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This article was originally published in Medians' 10 Links newsletter, sent every other Monday at 2pm. Sign up here!
- INDEPENDENCE (Medians) — How do we build sustainable and independent business models? How do we break free from big tech firms? How do we fight threats to press freedom in Europe? These questions shaped the workshops and roundtables at Sphera Media Lab last week. Weren't there? Here's a recap of what our guests had to say.
- PLATFORMS (The Guardian) — Tapping into the wallets of tech giants to fund media: a model that's gaining ground, as seen in Australia. The country could force platforms to negotiate or face penalties, even if they remove news content like Meta did in Canada.
- PLATFORMS (Medians x CJR) — Rather than accept the dominance of these platforms, several independent media outlets are building their own distribution channels. Unrigged in Canada, La Presse Libre and the Independent Media Portal in France are betting on homegrown solutions to take back control. Why now? What are the early results? How will these projects scale? We asked them.
- MODEL (CJR) — Condé Nast shuts down Teen Vogue, laying off most of the team and folding the title into Vogue, despite audiences exceeding the company average. By merging it into a celebrity-focused magazine, the company is burying the editorial stance and coverage that defined Teen Vogue : trans rights, student activism, abortion bans…
- TREND (Numerama) — Polymarket, Myriad, Kalshi: these news prediction markets, displaying real-time odds on numerous topics, are enjoying great success… to the point of competing with news outlets? They are deemed more
- MODEL (Nieman Lab) — Three years of audits, coaching, and data: LION Publishers distills a 21-step roadmap to help local news outlets become truly sustainable. The key finding? Having dedicated revenue staff changes everything (up to +700% higher median revenues), and stability comes when you reach three or more revenue streams.
- DESIGN (New York Times) — As podcasts have moved from audio to video, the creation of podcast sets has received special attention. Powerful sports cars, leopard-print rugs, or intimate living rooms: podcast sets create a visual identity that says a lot about the tone of the show… and its host.
- INDEPENDENCE (Coda Story) — Interview with Richard Gingras, the architect of media dependence on Google, revealing that in 2019 the company invited European newsrooms to Athens… and organized a game of Werewolf there. A game where players advance blindly and are eliminated at a pace dictated by a game master: hard to find a better metaphor.
- STRATEGY (The Fix) — "Adapting" articles rather than translating them: this is the strategy adopted by Contexte as part of its European expansion, relying on a dedicated team to reframe the angle and select key information based on the target audience, French or European.
- TOOLS (Freakpages) — Tired of a web that always shows you the same things? Freakpages offers pages selected by a human recommendation system. Incongruous pages, voted on by curious internet users to display on the home page.
