AI could change how audiences find and define news, shifting away from traditional stories Publishers may need new standards and business models for AI-centric content distribution Risks include filter bubbles and the erosion of shared realities, but opportunities remain in reporting uniqueness The rise of generative AI could reshape not just how journalism is produced, but how audiences consume and define news itself, according to Gina Chua, executive editor of Semafor. Writing in the publication, Chua argues that while much of the industry debate has focused on whether AI threatens jobs or ethics in reporting, the bigger question is how…

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to cease its print edition in new year The move aims to prioritise digital subscriptions and innovation The industry-wide shift reflects changing audience habits and technological advances The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will publish its last print edition on December 31, closing a chapter that began in 1868 as it moves all resources into digital publishing. Publisher Andrew Morse, who joined in 2023, told The New York Times, which broke the story, that the decision was overdue. “Printing newspapers and putting them in trucks and delivering them on people’s front stoops has not been the most effective way to…

ChatGPT-5’s increased token usage raises costs for publishers Different models needed for various publishing tasks Speed and efficiency now key to successful AI integration in media When ChatGPT-5 launched, I was ready to double down on my loyalty to OpenAI. Tokens looked cheaper on paper, and, as a publisher-facing tech business, NoahWire consumes AI at scale to create, curate and distribute content. Every improvement in the models means an improvement in what we can deliver. But within weeks that optimism turned into hard questions about cost, speed and reliability. On launch day, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s ceo, proudly said API…

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 build direct audiences This summer’s plunge in news traffic was not just about Google’s AI Overviews redefining how people find information. It was a perfect storm: Google cutting clicks at the front end, and publishers, through Cloudflare’s default bot blocking, cutting off the back-end pathways that help stories “grow legs”.…

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 stepping down after more than a decade leading the global association of news publishers. Ørskov, currently CEO of JP/Politiken Media Group in Denmark and vice-president of WAN-IFRA, will take over in early 2026. Peyrègne, who became CEO in 2012, is credited with stabilising WAN-IFRA’s finances, expanding its membership base and…

The adult and gambling sectors treat retention as an immediate, data-driven priority Apply rapid personalisation, habit-forming onboarding and agile pricing to convert early engagement into long-term loyalty Use moment-based offers, constant novelty and community features to make leaving feel like losing more than just content Back in the 1990s, when working with The Economist, I deployed an online order rescue system from a software provider based in Amsterdam. Nothing remarkable about that, you might think, but the technology had interesting origins: it had originally been developed for adult sites. The software opened a new web window with a final…

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 tool, now in Search Labs testing, adds a star icon beside the Top Stories header, enabling users to search for and add any number of outlets they want to see more often. It is being rolled out for English-language searches in the US and India,…

Nearly a decade ago I sat in a hotel meeting room in Bermondsey, a newly revived neighbourhood of south London, with a number of colleagues from all departments of The Times and The Sunday Times. The papers were themselves newly revived, having recently returned to profit on the back of launching digital subscriptions for the first time in forever. Earlier in 2016 they had also relaunched their smartphone app and combined their websites – we had finally convinced everyone that it made sense not to have two websites competing with each other while they were both sold under the…

Dow Jones, led by The Wall Street Journal, reported stellar profits of $588m on annual revenues of $2.33 billion for the year that ended on June 30, cementing its position as the standout performer within News Corporation’s portfolio. While the Journal has been revitalised journalistically under the leadership of editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, rising digital subscriptions and strong demand for the group’s professional information services have turned it into the profit engine of News Corp more widely. Total subscriptions to Dow Jones consumer products – including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and MarketWatch – rose 7% year-on-year to 6.3 million.…

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 been hollowed out by layoffs and financial strain. The California Post will mirror the style and tone of the New York Post, combining celebrity gossip, sports, opinion and punchy front pages with coverage of local issues and national stories tailored to a California audience. It will be available in print…