Oct 15, 2019

News companies roll out pop-up products to capitalize on impeachment

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

News companies are taking advantage of the interest surrounding the impeachment saga by building pop-up newsletters, podcasts and sections solely to cover the day-to-day developments of the impeachment process.

The bottom line: If there's an appetite for more coverage, news companies these days can build products pretty quickly to satisfy it.

  • Podcasts: Vox Media launched a new weekly "Impeachment, Explained" podcast last week hosted by Ezra Klein. WNYC also launched an "Impeachment with Brian Lehrer" podcast earlier this month.
  • Newsletters: CNN launched an impeachment tracker newsletter that amassed over 11,000 subscribers in a few days, per CNN. The New York Times also launched an impeachment briefing newsletter.
  • Alerts: CNN's digital app impeachment-related app alerts attracted 300,000 subscribers in just a week, a spokesperson said.

The big picture: We've seen this strategy play out with other special news cycles.

  • Game of Thrones: The New York Times, The Telegraph, and even Politico all developed Game of Thrones newsletters that guided readers through the end of the series. About 80,000 subscribed to the Times' eight-edition newsletter, per Digiday.
  • World Cup: The Times and The Washington Post both ran pop-up newsletters around the World Cup.
  • Midterms: Vox, Stat News and others launched pop-up newsletters for the 2018 midterm elections.

Go deeper: Conservative news goes to war over impeachment

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 5,410,228 — Total deaths: 345,105 — Total recoveries — 2,169,005 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 1,643,499 — Total deaths: 97,722 — Total recoveries: 366,736 — Total tested: 14,163,915 — Map.
  3. World: White House announces travel restrictions on Brazil, coronavirus hotspot in Southern Hemisphere — Over 100 coronavirus cases in Germany tied to single day of church services — Boris Johnson backs top aide amid reports that he broke U.K. lockdown while exhibiting symptoms.
  4. Public health: Officials are urging Americans to wear masks headed into Memorial Day weekend — Report finds "little evidence" coronavirus under control in most states — Hurricanes, wildfires, the flu could strain COVID-19 response
  5. Economy: White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett says it's possible the unemployment rate could still be in double digits by November's election — Public employees brace for layoffs.
  6. Federal government: Trump attacks a Columbia University study that suggests earlier lockdown could have saved 36,000 American lives.
  7. What should I do? Hydroxychloroquine questions answered — Traveling, asthma, dishes, disinfectants and being contagious — Masks, lending books and self-isolating — Exercise, laundry, what counts as soap — Pets, moving and personal health — Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — How to minimize your risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it, the right mask to wear.

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Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

U.S. coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios. This graphic includes "probable deaths" that New York City began reporting on April 14.

The CDC is warning of potentially "aggressive rodent behavior" amid a rise in reports of rat activity in several areas, as the animals search further for food while Americans stay home more during the coronavirus pandemic.

By the numbers: More than 97,700 people have died from COVID-19 and over 1.6 million have tested positive in the U.S. Over 366,700 Americans have recovered and more than 14.1 million tests have been conducted.

Go deeper (2 min. read)ArrowUpdated 2 hours ago - Health

World coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

Japan's economy minister outlined plans on Monday to end the nationwide state of emergency as the number of new novel coronavirus cases continues to decline to fewer than 50 a day, per Bloomberg. Japan has reported 16,550 cases and 820 deaths.

By the numbers: Over 5.4 million people have tested positive for the virus as of Monday, and more than 2.1 million have recovered. The U.S. has reported the most cases in the world (over 1.6 million from 13.7 million tests). The U.K. is reporting over 36,800 deaths from the coronavirus — the most fatalities outside the U.S.

Go deeper (2 min. read)ArrowUpdated 4 hours ago - Health