Scott’s Newsletter #23

I have some big news: Friday was my last day at The New York Times. It has been an amazing run of nearly three and a half years, first leading the company’s entrance into the mobile subscription business. Then, last year, moving over to head up platform operations for all non-NYTimes-owned channels.

It was not only an amazing company, but an amazing time to be at the company. I am beyond excited about my next opportunity, but first, the family and I are off to Puerto Rico for the week. Stay tuned on LinkedIn and Twitter for where I’ll be headed next.


 

Reading

We made the decision to pull out of Facebook Instant articles last year. That’s not to say The Times won’t go back, but we certainly aren’t the only ones who are bearish right now.

Speaking of Facebook and Instant Articles: The Verge put together a great historical view on the platform.

One more: Facebook likes to copy what Snap is doing. The Information (paywall) went inside the two companies to explain what’s going on.

I see a lot of upside in Apple News. I also see a lot Apple needs to do to make it more valuable. Digiday reports other publishers also are finding the platform powerful.

I had the pleasure of having Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley speak to my digital marketing class at NYU a few weeks ago. A lot of what he talked about is covered in this Entrepreneur piece.

I dig what The Outline is doing from a design perspective. They wrote a story on why the web is ascetically losing its appeal.

Just how addicted are we to our phones? 60 Minutes explored the phone phenomenon.

Brian Stelter is one of the media’s best media reporters. The Washington Post profiled him.

Burger King created an innovative marketing campaign that overtook Google Home devices. Google shut it down. I call it genius.

Congrats (?) to the Raiders on being the only NFL team to go three years without an arrest.

Finally, I still don’t believe standing on an escalator is faster than walking up it.

Rock and Roll.

My last newsletter had an open rate of 42.4% (+7.8%).

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter where I’ll share what I’ve written about or read from around the web related to mobile, digital, emerging media and more. The newsletter is sent 8 p.m. ET on Sunday nights and appears on ScottStanchak.com 10 a.m. ET on Monday.

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