 million to develop a new publishing platform of local newsrooms. Designed to meet the needs of small news organizations, Newpack will allow journalists to focus on writing stories instead of building websites and configuring CMS. Applications are being accepted by a wide range of publications and the platform will launch in beta mode in July.
The Inner Circle Take: Local news is important and any platform that helps expand the reach of these stories--and the message we PR pros are trying to amplify, is good news. We’ll continue to follow Newpack and share any new developments.
Buzzfeed: Twitter’s ‘AM to DM’ show returns
Buzzfeed News and Twitter have renewed their millennial-focused daily morning show, ‘AM to DM’ for another year. The hour-long show receives an average of 400,000 live views daily and in 2018 the show interviewed over 500 guests and experts on the show on major news of the day.
The Inner Circle Take: ‘AM to DM’ presents an opportunity for organizations trying to reach a younger audience on an unconventional platform. With a focus on incorporating guests on the show, starting a relationship with a producer for the show could be a great option for smaller broadcast opportunities for your experts.
Vogue is launching a new digital-only section focused on the business of fashion. Aimed to reach fashion industry professionals, the title will cover "market currents, cultural movements, trends and technologies that will impact the fashion industry.” Vogue Business will take the form of an email newsletter featuring analysis, interpretive journalist, exclusive stories and data visualization, straying away from breaking news
The Inner Circle Take: For PR professionals, sometimes your organization's news is not “breaking news.” If you work with the fashion industry, the new Vogue Business publication is a great option for longer lead stories and a chance to develop a strong relationship with their editorial team.