NAA Roundup

By Lindsey Loving April 15, 2016

NAA Roundup is a weekly blog post featuring NAA member announcements and staff changes; NAA announcements; what’s on our reading list this week; and what’s hot on social media.

If you would like an announcement included in the NAA Roundup, please email lindsey.loving@naa.org.

Member Announcements:

U.S. Newspaper Publishers Form Digital Ad Network (The Wall Street Journal)
Gannett Co., Tribune Publishing Co., McClatchy Co, and the Hearst newspaper group have formed Nucleus Marketing Solutions in an effort to leverage their geographic reach and combined scale to help marketers more effectively target their ads.

New York Times plans international digital expansion (The New York Times)
The Times has formed a new team, NYT Global, and plans to invest more than $50 million over the next three years to support an ambitious plan to expand its international digital audience and revenue.

Star Tribune Expands Distribution of Popular StribExpress for Greater Advertising Reach (Star Tribune)
Responding to demand from readers and advertisers, Star Tribune Media Co. announced that it is expanding the distribution of its StribExpress, the shopper-requested, home-delivered weekly news and preprint advertising publication. The expanded footprint will take StribExpress from 85,000 to 100,000 opt-in subscribers in 130 ZIP codes throughout the Minneapolis–St. Paul metro area.

Scripps acquires leading digital-media humor brand Cracked to expand millennial reach (Scripps)
The E.W. Scripps Company has acquired multi-platform satire brand Cracked for $39 million, which informs and entertains millennial audiences through a high-traffic website, mobile apps, original digital video, social media and a popular podcast.

Staff Announcements:

McClatchy Company: Orage Quarles III, president & publisher of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., for the past sixteen years, will retire on June 3, 2016.

Morris Publishing: After serving the company for 27 years, Derek May has been named president of Morris Publishing Group, LLC.

NAA Announcements:

David Chavern: NAA mediaXchange 2016 Preview: NAA President & CEO David Chavern previews NAA mediaXchange and discusses the importance of local, the theme for this year’s conference. NAA mediaXchange 2016 is a chance to hear from insightful speakers with bold new ideas and innovative strategies.

What We’re Reading:

Shoptalk: My Love Letter to Newspapers (Editor & Publisher)
By Curtis Rush – A miracle is taking place in Toronto every single day…People inside the [newspaper] business know about this miracle…But does the public really know what’s going on under the hood? As I wind down my 40-year newspaper career, I wanted to write a love letter to newspapers and pay my respects. They’ve been my life. They are many people’s lives.

The Algorithm Is an Editor (Wall Street Journal)
Social media companies are becoming news providers for many Americans and citizens across the world. The implications are significant for how we understand the information ecosystem and our democracy.

The Atlantic Tests Mobile Ads Built For Google Amp (The Wall Street Journal)
The Atlantic has worked with TripleLift to build ad units designed
specifically for Google AMP, to showcase sponsor-produced content with a minimal amount of lag time, while still providing many of the crucial tracking and analytics common in traditional web advertising.

The Winnipeg Free Press’ bet on micropayments will generate about $100,000 in revenue this year (NiemanLab)
Last year, the Canadian daily became the first North American paper to introduce per-article payments. It’s found fewer takers than expected, but they’re buying more on average.

Publishers Finding Success With Tech Niches Within Their Local Markets (Street Fight)
Tech news startups, such as Boston’s Bostinno and VentureFizz, are attracting significant audiences due to their deep, narrow coverage of the startup ecosystem within the local market.