NAA Roundup

By Lindsey Loving January 15, 2016

Member Announcements:

Philadelphia Media Group: Lenfest donates newspapers, website to new media institute
The owner of The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com has donated the news organizations to a newly created media institute, the core of a complicated transaction designed to ensure that quality journalism endures in Philadelphia for generations. The move places the region’s dominant news-gatherers under the auspices of the nonprofit Philadelphia Foundation.

The USA TODAY Network Launches Event Series to Inform and Activate Millennials During 2016 Election Season
The USA TODAY NETWORK announced a content and event series to inform young voters in the run up to the 2016 election. In partnership with Rock the Vote, the nationwide series, called One Nation, will focus on social topics important to the millennial generation.

GateHouse Media Launches Digital Portfolio of Company’s Best Work
GateHouse Media has launched BestofGateHouse.com, a digital portfolio of the company’s top work in a variety of creative categories.

The Washington Post launches all-new News Service and Syndicate site
The Washington Post has announced a new News Service and Syndicate delivery site. Through the new site, customers can access news stories from The Post, Bloomberg News and Japan News that they can use in their digital publications.

Staff Announcements:

GateHouse Media: GateHouse Media, LLC has named Peter Newton as its Chief Revenue Officer.

New York Times: Jim Rutenberg, chief political correspondent for the Sunday magazine, will succeed David Carr as media columnist.

What We’re Reading:

Non-profit ownership is a match for Philadelphia papers — but not for everyone (Poynter)
This week, Philadelphia Media Network Chairman Gerry Lenfest donated three Philadelphia media outlets – The Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com – to The Philadelphia Foundation, changing their status to nonprofit. According to NAA president & CEO David Chavern, “t’s a very good thing for those papers and the city; it gives them a stable home and structure after years of [ownership] turmoil…but I’m not sure I see it as a broad answer for the industry.”

Apple steps b ack from its iAd advertising business (BuzzFeed)
With updates announced by Apple to its iAds platform, publishers will be able to sell through it directly, and keep 100% of the revenue from the ads it sells.

AP experiments with live streams as appetite for up-to-the-minute video grows (Journalism.co.uk) With its Live Choice service, AP has increased its live video by 25%.

Bezos & Chelstowski among Delaney’s coveted award honorees (NNN)
The Delaney Report Marketing and Media Award Winners for 2015 include Jeff Bezos, CEO & founder of Amazon.com and owner of The Washington Post, who was named Newspaper Publisher of the Year, and runner-up Ray Chelstowski, CEO of the Newspaper National Network.