So back in August you got a hit in TechCrunch. At least on desktops/laptops, you reached less than three million American readers. Ars Technica, Axios and Wired would have delivered you more, not to mention the Tier 1s.
Fortune next week welcomes new EIC Alyson Shontell with a staff-only happy hour in a New York City drinking establishment…Natalie Gagliordi left ZDNet and now
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Senior technology reporter Ari Levy has “been there” — seven years at CNBC after 11 at Bloomberg.
Tier 1 audiences are plummeting, according to SimilarWeb data compiled by SWMS. Of 15 titles analyzed year over year, only Axios showed a gain. Every other brand suffered double-digit losses. Let’s take a look at the data.
Here’s a list of eight reporters who cover Africa — general news and business news — for top-tier publications. Included is SimilarWeb traffic data as of June 2021.
VC firm Andreessen Horowitz is building what you might call its own Wired — a pro-tech media brand appealing both to consumers and business. It’s unnamed as yet, but A16Z is hiring fast. So far, at least, parts of it appear to be pitchable.
SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: We connected with Bloomberg consumer tech reporter Mark Gurman to explore what it would take for him to cover a less well-established company than Apple, and why he’s excited to explore (and cover) the technology that will follow the smartphone.
Cade Metz is consistent. We interviewed him in 2008, 2012 and 2015. Each time he has carried the same message: though he reports on tech, it’s always about the people. This week we checked in with Cade to discuss Genius Makers, his new book about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world.” Again with the people!
Forbes senior editor Alex Konrad gave us a metric ton of insight this month — one article just wasn’t enough. So this week we plumb the notebook of SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco, who interviewed Alex earlier this month, and present the rest of Alex’s thoughtful and heartfelt advice for PR pros looking to win his attention.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
New EIC Jamie Heller has asked her reporters to start going on camera — for the BI TikTok channel — to explain the big, deep-divey story they just published. Other publications do this — especially archival Fortune. BI is now on that too. Game on.
At this time last year, Eric Newcomer and his two podcast co-hosts — Max Child and James Wilsterman — each formed an “AI startup fantasy team” and picked five AI startups to seed their rosters. We’re now in year 2 and it’s time to draft again. The podcasters wonder… which startups do they dump? Which do they add? The player whose startups accumulate the most total value by Nov. 1, 2028 is the winner, so there’s plenty of time to make adjustments. Here’s a link to the AI fantasy team podcast — you may need a password. Not sure.
This timeless explainer — a powerful blend of visuals and text — will explain the psychology of how we read, as in, how does the mind actually work? Hats off to Message Labs, the producer.
Ars Technica recently filed this revealing piece on how the NYT uses gen AI to analyze gargantuan transcripts, ones that would overwhelm mere mortals. The results still need to be reviewed by humans, but the grunt analysis is done by the LLM. Investigative reporting becomes easier. Journalism is served.
It was announced long ago, but on Nov, 26 we learn whether TechTarget stockholders want to join forces with Informa and its legion of IT media brands, not least of which is Industry Dive. It will be hard to imagine a rival of equal power, with IDG/Foundry now a shadow of its former self. IDG/Foundry’s lack of investment and focus on cost-cutting will look unwise if TechTarget and Informa do merge.
404 Media may not be on your radar, but it currently ranks 8th of 50 leading publications recognized by Techmeme. The edit startup took a step forward this week, announcing a deal with Wired, which will run two 404 Media stories a month — and the pair might collaborate on stories beginning in 2025.
