Media Insider: WaPo to Add Jobs in 2017, 6 Big Shifts in Social Media in 2016, ABC to Create Series for Snapchat

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round up of journalism, blogging and freelancing stories from the week.

Photo by Esther Vargas used under (CC BY-SA 2.0).

‘Profitable’ Washington Post Adding More Than Five Dozen Journalists (Politico)

With so many announcements about newsroom layoffs this year, it’s reassuring to see one organization go off trend. The Washington Post, after a year profitability and growth, will be adding more than 60 journalist jobs, reports Politico. The news organization plans to make investments in mobile video, add a “rapid-response” investigative team, and expand its breaking news team — all of which will provide the opportunity for job increases. The Post plans to have much of the hiring done by the end of the first quarter 2017.

The 6 Big Shifts in Social Media in 2016 (MediaShift)

Social media continued to shape the way news was shared and discussed in 2016, according to MediaShift, which recently published the six biggest developments and changes in social media from the past year. Fake news and the need to verify information obviously made the “year-in-review” list. Another big shift on the list: live video. Between Facebook, the success of Snapchat, Vine’s death and resurrection, and Instagram taking on Snapchat-like qualities, it’s sure to be a trend that will continue in 2017.

ABC Will Create Original Series For Snapchat, Starting With a Bachelor-Themed Show (AdWeek)

Disney-ABC Television Group is teaming up with Snapchat to reach millennials with the launch of a new Snapchat series. Watch Party: The Bachelor, will debut Jan. 3, and will feature celebrities, comedians, fans, and former show personalities as they watch and joke about The Bachelor’s 21st season premiere, reports AdWeek. The series for Snapchat’s Discover Channel will be the first of many that will roll out in 2017, as a result of the deal.

Kids Board the Podcast Train (NiemanLab)

With 2017 literally a couple of days away, it’s not unusual to see content about predictions for the new year. In NiemanLab’s Predictions For Journalism 2017, kids podcasts are predicted to go mainstream. Libby Bawcombe, a senior visual product designer at NPR, says that media and influencers “continue to explore the benefits for kids of listening to podcasts.” Additionally, she suggests that the behavioral changes, discoverability, and user interfaces will all influence the likely rise of kids’ podcasts, now that adults have caught on to the trend.

U.S. Election is Editors’ Top Pick for Story of the Year in AP Poll (FishbowlDC)

The U.S. election is the editors’ pick for the year’s biggest news story, according to the annual AP poll to editors and news directors, reports FishbowlDC. This pick doesn’t come as a surprise with all the investigations, spectacle and scandal — not to mention the “punditry and obsessive poll analysis that ultimately turned out to be wrong.”  A link to the list reveals that Brexit was selected as the number two story, with black men killed by police listed as number three.

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Tabresha B. Langham is a Customer Content Specialist with PR Newswire. She also is a social media junkie, foodie, music fiend and lover of SEC Football (War Eagle!). Tune into her insights as a social curator at @PRNmedia, or follow @TabreshaL