Top News:
Eric Johnson / Recode:
Wired launches a metered paywall with five free articles per month, followed by a $20 annual subscription fee — Wired's wall goes up today: Four free clicks, then $20 a year. — Starting today at 9 am ET, Wired.com will have a paywall — although infrequent visitors might not notice it right away.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Wired, WWD, @mmasnick, @kottke, @jasontanz, @attackerman and Talking Biz News
Recode:
Facebook's daily active user base in the US and Canada fell for the first time ever in Q4, dropping to 184M from 185M in Q3 — It was a small but negative change to daily active users in Facebook's most valuable market. — Here's a troubling data point if you're a Facebook investor …
Discussion:
CNBC, Bloomberg, ZDNet, @privacymatters, MediaNama, @dhh, @bloombergasia, The Next Web, Fortune, @jmichaelwaller, GeekWire and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »
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Richard Nieva / CNET:
Mark Zuckerberg says showing fewer viral videos reduced the total time people spent on Facebook by ~50M hours every day, as MAUs reach 2.13B, up 14% YoY — The world's biggest social network is almost minting money, but Mark Zuckerberg has warned news feed changes could hurt business.
Discussion:
CNBC, Facebook, Recode, Vanity Fair, Press Gazette, @joshconstine, BGR, New York Times, TechCrunch, Ad Age, New York Magazine, VentureBeat, The Wrap, AdExchanger, Forbes, TechCrunch, CNBC, Business Insider, Variety and @anthony, more at Techmeme »
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Instagram Stories begins rolling out its “type mode” feature to users, letting them post text-based pages — Not so photogenic — Instagram's newest Stories feature doesn't feel much like Instagram. The platform's new “type mode,” which starts rolling out today …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Engadget and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
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Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Instagram announces plan to bring Carousel Ads to Stories, letting advertisers show up to three photos or videos in Stories — It's been less than a year since Instagram brought advertising to Instagram Stories — a format that its owner Facebook said in November has more than 300 million daily users.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Instagram for Business and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
Meredith CEO Tom Harty says editorial staff face no changes yet at Time Inc. as Meredith takes over; Time Inc. CEO Rich Battista, other top executives to leave — Meredith is moving in. — The $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc. becomes final on Jan. 31, and Meredith officially takes over Feb. 1.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Fortune, @mediabistro, Page Six, @davidzmorris, @abbywestnyc and TVWeek.com
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Examining the ethics of journalists buying Twitter followers, after the suspension of Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Richard Roeper — The greatest asset for all journalists is their credibility — the track record of accuracy that makes news consumers believe what they have to say.
Discussion:
@ckrewson, @mlcalderone, @charliemagne and The Ringer
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Dirk VanderHart / Portland Mercury:
Memo: The Oregonian, owned by Advance Publications, lays off 11 newsroom staffers — After repeated rounds of layoffs, it's hard to imagine the Oregonian having anywhere else to cut. But the news business's grim prognosis marches on, so the cuts continue.
David Katzmaier / CNET:
YouTube TV is now available on select Roku devices for $35/month; YouTube says the service is coming to Apple TV “very soon” — YouTube's $35-per-month alternative to cable TV is now on the most popular streaming platform. — Just in time for the big game, the Winter Olympics …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, MacRumors, Engadget and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
National Book Awards will recognize translated books, giving awards jointly to living authors and translators for works published in the US — The National Book Awards, among the most prestigious literary prizes, are going global. — Starting this year, the National Book Foundation …
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly, Bookseller News, @scottesposito, @philnel, @likaluca, @likaluca, Melville House Books and NPR
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
A look at the economic shifts as publishers move from guaranteed payments to revenue sharing with content recommendation services like Outbrain and Taboola — For the past three years, publishers have benefited from fat guarantees from content recommendation services like Outbrain and Taboola.
Discussion:
@randfish, @simonowens and @mathewi
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube expands YouTube Go, a lightweight version of its service for emerging markets, to 130+ countries — YouTube Go, a mobile version of YouTube built for emerging markets with features like offline viewing and nearby sharing, is today expanding to over 130 countries worldwide.
Discussion:
YouTube Blog, Engadget, The Verge and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Pandora announces restructuring, shifting resources to ad tech and audience development, cutting workforce by 5% to save $45M annually, will expand in Atlanta — Pandora Media is pink-slipping about 5% of its workforce, a move the streaming-music company said will help it save $45 million annually.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Fast Company, Radio & Television …, MediaPost, RAIN News, Pandora, Business Insider, Radio Ink, @conorsen, AdExchanger, MarketWatch, @urvaksh and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:
A look at Opinary, a German startup that makes polling tools for 60+ media companies, as it builds out its product to give news orgs insights in real time — Can a widget's worth of reader engagement lead to useful data — and maybe even money? “The whole idea is to give readers and communities a voice within journalism.”
Discussion:
@newsbyschmidt and @jinnovationcity
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