The Future of Media, Explained - from Press Gazette

The Daily Mail has an average reader age of 56 but has managed to become an unlikely hit on youth social media platform Tiktok. The newsbrand is currently celebrating becoming the biggest publisher of news on Tiktok, ahead of broadcasters Sky News, ABC News and NBC News. Mail Online head of social video Phil Harvey, who joined the publisher in March, told Press Gazette how and why their Tiktok performance has transformed this year and why it is worth the investment. He also revealed which British politician and their dog has become an unlikely Tiktok star for the Daily Mail. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rupert Murdoch has announced his plans to step down as executive chairman of News Corp after nearly 70 years in charge in November.Press Gazette editor in chief Dominic Ponsford discusses The Murdoch Factor with Peter Jukes (author of Fall of the House of Murdoch and co-founder of Byline Times). What is the key quality which has enabled Murdoch's success and what does the future of media look like without him? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CEO of Future plc Jon Steinberg explains why he believes his company still has the right ingredients for success (whatever investors may currently seem to think).He also talks about how he has tackled taking over from a highly successful predecessor, what he thinks about AI in publishing and how the company is just starting to generate revenue from digital subscriptions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bron Maher speaks to Semafor CEO Justin B Smith who explains the news startup's launch strategy.Semafor launched in October last year promising to be the news outlet for the "200 million people who are college educated [and] read in English”.Nine months on, chief executive Justin B Smith explains to Press Gazette that, while it still wants that audience, in the nearer term Semafor is going to look more like a luxury brand.Smith also tells the Future of Media Explained podcast why he won't be spending Semafor's millions in the bank any time soon - and how the brand's signature yellow colour harkens to the grandeur of Chinese emperors.A month after Semafor launched, Press Gazette mapped their global audience. See the map here: https://pressgazette.co.uk/north-america/semafor-global-coverage-mapped/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like most news publishers, The Guardian is still in an experimentation phase with generative AI as it tests the technology’s limits and learns whether it can fit into an editorial workflow.Crucially, however, it has not deployed any gen AI tools yet and is not planning to do so in the immediate future.Head of editorial innovation Chris Moran joined the Future of Media Explained podcast to explain why – and discuss why, despite the threats to the news business from generative AI being introduced into search results and the use of publishers’ content without reward, he is optimistic about what could happen next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our latest edition investigates practical applications of generative AI in the newsroom at European news group Mediahuis. Aisha Majid interviews Trui Lanckriet, MediaHuis' group data and insights director  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dominic Ponsford, Charlotte Tobitt and William Turvill from Press Gazette sum up the big news media trends from the first half of 2023.They share what we have learned so far about generative AI, the looming showdown between news publishers and tech giants and a macro-economic climate which is costing thousands of journalists their jobs.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Times columnist Rachel Sylvester talks to Press Gazette about a pioneering project which is shaping the policy agenda in two major areas of public life: education and health. Over the last two years she has been leading commissions charged with developing concrete solutions for reforming these two areas. The results have been welcomed by politicians and readers alike and spawned numerous editorial spin-offs. She spoke to Press Gazette about how this form of solutions journalism has resonated with readers and created rich source of content for the title (and why any commercial benefits are secondary in her eyes). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dominic Ponsford speaks to CEO of Agate Dominic Young about the threat posed to the news business by generative AI and reveals what publishers can do about it.Young was closely involved in licensing and digital development at News International in the early years of online publishing.He feels news publishers and regulators must learn from the mistakes of the past when tech platforms were given the legislative opt-outs which allowed them to build their current huge empires. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In seven years at US sports and lifestyle digital media powerhouse Barstool Sports, chief executive Erika Ayers has helped grow revenues from around $2m to above $250m.Ayers told the latest episode of Press Gazette's Future of Media Explained podcast about the diverse revenue mix that has made this possible - and why the company has continued to grow when other digital-first and social media-heavy media outlets have begun to fall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.