In the news: Facebook tries to cash in on the Substack newsletter subscription formula.

This week, Facebook launched Bulletin, described by Brian Stelter of CNN Business as “Facebook’s version of Substack: a way to create and distribute both free and paid newsletters.” To get the project up and running, the social media giant is hiring dozens of writers in various categories, Stelter reports.

Bulletin is launching somewhat mysteriously. Stelter says: “Some writers have already been stockpiling columns and ideas for weeks. But they've largely been in the dark about the bigger-picture plan, and some told me they're looking forward to finding out who else is participating.” Read more here.

Also Notable

Do Publishers Need to Revisit Social Media Policies?

“Our creaky social media policies are no match for today’s trolls,” reads the headline of a recent Bill Grueskin piece in the Columbia Journalism Review. Many newsrooms hold their journalists and editors to high levels of neutrality on social media, and some have paid dearly for breaching those rules. Citing recent examples of writers disciplined or fired for their social media posts, Grueskin writes: “The motives for these actions may have been well-intentioned at some point, but they’re a poor fit for this new age of Google-twitchy trolls hunting for pretexts to put newsrooms on the defensive while blowing up reporters’ careers.” Reporters have to navigate a pretty unforgiving, and sometimes confusing, tightrope; while their publishers may encourage them to use social media to engage with readers and develop sources, they don’t want them to express their personal viewpoints. “While most newsrooms understand that their reporters are thinking, sentient human beings, they have a harder time dealing with the idea that those same people want to express their views to the world,” Grueskin says, summing up the dilemma. Read more here.

New Post-Pandemic Perks for Media Employees

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed most workplaces, some irreversibly. Workers far and wide are experiencing profound burnout, and some publishers are responding with benefit boosts to keep them aboard. Sara Guaglione of Digiday.com discusses what some publishers are doing: Some are continuing a long tradition of “summer Fridays,” a shortened workday that gives staffers a somewhat extended weekend. Others are offering additional PTO and flex holidays. At Buzzfeed News, Guaglione says, “staffers have a monthly self-care day available, unlimited sick time and generally flexible work schedules.” Read more about what various publishers are offering here.

Publishers Assess Gen Z Strategy

Younger readers are a vital component of a brand’s success, but publishers have struggled to engage “Generation Z” readers. The challenge, says Kayleigh Barber of Digiday.com, is that publishers have spent years developing strategy geared to Millennial reading habits, but Gen Z is a completely different proposition. Faisal Kalim of WhatsNewinPublishing.com breaks down some of the more important findings in Barber’s article here. Read Barber’s piece here (note: paywalled content).

Staffing Shortages

In a recent piece, Jerry Simpkins of Editor & Publisher discusses some of the promising upswings and some of the challenges ahead for news publishers. “Shelves that were bare over the past year are now starting to fill up again, and advertisers seem to be coming back in both preprints and in ROP advertising,” he says. But publishers are having a hard time filling open positions now that the pandemic is receding. Due to a confluence of factors, including extended pandemic unemployment benefits and the low wages some of the open positions pay, “there is now a significant shortage of qualified workers, and it is affecting our ability to get the job done.” Read more here.

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