5:42 pm - August 25, 2025
Google’s AI Overviews have slashed click‑throughs, accelerating a summer collapse in referral traffic Publishers’ blanket bot blocks (often via Cloudflare) have severed backend discovery, sometimes wiping out sites overnight Pay per crawl offers pennies back — the real solution is nuanced: protect against abuse but keep routes open and…...
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AAP will supply real-time, fact-based copy to Google’s Gemini for Australian users Deal highlights growing trend of newsrooms licensing feeds to AI platforms amid digital transformation Industry raises questions on editorial oversight, monetisation and trust as content is embedded in AI responses Australian Associated Press (AAP) will provide its newswire…
WAN-IFRA appoints JP/Politiken CEO Stig Ørskov as chief executive from early 2026 Vincent Peyrègne, CEO since 2012, will stay on as senior strategic advisor New leadership expected to push innovation, collaboration and press freedom advocacy WAN-IFRA has appointed Stig Ørskov as its next chief executive, succeeding Vincent Peyrègne, who is…...
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Google is testing “Preferred Sources” in Search Labs Users star outlets to boost their presence in the Top Stories carousel Rollout targets English searches in the US and India Google has introduced a “Preferred Sources” feature in Search, allowing users to boost the visibility of news outlets they trust in the Top Stories carousel. The...
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New editorial director will dismantle sections like The Hive and Hollywood Daily and pivot away from aggregation and trade reporting Hiring and design changes aim to unify print, digital and live events, but staff cuts and key departures are expected The shift tests whether a consolidated, auteur-driven approach can sustain digital reach and revenue for a legacy title Vanity Fair is shutting down several long-running verticals, including The Hive and Hollywood Daily, as part of a wider editorial overhaul under new global editorial director Mark Guiducci. The changes, which include new creative hires but also staff cuts, mark a shift…
Yomiuri Shimbun files ¥2.17bn lawsuit against Perplexity copied about 120,000 articles to power chat answers The newspaper alleges the AI start-up copied about 120,000 articles to power chat answers Case will probe 2018 Copyright Act exception for machine learning Japan’s largest newspaper is suing Perplexity, accusing the AI search startup of copying more than 119,000 articles to train and power its chatbot. Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings said it filed the claim on August 7 in Tokyo District Court, seeking about ¥2.17bn ($15m) in damages and an injunction to stop Perplexity from reproducing or distributing its content. The suit, brought by three…
Union says two generative‑AI features were deployed without contract‑required notice or human review Management argues product teams built the tools “outside the newsroom” Ruling could set precedent on whether editorial standards and bargaining duties apply to algorithmic products Politico’s management told an arbitrator this summer that experimental AI products built by engineering teams sit “outside the newsroom,” while the union argues contract protections and human review were bypassed. The PEN Guild took Politico to arbitration in July 2025, claiming two gen AI features were deployed without the notice and editorial oversight required under its newly negotiated contract. The union says…
51% of adults used a podcast in the past month and 33% in the past week, with 71% having ever tried one Smartphones remain the primary device but smart‑TV listening doubled (4% to 8%); YouTube (20%) now rivals traditional podcast apps while in‑car connectivity is rising Ofcom and industry surveys differ, so publishers and advertisers must prioritise standardised measurement, cross‑platform deduplication and formats that suit both audio and video Podcasts have moved firmly into the mainstream, with 71% of UK adults aged 16-plus having tried one, 51% listening in the past month and 33% in the past week, according to…
News Corp will launch a new daily newspaper in Los Angeles in early 2026, expanding its New York Post brand to the West Coast for the first time. The move, first reported by Axios, marks a bold bet on print and digital journalism in a region where local newsrooms have…...
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Axel Springer has acquired Hamburg-based ad tech firm cmmrcl.ly, deepening its push into programmatic social media advertising and signalling a sharp acceleration of CEO Mathias Döpfner’s strategy to reshape the company around direct audience relationships, first-party data and AI. The deal gives Axel Springer full ownership of a platform already…
Welt TV, owned by Axel Springer, has launched its first AI-generated news programme. The five-minute bulletin, focused on developments in artificial intelligence, is hosted by a synthetic avatar modelled on a real-life reporter, Paul Klinzing. Most of the show’s script and editorial decisions are machine-generated. The avatar opens with a…
Gannett is cutting costs by $100 million and revamping its subscription strategy as it seeks to steady its finances following a difficult start to 2025. The largest newspaper chain in the United States reported second-quarter revenue of $584.9 million, down 8.6% compared with the previous year, but turned a profit…
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Amazon will pay The New York Times up to $25 million a year under their recently signed multi-year content licensing agreement, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The deal, which was first announced in May without financial terms, allows Amazon to use short excerpts and summaries of…...
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Google has launched its AI-powered search tool, AI Mode, in the UK, the third country to receive the feature after the United States and India. The tool uses the company’s Gemini 2.5 model to generate conversational, article-style answers within search results. Available via a new tab on desktop and integrated…
Google is in discussions to license content from news publishers for use in its artificial intelligence products, according to a report from Bloomberg. The move marks a shift in how the tech giant engages with the media industry, which has raised concerns over the use of journalistic content to train…
The Daily Mail has announced that all of its digital platforms – including MailOnline – will operate under a single masthead: Daily Mail. The move is designed to eliminate reader confusion and unify its global digital output under one of the most recognised names in media. Alongside the rebrand, the company has…...
