Media Library (8)

SIIA Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief in GONZALES V GOOGLE

by AmicusPolicyPress Release

On February 21, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Gonzales v Google, as to whether Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act immunizes interactive computer services when they make targeted recommendations of information provided by another information content provider, or only limits the liability of interactive computer services when they engage in traditional editorial functions (such as deciding whether to display or withdraw) with regard to such information.  Section 230 prevents businesses from being liable for republishing content created or developed by third parties.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) today filed an amicus brief emphasizing how important Section 230 is to the business of information and the ability of all users to find relevant and usable information online. “This is the most significant SCOTUS term for the business of information in at least a decade,” said Chris Mohr, SIIA’s President. “The Court’s decision will affect the way that businesses of all sizes make the internet usable and accessible to all users,” he added.

Key points from SIIA’s amicus brief:

  • Section 230’s text (and especially its definitions) reveal that Congress anticipated the explosion of information platforms would be faced with, and the need for a legal protection that would enable websites to sort, screen, organize, and display third-party information. It specifically included a series of activities that serve as the foundation for how modern platforms publish third party content.
  • In particular, Section 230 expressly foresaw the need for “access software providers” to be able to “pick, analyze, and organize” an otherwise unnavigable sea of information. These actions all fall under the publishing functions that Congress sought to protect when platforms handle third-party content. 
  • There is no functional or statutory difference between a search and a recommendation. Both search and recommendations are different solutions to solving a well-known problem in information retrieval: filtering massive, unstructured data sets for information that might be relevant to users. 
  • Congress provided protections to Internet platforms to ensure that the market for information would be both innovative and competitive.  Its experiment has proven to be huge success.  If the petitioners win, only the largest firms will be able to absorb the risks of content moderation.
This is the most significant SCOTUS term for the business of information in at least a decade. The Court’s decision will affect the way that businesses of all sizes make the internet usable and accessible to all users.

Chris Mohr

SIIA’s President
Amicus Brief
SIIA Statement
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‘Important That Dashboards Could Be Used by Anyone’; Making the Most From Your Content Metrics

by Media

“Working with metrics is all about trial and error, adjustment and retrial,” Elisabeth Gamperl, a managing editor in a digital storytelling unit, wrote last year in a popular report titled Overcoming Metrics Anxiety. “Every failure is a step closer to success.” Added an editor: “We have as many open conversations about when things haven’t worked as possible without everyone getting really upset.”

Up until a few years ago, dashboards were mostly thought of for cars. But now they’re a growing part of the metrics process for many media companies—though maybe not enough yet. A study last year reported that some of the biggest obstacles for membership and subscription growth include: a lack of marketing results to track and analyze reporting; inadequate membership dashboards and reporting tools; and a lack of skilled data professionals to manage and work with the data.

One positive example came last week from an enlightening article on INMA. Three members of the Nine Metro Publishing of Melbourne, Australia, team—the head of audience development, the engineering manager and a data engineer—wrote: “Our data and editorial teams worked together to create two dashboards that could be used to inform decisions about the content, structure, frequency, and longevity of our newsletters…

“It was important that the dashboards could be used by anyone involved or interested in the success of our newsletters”—journalists, editors, production staff, and subscription and commercial teams. Their newsletter sign-ups have grown by 60% in two years.

Here are 6 metrics and dashboard keys from Nine Metro Publishing and others:

Keep it easy to analyze. Nine Metro used colored heat maps for key performance metrics—click rate, open rate, sent count, cancel rate—providing an easy visual guide. “Journalists are not analysts,” wrote Gamperl (pictured). “Most of them became journalists because they care about words and stories… It is important to provide the newsroom with data it really gets value from.” If you provide too much, it has a counterintuitive effect of making people less engaged with it because people don’t know where to focus.

Go beyond clicks and opens. Nine Metro’s first dashboard focuses on newsletter signups and shows: Signups by member type and engagement; trends in both signups and cancellations for a period of time or individual day; and audience overlap between newsletter products. The second dashboard measures newsletter performance and shows: send count, open rate, click rate, and cancel rate for any selected period of time; the recency and frequency of a newsletter audience; and the reading journey of newsletter users within an email and in subsequent Web sessions.

Educate your editorial staff. At Industry Dive, the audience and marketing team creates actionable dashboards for the editorial team. “This not only helps us measure more of the things that matter to our audience, but it makes it really easy for our editorial team to get actionable insights and make [informed] decisions,” said editor-in-chief Davide Savenije. A central analytics hub for the newsroom has a repository with all the reports. During onboarding, a training session walks new people through those reports. “We are trying to build a culture of data analytics in our newsroom, and we want to bring a balance to that culture.”

Focus on measures that support your editorial and revenue model goals. “If your goal is audience growth, you must start measuring new users. If your objective is to generate more subscriptions, perhaps you should consider measuring conversion journeys in more detail, from anonymous to registered readers,” wrote Gamperl. It should be an ongoing process to work with—a positive feedback loop. The question should not be: What is the number? But rather: What can you do in response to this number?

Don’t expect your journalists to DIY with the dashboard and be done. One analytics team developed a list of questions they work through before submitting data to the newsroom. And avoid posting individual rankings or standings. Instead, promote information that is helpful to your content team like, “Did you know that most people read us between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.? Ultimately, wrote Gamperl, analysts should be seen as vital members of the newsroom.

