Jun 20, 2018

Instagram launches long-form video app called IGTV, rivaling YouTube

Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images

Instagram has unveiled its long-form, vertical video hub for professional creators, rivaling YouTube and, to an extent, Snapchat Discover.

Why it matters: The new app, which will exist as a tab within its regular app, is intended to be a premium outlet for video creators and is designed to make it easier to discover and watch videos on smartphones.

The experience is meant to be more passive — like television, Instagram says. The TV content experience brings the programming to you when you turn it on, which is different than online video, which usually requires users to go out and find the content they want to watch.

Unlike on Instagram, videos on IGTV aren’t limited to one minute. Instead, each video can be up to an hour long.

Between the lines: A new app means more ad inventory, and lucrative video ad inventory, for Instagram's parent company, Facebook.

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Mike Allen

Zuckerberg: "Local journalism is incredibly important" to fighting coronavirus

Photo: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images

Mark Zuckerberg, signaling his personal involvement in a new Facebook commitment of $100 million to bolstering local journalism, told me that "very local work" is vital to his big mission of bringing the world closer together.

What he's saying: "Everyone believes that local journalism is incredibly important," Zuckerberg told Axios in a phone interview. "But everyone is connected to their local [outlets]. Figuring out how to make an impact, and support local journalism broadly and at scale, has been a challenge."

Go deeper6 mins ago - Economy & Business

Sara Fischer

Facebook spending $100 million to help news outlets in coronavirus crisis

Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Facebook says it is spending $100 million to support news outlets around the world that have been impacted by the coronavirus, the company said Monday.

Why it matters: Whatever Facebook's motivation, this is a much-needed cash infusion at a critical time for the local news industry.

Go deeper54 mins ago - Economy & Business

Jim VandeHei

The next American struggle: Waiting out the coronavirus

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

There are now a lot of known knowns about the coronavirus: It's here, it's spreading, it's stressing hospitals, it's crippling the economy, it's slowed only by distance and isolation — and it's sure to get much worse before it gets much better.

Why it matters: Similarly, there is a sameness to the patterns and known unknowns. So now we hit the maddening stage of waiting.

Go deeper1 hour ago - Health