Media Insider: How Top Women’s Magazines Are Doing Online, Google’s GIF Maker, and Satire in the Age of Trump

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round-up of media stories from the week.

Photo by Andrea Amin, via Unsplash.

WWD | KARA BLOOMGARDEN-SMOKE 
Here’s how top women’s magazines are doing online

With ad spend shifting from print to digital, executives from magazine publishers like Condé Nast and Hearst are staffing up web teams and putting more emphasis on online strategy. But, how is it going? To answer that question, WWD took a look at a year’s worth of comScore data for seven of the top women’s magazines.  As it turns out, there is truth to all those stories about Teen Vogue’s success online, reports WWD. The site saw a 176 percent increase in web traffic from April 2016 to April 2017. Time Inc.’s InStyle, meanwhile, saw a 35 percent decrease during the same time period.

Have we reached peak media? People watched, read, listened, streamed, and posted more media than ever in 2016 — but growth is slowing. 

RECODE | PETER KAFKA
The New York Times wants to show readers what its reporters look like

With media trust trending down, The New York Times is looking for ways to humanize its reporters. Times managers want readers to know more about the reporters writing its stories, and want to include photos of the reporters alongside their bylines. Some reporters have pushed back against the idea, reports Recode, saying it could jeopardize the safety and security of some of its employees. Dean Baquet, the Times’ executive editor, believes it will help give stories more credibility.

Among other changes announced this week, the Times drew flak for elimination of its public editor role. Similarly, Muck Rack’s Tim O’Brien says the media has a PR problem. Here are a few tips he has for reporters on social media. 

SEVEN DAYS | DAN BOLLES
An Onion editor talks satire in the age of Trump

President Donald Trump and his team are providing a wealth of material for humorists and satirists. The challenge is figuring out how to keep up. “The issue isn’t with us having no way to address it, it’s having so much to address,” Cole Bolton, editor in chief with the Onion, told Seven Days. With this administration, the Onion’s satire coverage has skewed more political, raising questions about Trump fatigue for both the writers and readers. But, rather than scale back, the team recently doubled down, releasing 700 pages of mock White House documents.

Related: Bob Woodward has cautionary advice for journalists covering the Trump era.

JOURNALISM.CO.UK | MĂDĂLINA CIOBANU
New tool from Google helps you to visualize data using GIFs

Last week, Google’s News Lab launched a new tool, Data GIF Maker, that allows anyone to make simple and engaging data GIFs. The simple animations can be embedded in stories or shared alongside articles on social media to help readers better visualize multiple data points. “The tool does not perform any data analysis, so you won’t be able to illustrate how people’s interest in two competing topics has changed over a certain period, for example,” writes Mădălina Ciobanu. For now, you can input some information manually and link to outside sources.

Speaking of Google, publishers are putting renewed effort into search optimization, and with it, found new tricks.

DIGIDAY | MAX WILLENS
How Refinery29 gets a 63 percent click-to-open rate on its biggest newsletter

Refinery29 knows how to stand out in its readers’ inboxes, reports Digiday. Its biggest newsletter, Refinery29 Everywhere, boasts a click-to-open rate of 63 percent, meaning that 63 percent of those who opened the newsletter clicked through to the site. According to eConsultancy data, that’s more than four times higher than the average for both beauty-focused newsletters and newsletters from media companies. Its grabby subject lines stick to fashion, beauty, sex, and other taboo topics, says Digiday. Headlines also undergo as many as three rounds of testing to find the top performer.

ICYMI: This daily newsletter by a 15-year-old high school student has more than 2,000 subscribers. 

Subscribe to Beyond Bylines to get media trends, journalist interviews, blogger profiles, and more sent right to your inbox.

[blog_subscription_form]

Anna Jasinski is manager of audience relations at PR Newswire and former magazine journalist. Follow her on Twitter at @annamjasinski. You can also catch her sharing the latest news in journalism and blogging on @BeyondBylines.