Last month, Stears raised $600,000 in seed funding from Omidyar Network’s Luminate to fuel its departure from the status quo. Let's work through what this means and how things might play out.
I am particularly interested in this article because I can situate myself in all the 'four waves of digital publishing'. I was one of the early bloggers (though with a focus on creative writing) and then later a journalist with the brick-and-mortar newspaper (who refused to see early enough the importance of digital publishing) and then later worked with the new digital publishers (Pulse, Daily Times and a few others).
The interesting thing, like you ave righty noted, is that publishing online is not just a function of copy and paste of what was meant for the print (which is what we did at Daily Trust from 2010 to around 2013 when I left). The style is different. Unfortunately, many 'online' platforms are still writing for the print paper. People like Daily Trust recently refocused, hiring a young digital-savvy editor-in-chief and also redesigning their website entirely.
I think the battle is not over or won by players like Stears. It is still going to be tough, especially with platforms like Substack, Medium, Social Media journalism (cue in TheShadeRoom and co) and the likes still gaining ground.
But, as someone noted in this comment thread, I am glad that "the business of media is being given this kind of surgical, keen attention and analysis.". Fantastic!
Really goodd.
Thank you, Toye.
This was a most fascinating read. Glad the business of media is being given this kind of surgical, keen attention and analysis.
Thank you, boss! I really hope we can get more of it. The Nigerian media needs way more conversations about itself than it currently has.
Wow, this educated me.
I am particularly interested in this article because I can situate myself in all the 'four waves of digital publishing'. I was one of the early bloggers (though with a focus on creative writing) and then later a journalist with the brick-and-mortar newspaper (who refused to see early enough the importance of digital publishing) and then later worked with the new digital publishers (Pulse, Daily Times and a few others).
The interesting thing, like you ave righty noted, is that publishing online is not just a function of copy and paste of what was meant for the print (which is what we did at Daily Trust from 2010 to around 2013 when I left). The style is different. Unfortunately, many 'online' platforms are still writing for the print paper. People like Daily Trust recently refocused, hiring a young digital-savvy editor-in-chief and also redesigning their website entirely.
I think the battle is not over or won by players like Stears. It is still going to be tough, especially with platforms like Substack, Medium, Social Media journalism (cue in TheShadeRoom and co) and the likes still gaining ground.
But, as someone noted in this comment thread, I am glad that "the business of media is being given this kind of surgical, keen attention and analysis.". Fantastic!
Insightful and resourceful! Qualified for a working document for content creators. Looking forward to more. Kudos
I enjoyed every bit of this! Priceless insights. Thanks, David. 👏🏾
Thank you, Samuel. So glad you enjoyed it. Long may it continue 🥂 😃