Media Insider: Newsy Expands to Broadcast, Climate News Outlet Launches, Facebook Tests Hotline App

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.

THE HILL | THOMAS MOORE
Streaming Service Newsy to Launch Over-the-Air Broadcast Channel

Streaming channel Newsy will offer over-the-air broadcasts starting Oct. 1, parent company E.W. Scripps announced Tuesday. Scripps said it expects the broadcasts to reach 80% of U.S. households via local TV stations that it owns. The streaming channel is currently carried by cable providers. Newsy is also building out a national news organization that will be led by Kate O’Brian, who joined Scripps in March. O’Brian’s resume includes stints as president of Al Jazeera America and senior vice president of news at ABC News. The company plans to staff at least a dozen news bureaus across the country. Scripps’s Washington bureau and local TV stations will also contribute content to Newsy. 

The Hill also reports that the State Department has affirmed the editorial freedom of news outlets operated by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America.

THE POST AND COURIER | JOHN MCDERMOTT
The Post and Courier’s Parents to Split Into 3 Separate Companies

Evening Post Industries, the parent of The Post and Courier, is proposing to spin off its newspaper division and other subsidiaries into three separate businesses under a plan to realign the holdings of the family-owned company. The restructuring is expected to be completed by Sept. 30. None of the business is being sold. Evening Post Industries will capitalize the companies before spinning them off as independent standalone ventures with separate management and boards of directors. 

Read next: Meredith is considering selling its TV stations to focus on its magazine division.

AXIOS | BEN GERMAN
Think Tank Launches Climate News Outlet Powered by Former Greentech Media Staff

The clean energy think tank RMI just launched a nonprofit journalism arm called Canary Media that’s staffed by well-known names in energy and climate reporting. Canary will be “at the forefront of the clean energy transition” with a mission to cover global efforts to fight climate change, per RMI. Top staff are veterans of Greentech Media, a highly respected but now-defunct site that began in 2007. They’re also launching a free subscription newsletter.

Also from Axios: Substack raises $65 million amid a newsletter boom. 

TECHCRUNCH | SARAH PEREZ
Facebook Tests Hotline, a Q&A Product That’s a Mashup of Clubhouse and Instagram Live

Facebook’s internal R&D group has launched its latest experiment, Hotline, into public beta testing. The web-based application could be described as a mashup of Instagram Live and Clubhouse, as it allows creators to speak to an audience who can then ask questions via either text or audio. However, unlike Clubhouse, creators can opt to turn their cameras on for the event, instead of being audio-only. Hotline is being led by Eric Hazzard, who joined Facebook when it acquired his Q&A app tbh.

More on Facebook: The tech giant hopes tiny labels on posts will help users distinguish satire from reality. 

PRESS GAZETTE | CHARLOTTE TOBITT
Telegraph Creating 60 Jobs in Six Months as Subscriptions Top 600,000

The Telegraph is investing millions of pounds in its newsroom, creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021. The investment comes after The Telegraph’s subscriber base surpassed 600,000 and overtook The Times. The Telegraph reached 594,324 subscriptions across print and digital in February, 401,938 of which were in digital and 192,386 in print. The biggest casualty of the investment, which is resulting in some reorganization of the newsroom, is the standalone Technology Intelligence team, which is to be folded into the business desk three years after its creation.

Go deeper: Editor & Publisher looks at how newsrooms are emerging from the pandemic.

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Maria Perez is director of web operations at Cision. In her spare time, she enjoys kickboxing, baking, and cuddling with her dog Toody.