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Media24’s transformation into a digital-first publisher has gathered pace under the leadership of Jerusha Raath, who returned to the company in late 2024 as publisher of News24. With a background that blends editorial experience and commercial strategy, Raath has quickly become the driving force behind the group’s reinvention. Speaking to Mark Challinor as part of his News Horizons series in The Drum, Raath described 2025 as a pivotal year for Media24. Innovations launched under her tenure include a “Good News desk” designed to counter negative news fatigue. It had already attracted more than 600,000 page views by mid-July. A disinformation…
Martin Lewis, the man behind the UK price comparison website MoneySavingExpert, has accused news publishers of misleading readers and undermining journalism by publishing clickbait articles that twist or fabricate his advice. Speaking to London Centric, Lewis, who regularly tops polls about who the British public would like to see as prime minister, described how his name and opinions is routinely misused by online news sites even when he has said nothing on a topic. “I haven’t spoken about air fryers in two years but I keep reading news reports about ‘urgent warnings’ I’ve given about air fryers,” he said. “It’s…
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Ofcom has warned that the UK’s public service media risks becoming “an endangered species” unless urgent reforms are made to secure its future in a digital-first world. In a new report, the regulator calls for coordinated action from broadcasters, tech platforms and government to safeguard trusted, impartial content that serves the public interest. Central to...
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This week I had the pleasure of joining FT Strategies’ AI and the Future of Content event at their central London offices. They brought together leaders from across the publishing industry to debate how AI is reshaping the business of content – and what comes next. The discussion was wide-ranging and, at times, provocative: what...
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Italy’s communications regulator Agcom has ordered Meta to pay more than €9 million to GEDI, the publisher of La Repubblica and La Stampa, for the use of its news content on Facebook during 2022. The ruling, announced on 10 July, is the first in Italy to compel a major tech platform to compensate a traditional...
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Australia’s forthcoming ban on social media for under-16s is emerging as a defining moment for Generation Alpha, with new research showing how young people are responding to the proposed restrictions – and how complex the issue has become for regulators, parents and platforms. A global study by GWI of over 20,000 internet users aged 8 to 15, focused in part on Australia, shows that far from disengaging from social media in the face of the ban, Australian teens are leaning in. Young people increasingly view these platforms as vital spaces for self-expression, identity formation and connection. Compared to their peers elsewhere,…
A year ago The Defiant, a media company focused on decentralized finance (DeFi), partnered with DeepNewz to integrate AI-generated news into its editorial workflow. The collaboration has reshaped its content strategy, showing how AI can augment journalism rather than replace it, according to a recent post from The Defiant. With a small team of around...
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Journalists at Politico and E&E News have entered arbitration with management over claims that the company breached AI-related protections in their collective bargaining agreement. It is one of the first significant tests of enforceable AI rules within a newsroom. The PEN Guild, representing journalists at the two outlets, secured contract terms requiring management to negotiate over new AI tools and ensure any AI-generated content meets the same ethical and editorial standards as human reporting. The protections aim to safeguard journalism as AI adoption grows across the industry. The union alleges Politico violated the agreement in two ways. First, by publishing…
Newsrooms across Latin America are pioneering low-cost, high-impact AI tools to streamline editorial work and unlock new formats, as shown in the first LATAM Newsroom AI Catalyst programme run by WAN-IFRA and supported by OpenAI. Over three months, 16 newsrooms from eight countries developed AI prototypes tailored to their specific challenges—from political reporting to audio production and commercial workflows. The projects offer a snapshot of how even small editorial teams can adopt AI to increase efficiency and impact without major investment or technical infrastructure. In Peru, El Comercio built a system to monitor political candidates during an election cycle featuring…
The BBC has published a detailed account of its approach to artificial intelligence and, separately, how it is experimenting with the technology, pledging to use it in ways that uphold public trust and editorial standards. The move is part of a growing effort by the broadcaster to be transparent about how AI is reshaping its...
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Fortune magazine is ramping up its use of artificial intelligence in news production with a new editorial push called Fortune Intelligence, aimed at accelerating breaking news coverage while maintaining human editorial oversight. The initiative, first reported by Semafor, will be led by Nick Lichtenberg, a former Fortune editor who returns to the company with a remit to explore how AI can help deliver faster, smarter business journalism. Announced internally last week, Fortune Intelligence will integrate AI tools not only in writing but also in graphics production and audio publishing, including transforming newsletter content into podcasts. Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell described the…
Google is facing a formal antitrust complaint in Europe from a coalition of independent publishers, who accuse the company of abusing its dominance through its AI Overviews feature. The complaint, filed with the European Commission on 30 June, claims the tool harms publishers by extracting information from their content and displaying it directly on search results pages, sharply reducing user traffic and threatening the financial viability of independent journalism. At the heart of the case is Google’s growing use of AI-generated summaries to answer search queries without requiring users to click through to the original sources. Publishers say this practice…
