Inside a high-stakes poker player's bet on journalism | US publishers top on Whatsapp
And for the second year running we reveal the newsbrands with the top reader to subscriber conversion rates
I encountered an intriguing journalistic outlet this week.
Founded in late 2020, in the last two years longform multimedia “story studio” Long Lead has won two Webby Awards and a “best specialised journalism site” prize from the Society of Professional Journalists.
It also makes no money, lets the journalists it works with keep 100% of the rights to their stories and is funded by a hedge fund manager and occasional high-stakes poker player. (Career winnings: $5.5m.)
I spoke to Long Lead’s editor, John Patrick Pullen, about what prompted investor Bill Perkins to fund the outlet. Pullen said Perkins is a patient investor - and, aptly, one “not opposed to a bet”. The funding model may be yet to prove itself, but it certainly seems like an opportunity for any freelances with an ambitious story to tell — and Pullen is eager to hear pitches.
Separately, I’ve taken a look at Whatsapp’s broadcast-style “Channels” feature a little over a year on from launch to see how publishers are getting on. It turns out almost half of the most-followed channels are publishers, and Americans may be surprised to learn —given how little traction the messaging app has in the US — that American titles have attracted plenty of followers there.
Meanwhile my colleague Aisha has produced our second ranking of the newsbrands doing the best job at converting readers to subscribers. Tied in with that, we’ve published a ten-page special report in association with Norkon titled the "ultimate guide to acquisition, conversion and monetisation for publishers". You can give it a look here.
As The Washington Post appoints managing editor Krissah Thompson to oversee the construction of Will Lewis’ mysterious “third newsroom” I’ve taken a look at what we know about the effort so far. (Here’s something we don’t know, because the Post was evasive about it when asked: is executive editor Matt Murray still expected to move across to lead it after the election or will he stay in his role permanently?)
And finally the shortlists for Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards 2024 have been announced: take a look through to see some of those leading the way in journalism and publishing strategy.
Have a great weekend.
Bron
Long Lead editor John Patrick Perkins. Picture: Long Lead
Inside Long Lead, the award-winning journalism bet made by a high-stakes poker player
“I equate us almost to a movie studio. Because we work on these big projects that are really concentrated, and then when they come out we promote the heck out of them.”
Top newsbrands for converting readers to subscribers revealed
Topping the list of brands included in our analysis once again are The Athletic and News Corp financial title Barron’s, which both had conversion rates of above or close to 20% – well above most industry benchmarks.
Whatsapp Channels one year on: Top news publishers ranked
Despite Whatsapp's relative unpopularity in the US, as of late June the seven most-followed news publisher Whatsapp Channels were all American.
Washington Post ‘third newsroom’ creation gets underway
A spokesperson for The Washington Post would not clarify whether executive editor Matt Murray is still expected to take over the third newsroom in November or if he will now stay in his current job.
Promoted: Press Gazette publishes ultimate guide to reader conversion and monetisation
“Publishers are being forced to rethink the ‘acquisition funnel’ when it comes to users. It means developing your own audience strategies to persuade readers to come directly to you, skipping the platforms completely, collecting their data and attributing sales to them. The good news is, many publishers are already figuring this out.”
Future of Media Awards shortlist 2024: ‘Lighting the way to sustainable future for journalism’
Categories include website and app of the year, digital storytelling, reader revenue strategy, advertising technology, newsletters and podcasts.
Also on Press Gazette:
News and politics page views in UK reach record high in 2024 election week
Bankers allowed to sue Dow Jones under GDPR over ‘missing $1bn’ article
Comment: Publishers must prove audience loyalty to win ad spend battle
And elsewhere…
A look at the man behind the AI content on Sports Illustrated and USA Today
Mia Sato, The Verge
Axel Springer and KKR in talks to break up media empire
Laura Pitel, Ivan Levingston, Arash Massoudi, Kaye Wiggins and Olaf Storbeck, Financial Times
Chalkbeat expands to public health, hires media veterans to run new parent organization
Sara Fischer, Axios
USA Today transformed the media world for good. What’s its legacy now?
Paul Farhi, The Washington Post
Fight against misinformation suffers defeat on multiple fronts
Daniel Zuidijk, Bloomberg
Maybe publishers aren’t relying too heavily on subscription discounting
Jack Marshall, Toolkits
Are monthly subscribers practically worthless?
Emanuele Porfiri, George Montagu and Nathan McCurdy, FT Strategies
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