COVID's distortive effect on the media market and consumer habits is becoming more evident in ways that are significant for publishers.

The publisher claims that since the beginning of the year, U.S. search traffic to its website dropped by more than 50%.

Maher first cited a study by a professor at Dartmouth College that found news coverage of the pandemic was disproportionately negative in the U.S., compared with other countries.

The biggest surprise is the 28% growth in digital subscriptions for National Geographic from about 142,000 last June to more than 182,000 by the end of 2020.

The 4-year-old startup, which two weeks ago raised $65 million in venture capital, is seeking independent writers to participate in Substack Local.

The program has generated hundreds of millions of dollars a year for the company, possibly at the expense of publishers that sell ad inventory in open bidding.

Topics that over-index to these target audiences include environment, career, consumer products, drug addiction, racism, and affordability of health care.

News Corp seeks to double the paper's number of subscribers. That goal will require sustained web traffic of 100 million monthly users by June 2024.

Some of the jobs sound like they require real know-how that's more advanced than the intern tasks of yesteryear.

At issue is a possible alliance between the Florida governor and Publix, a local chain distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.