Apple News editors field pitches from publications over Slack, publishers still struggle to monetize traffic

“Not much is publicly known about the team of editors behind Apple’s News app on iOS, and now The Information has a new report (paywalled) that includes new details on how it operates,” Zac Hall reports for 9to5Mac. “According to the piece, Apple’s small editorial staff fields pitches from publications for features using Slack, and the result can be an influx of traffic for publishers.”

“We learned last summer that Apple News hired its first-ever editor-in-chief, Lauren Kern, presumably in charge of deciding what gets featured and what original content to produce,” Hall reports. “Having a story featured in the built-in News app or on the News widget that comes pre-installed on iPhones and iPads is apparently a big driver of traffic for some publications… ‘An executive at the website of a major TV network said Apple News has accounted for as much as 60% of traffic for some stories.'”

“The challenge, of course, is making that work financially as advertising in Apple News has not yet proved as successful as web ads in the browser,” Hall reports. “That challenge has caused a few major publishers to pull out of Apple News including The Guardian who called their initial partnership an ‘extensive trial’ last year.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: As we often write, the best way to consume “news” is to cast a wide net.

As always, readers of “news” need to consider the sources and interpret what they are are being told accordingly. The more disparate sources you can find, the better. And we don’t mean different newspaper, network, website brands that are all owned by the same conglomerate. Determining the actual ownership of your “news” sources is an investment that requires a bit of time, but it is very enlightening. — MacDailyNews Take, June 17, 2015

P.S. In the Apple News app, just search for MacDailyNews and thanks for favoriting us!

SEE ALSO:
New York magazine editor Lauren Kern named first Editor-in-Chief of Apple News – May 25, 2017
Who’s going to ‘curate’ Apple News? – August 13, 2015
The Apple News app is doomed – July 30, 2015
The future’s not looking too bright for Apple News – July 30, 2015
Apple hiring team of journalists for News app; a ‘jaw-dropping’ development says publisher – June 15, 2015
Apple News is fast, responsive, enjoyable, and it might become your only news app – July 15, 2015
Apple News shows that Apple wants to bolster and profit from ads, not eliminate them – July 10, 2015
Apple News to have human curation – and that raises issues – June 15, 2015

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz,” “BD,” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]