How to build Gen Z audiences | Tortoise shops out its IP | Ukraine's news deserts
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Tuesday, 12 March.
New research from FT Strategies tackles the dilemma for publishers of how to reach Generation Z.
It is an urgent issue, the researchers say, because 18-24-year-olds are not going to change for you. Publishers must change for them if they are going to attract the next generation of news consumers, the report says.
We also ear-wigged on a commercial launch event for Tortoise Media, which says it now attracts up to three million downloads per month. The publisher is seeking profitability through a mixture of sponsorship and TV/film adaptations in addition to its subscriber revenue.
We report on the flagging local news sector in Ukraine. Revitalising independent local journalism is seen by local researchers as essential to the country's recovery.
And finally, as we await a ruling from the UK Government on whether Redbird IMI will be allowed to purchase the Telegraph and Spectator, who would you like to see take over from the Barclays?
Head of Redbird IMI Jeff Zucker told The News Agents podcast his bid is the best available option for The Telegraph because it will provide independence and investment. But many question the motives of the Abu Dhabi royal family in bankrolling the deal and paying well over the odds (£1.2bn). Zucker says other owners will either raise plurality concerns (Rothermere and Murdoch) or fail the character test (Paul Marshall).
Who would you like to see win in the bid to own the Telegraph and Spectator out of the remaining possible owners?
New from Press Gazette
Tortoise boasts growing podcast audience of up to 3m downloads per month
Alice Sandelson, commercial strategy director at the audio-first, ‘slow news’ publication, told prospective partners that Tortoise’s audience is now 60% women and 80% under 44.
How and why news publishers should engage with Gen Z now
Researchers interviewed 45 news consumers aged between 18 and 24 in India, Nigeria and the US and identified six approaches publishers can take to attract younger audiences.
Ukraine’s local news deserts could be barrier to national recovery
Research by the EU-funded Media Development Foundation finds at least 13 districts of Ukraine are now devoid of independent local news.
News in brief
US non-profit Center for Public Integrity is latest to make layoffs after a budget shortfall in 2023. (Press Gazette)
Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority have both given their reports on the Redbird IMI acquisition of Telegraph Media Group to the Culture Secretary, whose decision on whether the deal is in the public interest is now awaited.
DMGT and News UK have reportedly held talks about making a joint bid for The Telegraph alongside Redbird IMI, with the latter holding a minority stake to lessen government concerns over the takeover. (Bloomberg)
The Financial Times reports that Rishi Sunak is considering amending existing legislation to give the Government powers to prevent a foreign state from owning a British news organisation. (Financial Times)
The NUJ has raised concerns about low retention of local democracy reporters, claiming 31% have left their roles since April 2023. It says minimum rates of pay set by the BBC are "unsustainably low". Last year the NUJ accused Newsquest of not passing on a fair amount of BBC funding to local democracy reporters - an allegation the publisher "entirely rejects". Rival publishers then defended Newsquest and the amount paid to LDRs. (NUJ)
Journalists at STV have voted 89% in favour of strike action after the company rejected a 6% pay increase proposed by the NUJ. STV staff will meet today to discuss the strike's form and timescale. (NUJ)
The union representing Wall Street Journal journalists has filed two grievances alleging the title violated their collective bargaining agreement, including in relation to seniority rules, when it laid off 17 reporters in the DC bureau last month. (Politico)
A new US-based report estimates 60% of under-40s pay for or donate to news media in some way - 51% of Gen Z, 63% of younger millennials and 67% of older millennials. The American Press Institute said this suggests "a real potential for sustainable revenue". (API)
G/O Media is selling sports website Deadspin and laying off its staff of around 11 employees as new owners Lineup Publishing, a European media sales firm, plan to take a "different content approach". (Adweek)
Goalhanger's The Rest Is Politics (no 4), BBC's Newscast (12) and Global's The News Agents (14) were the only news and politics titles in the top 25 podcasts in the UK by weekly audience in Q4 2023, according to Edison Research. (Podcasting Today)
Latest podcast
Podcast 66: Online advertising – how publishers can survive a tsunami of change
Online advertising used to support investigative journalism at digital-native brands such as Buzzfeed News and Vice. In the space of just a few years everything has changed, and thousands of journalists have lost their jobs as a result.
Press Gazette editor-in-chief Dominic Ponsford talks to former Business Insider editor-in-chief Jim Edwards about what is going on and how publishers should adapt to an online publishing ecosystem which is being rocked by a tsunami of disruptive change.
This week on Press Gazette
Kate apologises after five news agencies withdraw manipulated family photo
Nils Horner deserves justice ten years after murder – as do journalists killed in Gaza
Secunder Kermani: ‘Let us go into Gaza, we’re not beholden to anyone’
Regional ABCs: Print decline for UK dailies averaged 19% in second half of 2023
Dan Wootton: Daily Mirror follows Guardian with privacy payout and apology
Sun and Telegraph cleared by IPSO over report of claim Hamas ‘beheaded babies’ on 7 October
Press Gazette live
Our next event (fully booked) is a Media 100 breakfast with Independent chief executive Christian Broughton at The Gherkin in London on 14 March. See our full calendar of awards and events for news, media and publishing in the year ahead and find out how to get involved.