The Los Angeles Times will go public within the next year, according to its billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong. In a surprise announcement on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Soon-Shiong said the move was intended to address concerns over editorial independence and his own business interests. “I would look to take LA Times public, [for it] to be democratised. And allow the public to have ownership of this paper,” he said. Soon-Shiong, who made his fortune in pharmaceuticals, bought the LA Times, San Diego Tribune and other assets for $500 million in 2018. At the time, he described the paper…

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 Ofcom’s six-point plan is a call for greater visibility of public service content on platforms such as YouTube. Traditional TV viewing is falling sharply, particularly among younger audiences – just 48% of 16 to 24-year-olds now watch broadcast TV each week, while 43% of children…

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 does quality look like in an age of generative AI tools? Can AI help make editorial strategies more purposeful, not just more productive? And how do we create value when content has become so abundant and attention so scarce? These are not abstract questions.…

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 media group for journalism shared online. The decision follows the failure of direct negotiations between Meta and GEDI. The payout, between €9 million and €10 million, is well below GEDI’s original €30 million claim, which included content use on Instagram, but far higher than Meta’s reported…

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 seven journalists, The Defiant faced a common challenge: whether to chase general cryptocurrency news, which drives higher traffic, or focus exclusively on DeFi and web3 stories for its core audience. Working with DeepNewz allowed the newsroom to offload general crypto coverage to AI, freeing…

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 operations, a nod to its role as a public service broadcaster and news source. The document outlines a cautious but forward-looking stance. It commits the BBC to using AI to support staff, improve digital services and enhance content creation — but only where it aligns…

For a long time I thought it was the most cynical thing I had heard in my working life. “There are no prizes for being right, Alan,” said the senior executive during a conversation about whether we should sign up to a shiny new initiative that was being dangled in front of news publishers by a tech giant. It was something that senior people at the company wanted to do and his implication was that though it was self-evidently – to us at least – the wrong thing to do, we should just shut up and do it. Even if it would…

Foreign firms are able to take minority stakes in British newspapers after MPs voted by a wide margin to relax restrictions on overseas ownership. The House of Commons approved a government-backed amendment allowing companies based outside the UK to own up to 15% of newspaper businesses, a move framed by ministers as a way to protect press sustainability while guarding against undue foreign influence. The vote – 338 in favour to 79 against – paves the way for the long-delayed sale of the Telegraph Media Group. RedBird IMI, a joint venture between US-based RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s state-linked International…

Particle, the AI-powered news app created by former Twitter engineers, is expanding beyond its hallmark summaries to include full-length narrative journalism. A new feature, Long Reads, will allow users to engage with in-depth commentary and analysis alongside concise bullet-point updates. The feature debuts in partnership with The Atlantic, one of the leading publishers of long-form journalism in America. Articles from The Atlantic will now appear natively in the Particle app, allowing readers to move seamlessly between breaking news and slower, more reflective reporting. The collaboration reflects both organisations’ ambition to combine quality journalism with personalised delivery. Since launching in November…

Douglas McCabe, the long-serving CEO of Enders Analysis, is joining the Guardian later this year as its chief strategy and business development officer. The move marks a major career shift for one of the UK media sector’s most influential analysts. “It is an enormous honour to be asked to support a journalism brand of unique global importance and influence, and that I have passionately followed my whole life,” McCabe said. “At a time when the whole sector faces extraordinary technology, social and political challenges for journalism, the opportunity of helping address them alongside an exceptional and brilliant team is extremely…