Role of Mobile Editor, Publishers Caught Between Apple and Google, Microsoft Vision of Future Devices, TFP’s Infographic Pick of the Week, DPS 2015 Tip: Enabling Social Sharing
Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing stories about the evolving role of mobile editor, how the competing strategies of Apple and Google are putting pressure on publishers, Microsoft’s approach to future computing devices, big numbers for Quartz videos, and more.
- In a Nieman Lab article, Wall Street Journal executive mobile editor David Ho explains his role and what it takes to be successful, noting that first and foremost, his position is defined by “motion and change.” Mobile editors not only need news experience, he says, but they also must be able to quickly respond and adapt to new technologies, tasks, workflows, trends—whatever surfaces on a day-to-day basis. “It’s a job of constant evolution, of daily disruption,” notes Ho, who shares how he’s keeping pace along with mobile editors from Bloomberg, BBC, and the Guardian. While the title didn’t exist just a few years back, it’s becoming central in newsrooms today, involving “multifaceted, multi-team, multi-platform, multi-everything roles,” the report says.
- Publishers today are caught between the competing strategies of Apple (smartphone-dependent apps) and Google (open and free mobile web), reports The New York Times, meaning they have to either pour money into building and maintaining both websites and apps or make hard choices between the two. And that’s especially true for smaller publishers struggling to keep up. For them, every move the big tech companies make means added burden and expense—and for some, the difference between staying in business and having to close up shop, the article points out. “We’re spending more time thinking about what Google and Apple are going to do than when we were just doing desktop publishing,” says D. L. Byron, publisher of cycling site Bike Hugger, in the report. “They can change on a dime and pull the rug out from under you, like when Google cut off news feeds and Apple decided to allow ad blocking.”
- The Times also explored how Microsoft is getting back into the personal computing game with a “throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks” approach, based on a future where “we’ll have smartphones and then a dizzying array of desktops, laptops, tablets, and hybrid devices—and different people, for different reasons, will choose different sets of each.” Unlike competitors, the report says, the software maker has been steadily expanding its reach and rolling out competing products, including its own phones, new additions to its hybrid Surface line, applications for Apple iOS, and more. The idea that no one device, second to the smartphone, will dominate is rule-breaking, it notes, adding that despite the risks of spreading itself thin, Microsoft could very well become a leading hardware maker and reveal market demand we don’t yet know exists.
- Quartz is taking a distributed path as well, hitting some 45 million views on 130 videos on Facebook and YouTube in just six months, according to Digiday. When Facebook indicated it would push video in its news feed, the Atlantic Media news outlet put together a three-person team and started publishing videos directly to the social platform and YouTube, with the goal of learning how to “master” natively distributed video without worrying about revenue. “Directionally, it’s a very encouraging number for us, given the number of videos we’ve done with a very small staff,” says Jay Lauf, publisher of Quartz, which is known for experimenting with different models. That’s not to say monetization isn’t the endgame, though, with plans to start selling advertising in the works, the report notes.
On the Technology for Publishing Blog
- If your content isn’t high quality and relevant to your audience, you’re wasting your time and resources—and hurting your brand. See our Infographic Pick of the Week for steps that guarantee great content every time.
- DPS 2015 Tip: You can enable social sharing in an Adobe Digital Publishing Solution app to allow readers to share articles through email and social media channels. See Monica Murphy’s post to find out how it works.
- ICYMI: Our latest Women in Media roundup covers a recent leadership panel, the Fortune Most Powerful Women list and conference, writing honors, interviews with media chiefs, and more.
Image: TechStage/Nieman Lab
Check out our blog for highlights of interesting and noteworthy stories from the publishing world every Friday, and sign up for TFP’s This Week in Publishing newsletter. Think we missed something great? Let us know! Leave a comment below or drop us a note.
Posted by: Monica Sambataro