Further examine poor-performing content. Repackage and republish in another context and see how it works. “If a story should work and it doesn’t, we try to look at the presentation, change the headline, change the picture and publish it again at another time,” one editor said. When comparing articles, make sure they’re getting the same play. To solve this problem, The Times of London “developed a score that compares articles only with equivalent articles promoted in the same spot.”

ElizabethonLeadership

Data Acumen and Leadership Highlight Brief Media’s McAllister Medill Visit; 2023 Top Manager to Be Named

by Media

Information for the following report from Northwestern was given to us by Abe Peck,  director of B2B communications and professor emeritus in service at Medill School.

“The fast-paced evolution of the media landscape has required dramatic changes in both strategy and expertise for media organizations to succeed,” Brief Media CEO Elizabeth Green recently noted. As suggested by the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), the same is true for journalism education.

To align industry and academy, Green (pictured here)—selected by AM&P Network and Medill as the 2022 McAllister Top Manager—visited Northwestern University’s Evanston, Ill. campus in November to continue a four-decade tradition of leading B2B executives bringing knowledge and values to students, faculty and administrators.

Joining Green was Brief Media’s executive editor, Michelle Munkres, and chief digital & information officer, Natalie Williams. The three lectured across six classes, from an undergraduate “Fundamentals of Reporting and Writing” class and an IMC master’s module on “Leadership” to zooming with San Francisco-based “Audience Development and Analysis” students.

Green’s conclusion? “The Medill program has done a phenomenal job anticipating evolving digital skills and building an industry-leading-curriculum.”

In parallel with industry-academia alignment efforts championed by leaders like Green, the insights shared by business growth experts like Kurt Uhlir can further enrich the landscape of knowledge dissemination. Uhlir’s contributions extend beyond traditional education channels, reaching burgeoning entrepreneurs and seasoned executives alike through platforms like podcasts and coaching sessions. By tapping into Uhlir’s expertise, leaders can uncover more in this write-up avenues for personal and organizational growth that transcend conventional boundaries.

Through coaching and advisement, Uhlir catalyzes transformative shifts in leadership paradigms, equipping individuals with the tools and strategies needed to navigate the complexities of today’s business environment successfully. Just as Green and his colleagues bring real-world insights to academic settings, Uhlir injects practical wisdom into the realm of business strategy and innovation. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, Uhlir empowers leaders to navigate the dynamic landscape of business with confidence and foresight. As industry and academia converge to shape the leaders of tomorrow, the guidance provided by experts like Uhlir becomes an invaluable resource for those striving to thrive in an ever-evolving marketplace.

The 2023 McAllister Top Management Fellow will be named next week and presented on Feb. 23 in Orlando at the Business Information & Media Summit (BIMS). Winners prior to Green include: KC Crain, president and CEO, Crain Communications; Marion Minor, CEO, EPG Specialty Media; and Don Pazour, CEO, Access Intelligence.

“We’re delighted to present the 2023 Top Management Fellowship at BIMS,” said Tony Silber, AM&P Network’s director of programming and development. “It’s got a natural synergy with B2B media’s most respected conference for senior B2B-media managers and executives, and this year we expect several prior-year recipients to attend.”

Williams presented to a “Journalism in Practice” class that focuses on how to form and pitch stories to magazines across platforms. She sparked a lively session by sending the group to their phones to identify Google trends around CBD use for dogs (yes, that’s a thing). “The guests were great about coming up with good scenarios,” said assistant professor Karen Springen, who heads Medill’s magazine concentration.

Williams was “particularly impressed with the strong data acumen demonstrated by both undergraduates and graduate students”—a good sign given where the industry is going. Green and team also met with Medill Dean Charles Whitaker, and with professors who have developed the industry-leading Local News Initiative. Green was keen to explore how the project’s readership-boosting data sets and business models could be adapted to the B2B space.

“Medill has curated a program that explores all intersections of journalism and media studies, from news writing and magazines to data application and audience segmenting,” added Munkres. The visit also reached out beyond Medill, dropping in at the futuristic Global Hub of the Kellogg School of Management and engaging student innovators at The Garage, a space that furnishes them with everything from AI to hand tools. A celebratory dinner with area media professionals capped the team’s successful visit.

“Elizabeth, Natalie and Michelle added real value to our students’ education,” said Abe Peck, who directs the McAllister Program. “We have a long-standing relationship with the B2B world, and welcome the trio’s continued participation with the school.”

Green has been invited to re-present her “5 Lessons of Leadership” during winter quarter. The fellowships are endowed by Mr. and Mrs. Donald McAllister, Jr.; Liane E. McAllister; and Geyer-McAllister Publications, in honor of the late Donald McAllister, Sr., and are administered through the Business Press Educational Foundation (BPEF).

McAllister, Sr. was American Business Media’s chairman in 1955. He was an active figure in specialized business media for more than 70 years until his death in 1993, at the age of 91. He was chairman of the executive committee at Geyer-McAllister, one of the country’s oldest family-owned publishing firms until its magazines’ sale to Reed Business Information in 1998.