How local publisher Technically Media is trying to diversify its business with a focus on community: The latest from Nieman Lab

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Friday, February 3, 2017 [How local publisher Technically Media is trying to diversify its business with a focus on community] The company, which publishes tech sites in the Mid-Atlantic, wants to grow beyond its core events revenue model while keeping community at the heart of what it does. By Joseph Lichterman. [What happens when a mid-sized city loses its last daily newspaper? Guelph, Ontario offers a case study] “This problem is creeping up the ladder, from the small town that has 10,000 people to the decent-sized community that has 50,000 people to, now, a place that has over 100,000.” By Ricardo Bilton. [Newspaper readers in the U.K. still spend nearly 90 percent of their time with print. Oh well?] What We’re Reading Nieman Reports / Sara Morrison [The future of comments →] “How newsrooms think about comments — which had remained largely unchanged since outlets began introducing them in the mid-2000s — has changed.” TechCrunch / Josh Constine [Medium plans to launch a consumer subscription product this quarter →] “An upgrade to your Medium experience” Recode / Eric Johnson [We can’t talk about “fake news” if we can’t agree what it means →] “We should let that one go and use more specific language,” Brian Stelter tells Recode. Recode / Peter Kafka [Bill Simmons on The Ringer’s first year, his cancelled HBO show, and what ESPN got right →] “Fuck yeah. The one thing that’s not a problem for us is money.” Journalism.co.uk / Madalina Ciobanu [CNN is investing in digital video that “goes deeper” into the story →] “The Digital Studios team works closely with CNN’s social producers and other digital divisions to produce videos for platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as short documentaries that can be anything from three minutes to ten minutes long.” BuzzFeed / Lam Thuy Vo and Charlie Warzel [This is what Facebook’s filter bubble actually looks like →] It’s not just your Facebook feed, it’s also Facebook Live: “There’s no such thing as truly raw video on Facebook.” Street Fight / Tom Grubisich [With $200K from Knight, LION is hiring a full-time executive director →] The Local Independent Online News Publishers association has been “primarily an all-volunteer organization” since launching in 2012. Digiday / Lucia Moses [The Wall Street Journal is exploring an ad-free digital offering →] In a reader survey, the Journal said it was considering a per-article charge of 79 cents, and didn’t specify what an ad-free digital version might cost. New York Times Company [The New York Times launches a program to let readers sponsor digital subscriptions for high school students →] “These funds will be used to open up NYTimes.com access to public school students, particularly in underfunded schools and districts throughout the country.” [Nieman Lab] / [Fuego] / [Encyclo] [Twitter] / [Facebook] [View email in browser] [Unsubscribe] You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org. Nieman Journalism Lab Harvard University 1 Francis Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138 [Add us to your address book]