Measuring the wrong thing or using the wrong scale is a formula for failure Numbers don’t lie, but people do. And worst of all, people lie to themselves about what numbers mean. The Big Lie in media metrics for years was the Biggest Number. Media publishers got away with touting their total monthly page views or unique visitors as their “audience”. This was a…

Four years ago, I was asked to identify some trends shaping digital journalism. The two trends I singled out have only accelerated, and the 10 resulting paradigms haven’t changed either. The media I mentioned as case studies are still going strong. Trend №1. Publishers are pivoting toward users and away…

Key internet trends, with solutions to its thorny problems Why write about “reasons for optimism” when so much is going wrong in our politics, economy, and environment? Optimism gives us confidence we can make things better. As I like to say, today is another day of opportunity. José Luis Orihuela was an online guide to me for several years…

Thousands of organizations are collaborating to produce public-service journalism Why write about “reasons for optimism” when so much is going wrong in our politics, economy, and environment? Optimism gives us confidence we can make things better. As I like to say, it’s another day of opportunity. Quality journalism takes time and is expensive. It requires a subsidy. …

Few believed a subscription-only website of investigative journalism could survive Why write about Reasons for optimism when so much is going wrong in our politics, economy, and environment? Optimism gives us confidence we can make things better. It’s another day of opportunity. Conventional wisdom predicted failure for the French startup Mediapart in 2008, whose novel concept was an ad-free, subscription-only…

If you are one of those who actively avoid reading the news because you are tired of politics and politicians, I give you Andrew Yang. Note: You’re reading the My News Biz newsletter, which I send every Thursday. My goal is to help digital media entrepreneurs find viable business models. …

Global study recommends new tactics for funders, universities, tech platforms You’re reading the My News Biz newsletter, which I send every Thursday. My goal is to help digital media entrepreneurs find viable business models. What follows is an edited excerpt of the Recommendations chapter of SembraMedia’s Inflection Point International study of 201 digital native media in Africa, Southeast Asia, and…

You’re reading the My News Biz newsletter, which I send every Thursday. My goal is to help digital media entrepreneurs find viable business models. NOTE: What follows is an edited chapter of SembraMedia’s Inflection Point International study of 201 digital native media in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. This…

Viable news media recruit technology, marketing, sales experts — NOTE: What follows is an edited excerpt of the Digital Media Teams chapter of SembraMedia’s Inflection Point International study of 201 digital native media in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Read the full report here-also in Spanish and Portuguese. It is republished under Creative Commons 4.0 …