CNN’s $20M Digital Expansion, Apple News App’s Open Door, New Instagram Algorithm, Google Posts, InDesign CC Tip: Style Override Highlighter, InDesign CC 2015.3 Release Notes
Welcome to Technology for Publishing’s roundup of news and tips for media industry pros! This week, we’re sharing stories about CNN’s plan to spend $20 million on expanding its web video and mobile products, Apple’s announcement that its News app is now available to all publishers, Instagram’s plan to switch streams from their current chronological order to a “favorites” model, new Google features that make it easy for users to post real-time content, and more.
- In an effort to better compete against fast-growing digital natives like BuzzFeed and Mic, CNN announced it’s spending $20 million on an expansion plan that includes new web video and mobile products and 200 new hires focused on those areas, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, it said some 50 staffers working in areas not associated with the digital push will reportedly be let go. “Scale alone is not enough. We can’t fight the last war. The one for the desktop homepage we already won,” said CNN editorial VP Andrew Morse in the report, noting that news models that “replicate a wire service” are outdated. Along with launching new mobile products that offer users a more personalized content experience, the news organization is creating teams to work specifically on content for platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Apple News, as well as new verticals such as health and style.
- No longer reserved for the publishing elite like Condé Nast, The New York Times, and CNN, Apple’s News app is now open to the masses, from the “humble blogger” on up, according to TechCrunch. Although Apple still has an approval process, the announcement means anyone can sign up to use its publishing tools, including the new Apple News Format, which lets publishers customize text, photo galleries, videos, and more. As an alternative to using the document format, content creators can push articles via RSS feeds to News Publisher and monitor traffic with the application’s analytic tools. And they can use Apple’s iAd platform to monetize their content. How much money News publishers stand to make, however, remains to be seen: Not only does the app compete with the likes of Facebook Instant Articles, Flipboard, and Snapchat Discover, the report notes, but publishing partners have reported difficulties in managing their advertising due to inaccurate reader numbers (a problem Apple has said it will fix).
- Some Instagram users were up in arms about news that the platform plans to change the algorithm that organizes photos in their streams, moving from its current chronological order to a Facebook-like “favorites” one. In fact, just a day after the announcement, some 50,000 Instagram users had signed a petition to keep the app chronological, Variety reported. But according to an email Instagram sent to agencies, part of which a Digiday article quoted, “The goal is to help people see more of the moments they care about first, including posts from businesses. We believe making this change will increase time spent and posts viewed on Instagram, which benefits everyone who utilizes the platform.” Still, that means publishers and brands will have to rethink their strategies, the report said, offering a look at who wins and who loses under the new model.
- So far social network Google+ hasn’t measured up to expectations, but Google is trying to incorporate more of that same type of original real-time content into its search results by offering users Twitter-like features, according to Fortune columnist Mathew Ingram. Although nothing’s been officially announced, he said the company has set up a landing page for what’s being called Google Posts, described as “an experimental new podium” that lets you “hear directly from the people and organizations you care about.” For example, in January it rolled out a feature that allows candidates in the presidential debates to create “information cards” that appear in a special carousel when related topics are searched. The idea behind the new capabilities is to enable both individuals and organizations to easily post text, images, and video in real time, indicating Google is looking to “eat some of Twitter’s lunch,” Ingram says.
On the Technology for Publishing Blog
- InDesign CC Tip: The Style Override Highlighter identifies all the paragraph and character style overrides that have been applied in a document. Monica Murphy explains how this handy InDesign feature works.
- InDesign CC 2015.3 Release Notes: Get a quick overview of Adobe’s latest InDesign CC release, including new features and enhancements to Publish Online and accessibility functionality.
- ICYMI: Our latest infographic pick looks at top creative trends in 2016, based on what users are searching for and downloading most.
Image: The Wall Street Journal
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Posted by: Monica Sambataro
