MediaShift Podcast 264: Facebook under fire, but still helping publishers

Dan Kennedy, author of “Return of the Moguls,” joins the podcast to talk about billionaires buying up newspapers across the country.

In the news this week, Facebook continues to be on the hot seat around data and privacy, with the FTC investigating, Congress asking for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify, and even Playboy dropping out of the social network. But on the good side, Facebook continues to support local news, and has been driving revenues for publishers through Facebook Groups. Netflix is going on a different kind of binge, hiring people at big salaries like $400,000 for a publicist, as the cost of content goes sky-high in the streaming age. And cord-cutting is having its moment, leading to less pay TV subscriptions and less TV advertising, as digital ad revenues continue to soar. Our Metric of the Week is Time Per User, Mark goes one-on-one with Dan Kennedy, author of the book, “Return of the Moguls,” about billionaires taking charge at major newspapers.