For the Record

Apple Podcasts Launches Subscriptions:

Apple announced at its spring event Tuesday that it will launch subscriptions within the Apple Podcasts app next month, according to Ashley Carman of The Verge. Subscribers will be able to access "extra perks, like ad-free and bonus content," as well as early releases. Under the arrangement, content creators will pay Apple $19.99 per year to offer subscriptions, with Apple collecting "30% of revenue for the first year of a subscriber's lifetime and 15% for the years following." Although podcasters may continue to employ their own RSS feeds and hosting providers, any subscription content must be uploaded through Apple's backend, while podcasters will not have access to subscriber data collected by Apple. Other new features "include a 'Smart Play' button that [will] allow listeners to automatically start episodic shows from the newest episode and serialized shows from the beginning of the series."

Tribune Publishing Ends Bainum Negotiations:

In a Monday statement, Tribune Publishing announced that it has ended acquisition negotiations with Maryland political figure and Choice Hotels International Chairman Stewart Bainum Jr., likely ensuring the sale of the media company to hedge fund-backed Alden Global Capital pending shareholder approval, according to Rick Edmonds of Poynter. The announcement follows the Friday decision of Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss to withdraw from Bainum's bid following due diligence procedures. However, a Tribune source told Edmonds that a special committee "could reconsider and reopen discussions" if Bainum presents a "fully financed and firm offer" in the next two weeks. In a statement, NewsGuild units at the company's publications said that they "remain optimistic that our newsrooms will end up in the hands of civic-minded investors and foundations who are ready, willing and eager to invest in them.” Bainum's original $65 million deal to acquire The Baltimore Sun as a nonprofit newsroom collapsed after he and Alden "came to be at loggerheads on how much his group would pay for back-office, design and tech services now centralized in Tribune Publishing."

Journalists at Insider Form Union:

Journalists at Insider, the financial news website previously known as Business Insider, "said on Monday that they had formed a union, joining a wave that has swept digital media companies," according to Katie Robertson of The New York Times. More than 300 editorial workers voted in support of the decision, the proposed bargaining unit said. "I've seen how we’ve moved from the start-up energy of a young company into a much larger, much more formal corporation,” said Kim Renfro, an entertainment correspondent who has worked at the publication since 2014. "I see the union as being a natural part of that progress." The decision follows unionization efforts by workers at BuzzFeed News, Vice, The New Yorker and Vox Media.

Zuckerberg Champions Facebook Audio Suite:

In a Discord chat hosted by independent journalist Casey Newton, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the platform is "launching a suite of new tools and features designed to help users better connect with each other and their favorite creators through audio," Sara Fischer of Axios reported Monday. The short-form Soundbites will function as an "audio version of its TikTok-like video product Reels," while the company also will build a "podcast discovery tool for creators to share their podcasts" with fellow users. "We're really focused more on the creator side than the consumption side," he added. Zuckerberg said he believes the platform's current moderation infrastructure could forestall issues faced by rivals in the field.

Pandemic Book Sales Boost Backlist, Popular Authors:

The pandemic has "altered how readers discover and buy books, [driving] sales for celebrities and best-selling authors while new and lesser known writers struggled" amid canceled literary events and the closure of physical bookstores,  Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris of The New York Times reported Sunday. "Unlike the serendipitous sense of discovery that comes with browsing a bookstore, people tend to search by author or subject matter when they shop online, limiting the titles they see," the writers added. "Often, they see whatever a search or algorithm delivers, or find themselves steered toward titles that retailers push because they are already selling well." Beginning next month, Penguin Random House "will start giving independent bookstores in the United States an extra month to pay their invoices in an effort to help them recover from the pandemic and stay in business in the long term" as in-person events potentially recommence.

Minnesota Police Promise Safety of Journalists:

The Minnesota State Patrol has promised "not to detain, threaten or rough up journalists covering protests over the police shooting of Daunte Wright, after officers detained and pepper-sprayed journalists on Friday night and forced some to lie face-down," according to a Reuters staff report. Additionally, the law enforcement agency "will stop photographing journalists and their credentials and will no longer order reporters where they can position themselves to cover the demonstrations." The decision comes after state police and officers from eight other law-enforcement agencies in the joint force known as Operation Safety Net "were criticized by media organizations for how they treated journalists at the protests in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center," ultimately resulting in the intervention of Governor Tim Walz. A temporary restraining order "barring Minnesota state law enforcement from using force against journalists or ordering them to disperse while covering protests" also was issued by a federal judge late Thursday.

Ziff Davis Union Stages 24-Hour Walkout:

Members of the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, a bargaining unit of the NewsGuild of New York, staged a 24-hour walkout Thursday "amid complaints of 'paltry wages'" at the media company, according to Keith J. Kelly of the New York Post. Although the union, which represents editorial workers at Mashable, PC Mag and Ask Men, was voluntarily recognized by parent company J2 Global two years ago, the union has asserted that benchmarks have not been met. "Wages have become a critical issue at Ziff Davis,” the union said in its statement. “Recently, some staff members appealed to company leaders, telling personal stories about what their life is like living on paltry wages. One employee described relying on the company pantry for breakfast and dinner because they could not afford food between paying rent and other necessary expenses.” Ziff Davis has claimed that the union "did not provide its set of proposals" until late January. Negotiations will resume on April 21. 

Los Angeles Times Enters Daily Podcast Market:

Beginning next month, Los Angeles Times Columnist Gustavo Arellano will host "The Times," a daily podcast "[offering] a perspective on the day’s news through a California lens,” Sara Guaglione of Digiday reported Friday. Episodes of the podcast, which has secured a dedicated sponsor, "will run 25 to 30 minutes long every weekday, dropping at 5 a.m. PT," Guaglione added. The series is expected "to feature a mix of conversations with reporters from the newsroom, reported pieces from the field and interviews with newsmakers, according to Abbie Fentress Swanson, the newspaper's executive producer for podcasts and audio. Daily news has emerged as one of the most popular subgenres of podcasting, with "seven of the 20 most popular shows measured by podcast analytics service Chartable" falling into this category. 

Substack Unveils Local News Program:

Substack will launch Substack Local, a $1 million initiative to "foster and develop the local news ecosystem by helping independent writers build local news publications based on the subscription model," the platform announced Thursday. A panel of judges (including Second Rough Draft Publisher Dick Tofel and Culture Study Publisher Anne Helen Petersen) will work with the company to select up to 30 writers to participate in the program, which will encompass a one-year advance of up to $100,000, access to independent designers and editors and a subscription to Getty Images. Applications for the program are due at the end of April, while successful applicants will be announced on May 20. "[We] are optimistic about the potential of the Substack model for local news and have been encouraged by the success of emerging publications like The Mill (Manchester), The Rover (Montreal), The Charlotte Ledger, and City Hall Watcher (Toronto)," the platform said. "We're excited to accelerate this progress by supporting a new era for local news publishing." 

Reuters Implements Paywall:

Reuters "will begin charging for access to its website as it tries to capture a slice of the digital subscription business," Katie Robertson of The New York Times reported Thursday. The news organization also will introduce a "redesigned website aimed at a 'professional audience' wanting business, financial and general news," Robertson added. According to Chief Marketing Officer Josh London, internal research has showed that the wire service's 41 million unique monthly visitors are "divided in two separate groups: those wanting breaking news and professionals looking for context and analysis about how news affected their industry." Following registration and preview articles, a subscription to the site will cost $34.99 per month, placing the site in the same tier as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.