Technology • Innovation • Publishing – Issue #168

Innovation

What do we mean by innovation? And why is implementing it so darned hard for news organizations?

whatsnewinpublishing.com

HT @BoSacks #journalism

EXPLAINER: What is the metaverse and how will it work?

apnews.com

Building the Open Metaverse Podcast

cesium.com

On Building the Open Metaverse, hosts Patrick Cozzi of Cesium and Marc Petit of Unreal Engine at Epic Games invite a broad range of technical experts to share their insights on how the community is building the metaverse together.

‘The Economist’ Auctions ‘Rabbit Hole’ NFT For $422K, proceeds donated to educational foundation

www.mediapost.com

HT @MediaPost

Martha Stewart Rolls Out a Line of NFTs

www.wsj.com

#NFTs

Technology

A rundown of all major product news from Adobe MAX 2021

blog.adobe.com

HT @scottbelsky Photoshop & Illustrator on the web, AI for masking in Photoshop, faster video rendering, artist attribution for NFTs. #AdobeMAX

Photoshop’s journey to the web

web.dev

By @fractorious and Nabeel Al-Shamma #Photoshop

LinkedIn rolls out its freelance services marketplace globally after picking up 2M users in smaller US beta

techcrunch.com

LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned platform for those connecting with others in their fields of work and those looking for work, has been known best in recruitment for sourcing candidates and advertising job openings for permanent work. Now, to complement that, LinkedIn is opening up a new front in the job market for freelancers.

Claire Atkin and Nandini Jammi launch the Check My Ads Institute, a nonprofit watchdog investigating ad-funded disinformation, including on Facebook

checkmyads.org

HT @mediagazer

Facebook unveils Horizon Home social VR, Messenger VR calls, and fitness VR on road to metaverse

venturebeat.com

By @deantak.

The Facebook Papers: A bulleted guide to the biggest revelations from troves of leaked documents

www.businessinsider.com

RT @BusinessInsider Over a dozen media outlets have published fresh details from leaked internal documents at Facebook, ramping up the pressure on CEO Mark Zuckerberg. From fading popularity with teens to failures in addressing hate speech, here are the highlights.

Facebook keeps collecting people’s data and building their profiles even when their accounts are deactivated

digiday.com

When people deactivate their Facebook account, data connections continue to suck new info from advertisers, revealing their personal interests, recent purchases and other interactions. There is no data retention policy limiting length of time. Via @Digiday.

Google Charges More Than Twice Its Rivals in Ad Deals

www.wsj.com

Google takes a cut of 22% to 42% of U.S. ad spending that goes through its systems, according to a newly unredacted lawsuit by state attorneys general via @WSJ #Google #Advertising

Ad execs dismayed, but not surprised, by tactics Google allegedly used to control digital ad dollars

digiday.com

HT @DCNorg.

Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires

www.nytimes.com 
The tech giants talk a lot about the “metaverse” and cloud computing. What really powers them is selling us socks.

Antitrust battle latest: Google, Facebook ‘colluded’ to smash Apple’s privacy protections

www.theregister.com

Amazon Growth Slows, Costs Jump

www.publishersweekly.com

HT @publishingtrend. Via @publisherswkly

Amazon now delivers more US packages than FedEx

qz.com

In 2014, Amazon delivered approximately 0.2% of all US packages. Today, Amazon controls one-fifth of the delivery market, and is on track to overtake UPS and even the US Postal Service (USPS). Via @qz

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin hopes to build a space station in the next decade, intended for research, commerce and space tourism

www.protocol.com

Cameo acquiring marketing and merchandising platform Represent — www.axios.com

RT @sarafischer @BookCameo is acquiring marketing and merchandising platform @Represent, which will eventually make it possible for the company to sell bundles of merchandise and custom videos to users from their favorite celebs

Snap says it has 100M MAUs in India and partners with entertainment TV channels Sony and Zee TV for curated content in Snapchat’s Discover section

techcrunch.com

HT @mediagazer. By @refsrc.

Charts that Don’t Change

www.bbh-labs.com

Data and Trend Geeks — this is for you. 74% of topics saw opinion change by fewer than 10 percentage points over 20 years.

Publishing & Media

Every publishing strategy should start with Amazon and Ingram

www.idealog.com

HT @publishingtrend. By @MikeShatzkin.

Is Amazon Changing the Novel?

www.newyorker.com

HT ⁦@azeem Amazon has used its platform to create a new literary landscape in which writers are service providers, readers are customers, and books are designed for instant gratification. #Amazon

Authors react to Texas’ investigation of their books in public schools

www.chron.com

Via @chron.

Blind People Won the Right to Break Ebook DRM. In 3 Years, They’ll Have to Do It Again

www.wired.com

HT @mediagazer Advocates for the blind say DMCA exemptions to break ebook DRM for accessibility should be permanent, rather than having to be renewed every three years. By @dlberes.

HarperCollins UK to acquire Pavilion Books

www.thebookseller.com

‘It’s a game-changer for us’: Artists welcome guaranteed basic income plan — www.irishtimes.com

HT @craicer If you work in the creative arts & live in Ireland you might be the lucky recipient of a trial Guaranteed Basic Income for artists from the government. It is being called a game-changer by the artists who receive 325 euros/week. Via @IrishTimes

A total of 81 new magazine titles have arrived on US newsstands so far this year, according to Samir “Mr Magazine” Husni — mrmagazine.wordpress.com

Via @mrmagazine #magazines

Superhero stories have a disability problem — www.inverse.com

In both our real and superhero-filled worlds, the fear of anything imperfect and different is seen as something to fix or destroy. Via @inversedotcom#comics

McClatchy has entered a deal with Sweden’s United Robots for a pilot partnership to deliver automated news about home sales

newsandtech.com

via @newsandtech #NewsBusiness

USA Today has unveiled an SMS text chat service allowing digital subscribers to connect with the newspaper’s reporters

www.usatoday.com

#journalism

Resources & Opportunities

Free 21-day Mastermind for Female Coaches

e-volve-your-world.mykajabi.com

RT @jkhoey Ready to take action, learn new tips + get inspired to build your #coaching biz? Join my pal Belén Díez, founder of E-volve Your World for “21 days of business tips for female #coaches” (yes, I’m part of her interview series) Nab your comp ticket https://bit.ly/kelly21daysofbiztips

11/8 WMG Pitch Perfect Virtual Event

womensmediagroup.org

Learn from industry experts:

* The ideal format for an editorial pitch

* How to find an editor or journalist likely to connect with your topic

* Creative ways to stand out in an overcrowded in-box

FREE for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up today!

Women’s Media Group — Events

womensmediagroup.org

There are tons of other @WMG_NYC virtual FREE events planned for members-only, including a New Member Social that I’m hosting, 6 WMG Scholar Socials hosted by Board Members with WMG Scholars as special guests, and another Talk, Listen, Connect event — this time hosted by agent @SallyEkus. Hope to see you there!

Women’s Media Group Scholarships

www.gofundme.com

Today, 11/1, is my birthday. This year, I’m raising money for Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation. Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $25 or $100, and if your company matches, please submit! Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support.

Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation is the non-profit arm of WMG, and provides scholarships for women in media, publishing and communications. We currently provide scholarships and fellowships to the Publishing Certificate Program at City College of New York (CUNY), the NYU Summer Publishing Course, the Columbia University Publishing Course, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Film and Media program, and Pace’s Masters in Publishing program. We’ve already doubled the number of scholarships — I’m hoping to TRIPLE them — with your help!!