Medium Just Laid Off 50 Employees and Shut Down Offices in New York and D.C.

Medium founder and CEO Ev Williams disclosed today in a blog post that his four-and-a-half-year-old company is eliminating 50 jobs and shutting down offices in New York and Washington, D.C. In a philosophical letter to the public, he recounted how his team's ultimate goals had gotten off course thanks to the monetization model known as advertising.  "We set out to build a better publishing platform—one that allowed anyone to offer their stories and ideas to the world and that helped the great ones rise to the top," Williams wrote. "In 2016, we made big investments in teams and technology aimed at attracting and migrating commercial publishers to Medium. And in order to get these publishers paid, we built out and started selling our first ad products. This strategy worked in terms of driving growth, as well as improving the volume and consistency of great content." While it appears Medium is doing away with its sponsored posts ads product, he wrote that 2016 was his company's best year in terms of key metrics. For instance, published posts jumped roughly 300 percent year over year, and monthly visitors reportedly reached 60 million in December, representing a 140 percent year-over-year increase. Medium, a digital storytelling platform, has even attracted scores of public figures—most notably President Barack Obama—to get their messages out.  Meanwhile, publishers of all sizes have been able to try to make money off their Medium stories, which have been sponsored in... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #generate revenue

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Front Office Sports Is Making Its Training Courses More Permanent

Between the advent of online gambling, college athlete monetization and cryptocurrency, the business of sports has changed rapidly over the last two years--and Front Office Sports wants to capitalize on that disruption. The independently-owned publisher announced Tuesday the launch of its new... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2022-03-15 06:00:00 UTC ]
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In BIGNY's Wake, a New Book Forum for New York

The New York Book Forum, a nonprofit organization focused on expanding connections between the book industry and the general public and encouraging literacy, has formed less than two months after the Book Industry Guild of New York shut its doors after 97 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Save $50 on Amazon’s kid-friendly Kindle e-readers, today only

Amazon makes child-friendly versions of its popular Kindle e-readers, and today only, you can get them for a whole lot less than usual. The regular Kindle Kids is $60 down from $110, and the Kindle Paperwhite Kids is $110 instead of $160. Both Kindle devices are at their all-time low prices.... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2022-03-04 15:07:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #friday evening #unlimited access #latest editions #6-inch display #8-inch display #one-day sale #kindle


Salesforce employees protest against its NFT ambitions

Salesforce employees aren't happy with the company's plans to enter the non-fungible token (NFT) market. According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, over 400 employees around the world have signed an open letter raising concerns about the environmental impact of NFTs, as well as their... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-19 15:39:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nft space #early february #gas-powered car #thomson reuters


'Hundreds' of Salesforce employees pushback on NFT cloud project

Salesforce wants a piece of the NFT action and "hundreds" of its employees are reportedly not happy about it. More than 400 employees signed an open letter that's being passed around internally, according to Thomson Reuters Foundation News, and is addressed to Salesforce's co-CEOs Marc Benioff... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2022-02-18 22:58:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #open letter #nft space #thomson reuters


'Freelance Isn’t Free' Bill Introduced in New York State

The bill, should it become law, would build upon the similarly-named act implemented in New York City in 2017, expanding the protections for freelancers state-wide. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Racism, ‘Fortune,’ and America’s True History Laid Bare in New Book

In 'Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World and How to Repair it All,' author and activist Lisa Sharon Harper says structural racism isn't just a political or even only an ethical problem – it's a religious one as well. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Fire tablets are up to 50 percent off right now

Along with the other Amazon devices we saw go on sale yesterday, the company's entire Fire tablet lineup has been discounted. Fire tablets are already pretty affordable, but if you're looking for a new tablet for your kid or an inexpensive couch device, it's best to wait for a sale like this one... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-08 13:40:02 UTC ]
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New York Times buys viral game Wordle for seven-figure sum

Creator Josh Wardle ‘thrilled’ that newspaper is taking over internet sensationThe New York Times has acquired the viral word game Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, the publisher announced on Monday.Created by a Reddit engineer and launched in October, Wordle gives players just six... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-01-31 23:22:01 UTC ]
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Six Writers Each Receive $50,000 from United States Artists Org

United States Artists, a Chicago-based arts funding organization, announced that six writers are included in this year's slate of 63 USA Fellows, each of whom is receiving an unrestricted $50,000 award. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Retailers cope with Covid-19 wave as publishers wait on office reopenings

Book retailers say they have been able to cope in recent weeks despite the Omicron wave hitting staff, while most UK publishers continue to ask people to work from home and keep their offices open for employees who need them. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-18 06:44:20 UTC ]
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Amazon Kindle is back on sale for $50 today only

Now is a good opportunity to buy one of the best no-frills e-readers available. Amazon is selling the latest generation of its standard Kindle reader for just $50 during a one-day sale, or $70 for a version without ads. Those are the lowest prices we've seen since Black Friday, and make them... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-01-16 16:05:56 UTC ]
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Allison & Busby nets 'explosive' debut by former police officer Bartlett

Allison & Busby has netted an "explosive" debut novel by former police officer Graham Bartlett. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-16 13:20:55 UTC ]
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Donaldson reigns supreme as backlist surge sees new authors make top 50

Once again the children’s writer Julia Donaldson tops the year-end ranking of writers through Nielsen, but a rise in sales of backlist titles saw a number of authors with large oeuvres make an appearance. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-16 10:02:13 UTC ]
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Profusely Illustrated review: Edward Sorel and all the golden ages of New York magazines

A memoir by a man who has drawn caricatures for the greatest editors is a treasure trove of the American mid-century modernAt 92, Edward Sorel is the grand old man of New York magazines. For 60 years, his blistering caricatures have lit up the pages of Harper’s, the Atlantic, Esquire, Time,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-01-15 07:00:17 UTC ]
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Toy Fair New York Canceled

After reiterating its resolve, as recently as January 5, to go ahead with an in-person Toy Fair New York on February 19-22, the Toy Association canceled the 2022 edition last night. It is the second year in a row that the fair, which attracts a large number of publishers, canceled the event. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
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New York Times to buy subscription sports site the Athletic for $550m

Acquisition of 2016 startup and its 1.2 million subscribers puts newspaper on target for 10 million paid subscriptions The New York Times has agreed to buy subscription-based sports site the Athletic for $550m (£400m) in cash, as the 170-year-old newspaper adds more digital content to grab... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-01-06 23:27:19 UTC ]
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The New York Times is buying subscription-based sports site The Athletic

The Athletic, which quickly came to prominence for publishing exclusive reporting and high-quality sports journalism, is getting a new owner. As first reported by The Information, The New York Times has agreed to buy the subscription-based digital media company for $550 million. The deal is... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-01-06 17:05:15 UTC ]
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