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Inside Google’s Deal with the French media
Just lately it seems that platforms and tech companies are keener to cozy up with publishers than they have been in the past. Discussions around things like the snippet tax and payments for publishers have become less fraught, and platforms have been notably less reticent to open their purses than they were even this time last year. It’s possible that someone at Google and Facebook has suddenly had an attack of conscience, but more realistically flashpoints around regulation have left platforms in need of some friends in the press.
That’s the angle Frederic Filloux takes in this first entry in a series looking at the whys and wherefores of that relationship. Speaking about Google’s €150m splurge on the French media over the next three years, he states: “The sign that the deal could be a decent one is that none of the parties are gloating about it. There is no obvious winner: the French media tamed its expectations while Google yielded on many points with the idea of keeping the lid on a costly Pandora’s box.”
If platforms want to help tide publishers over until a new revenue equilibrium has been found, that’s great. But let’s not be gullible about it – platform and publisher priorities will never truly align. Expect shenanigans and some implied quid pro quo whenever these ‘deals’ are reached.
Whether it’s HuffFeed or BuzzPost, the model is the message
Here’s an interesting little thoughtpiece from Nat Poulter, chief operating officer at Jungle Creations. On the back of the BuzzHuff/FeedPost acquisition, do we need to fundamentally rethink what a digital success story looks like? And where, ultimately, is all this media consolidation heading?
Online attacks on women journalists leading to ‘real world’ violence
That horrific headline is just a taste of the findings from this report into the reality of being a woman in journalism. Everyone reading this newsletter will be aware of the deluge of abuse women journalists receive, but as this report from ICFJ demonstrates the issue is snowballing and heading into the ‘real world’.
Bon Appétit needs to change. Its new editor in chief is ready for the challenge
Some high-profile scandals lately have drawn attention to the role of the editor in chief in creating the culture at a magazine, pureplay or otherwise. Dawn Davis, new EIC at Bon Appétit, has to grapple with both being an outsider and fixing internal issues. This profile gives a good insight into how that might be achieved.
