Coronavirus Brings a Surge to News Sites
They Slack. And the journalists stuck working from home also plan their coverage through videoconferencing applications like Google Hangouts, Zoom, UberConference, “Everyone should be jumping on Zoom at least once a day to see members of their team, smile at each other and provide the interaction that will keep us feeling connected,” said Noah Shachtman, the editor in chief of The Daily Beast, in an email. “It’s key to avoid feeling isolated and staying motivated.”Babies and small children make onscreen cameos. So does Sookie, the brown cat belonging to Henry Blodget, the chief executive of Insider Inc., the publisher of Business Insider. Staff members at The Verge have spent off-hours playing Mario Kart while chatting over the app Discord. Vox Media is planning Zoom reading hours for children and parents.“We’re just little Brady Bunches on the screen,” said Susan Matthews, the features editor at Slate.ImageSlate staff members New York News plan their coverage on the videoconferencing app Zoom. Babies and children have made frequent cameos.
Slate staff members plan their coverage on the videoconferencing app Zoom. Babies and children have made frequent cameos. Credit...Slate
Despite the coronavirus containment efforts that have emptied newsrooms, journalists across the country have managed to meet their deadlines at a time when the appetite for news seems greater than ever. In the last four weeks, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States rose sharply, web traffic surged.
“I do not expect this newsroom to miss a beat,” said Carrie Budoff Brown, the editor of Politico.
The number of minutes spent by readers at news sites increased 46 per cent from the same period ending a few days ago last year, and overall visits rose 57 per cent, according to a study of more than a dozen general news websites by ComScore, a media measurement company.
Outlets showing big gains included The Atlantic, Business Press Release Distribution Services In New York Insider, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Wired, all of which doubled or nearly doubled the number of visits. Most outlets have made coronavirus-related articles available free to nonsubscribers.
A graphics-heavy story in The Washington Post on March 14 headlined “Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to ‘flatten the curve’” was its most-viewed article ever, a spokeswoman said.
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