Kenya’s largest media house struggles with falling ad revenue and high inflation. Nation Media Group (NMG) has reported a loss of $1.9 million (KES 254.4 million) for 2024, a 27% increase on the $1.5 million (KES 205.7 million) loss recorded the previous year. The company blamed falling advertising revenues and difficult economic conditions, even as its digital business posted growth. Total revenues dropped by 12.5% to $48 million (KES 6.229 billion), the steepest annual decline for the media group in more than a decade. NMG, whose brands include the Daily Nation, Business Daily and NTV, cited a “challenging macroeconomic environment”…

Jonathan Roberts says storytelling still matters – but the rules of distribution are changing fast. Artificial intelligence is reshaping digital publishing and Dotdash Meredith is among the companies moving quickly to adapt. In a recent interview with The Media Copilot, the company’s Chief Innovation Officer, Dr Jonathan Roberts, outlined how the publisher is balancing AI adoption with editorial integrity, and why human storytelling still matters in an increasingly automated environment. Home to titles including People, InStyle and Investopedia, Dotdash Meredith has built a reputation for data-driven strategy. It has developed its own ad tech platform, D/Cipher, aimed at the post-cookie…

New partnership with Storied Media Group will licence journalism for screen adaptations. The Daily Mail has signed a deal with Storied Media Group to licence its journalism for adaptation into film, television and streaming content – its first formal move into the entertainment industry. The agreement, which also includes science title New Scientist, will give producers access to an archive of stories covering crime, health, sport, climate change and AI. No financial details have been disclosed. “This is a great opportunity to showcase the world-class journalism of the Daily Mail and New Scientist to a broader audience and expand our international…

Swiss publisher sees gains in Germany and from premium digital subscriptions. Swiss media company NZZ increased its adjusted operating profit by 11 percent in 2024, driven by growth in digital subscriptions and higher revenue per user, particularly in its German expansion market. Total revenue for the year was 248.3 million Swiss francs ($287 million), down 1 percent on the previous year, largely due to reduced performance billing linked to an IT separation from CH Media. But the company’s digital business continued to grow, offsetting some of the wider structural challenges in print. User-derived revenue rose 2 percent to 114.9 million…

YouTube football presenter Adam Clery named creative director as publisher expands into personality-led video. The Independent has launched a new production unit, Independent Studio, in a bid to grow its presence in the creator economy and develop original content formats for sponsorship and audience growth. The UK-based digital publisher has appointed YouTube presenter Adam Clery as creative director. Clery, known for his work in football media, will lead with content for his new YouTube channel ACFC, which gained more than 30,000 subscribers in its first week. He will work closely with The Independent’s in-house production and promotional teams to expand…

News UK titles feel pressure of print decline but benefit from shift to subscriptions and cost-cutting. The latest financial results for The Times and The Sun show the pressures of declining print revenues but also signs of progress as both titles pivot toward digital. For the year ending 30 June 2024, News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, reported a 3% fall in revenue to £296.3 million and an operating loss of £18 million. The loss is nearly three-quarters lower than in previous years, helped by a sharp drop in legal costs related to phone-hacking claims. In January, NGN admitted…

Piers North, chief revenue officer, will succeed Mullen, who will join The Jockey Club as group chief executive. Jim Mullen has stepped down as chief executive of Reach with immediate effect after nearly six years in the role. He will be replaced by Piers North, the company’s chief revenue officer. Mullen will stay on briefly for a handover before starting a new job on 1 June as group chief executive of The Jockey Club. “I want to thank everyone at Reach for their hard work over these past nearly six years,” he said. “Together we have put the business in…

The partnership is aimed at enhancing the resilience of publishers in the evolving global media landscape. WAN-IFRA and FIPP, two of the most influential global media networks, have announced a new partnership to support publishers facing the pressures of digital transformation and shifting market conditions. The collaboration, unveiled last week, brings together more than 20,000 media brands and technology firms across 80 countries. It aims to offer a shared platform for knowledge exchange and best practice, with a focus on helping publishers improve commercial performance, editorial workflows and digital subscription strategies. Magazine and newspaper publishers – represented respectively by FIPP and…

No-paywall model and independence pitch help drive 33% jump in revenue. The Guardian US is on course to raise $44 million from reader donations in 2023 — a 33 per cent increase on the previous year — driven by political upheaval, strategic fundraising and a pitch for independence in a polarised media landscape. More than 60 per cent of the US operation’s revenue now comes from voluntary contributions. A single first-person story by a Canadian citizen detained by ICE brought in $105,000, underlining the power of compelling journalism to drive support. US editor Betsy Reed said the organisation’s appeal rests…

At the Digiday Publishing Summit, fluctuating referral traffic from tech giants was a key topic of conversation. At the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, Colorado, media executives voiced ongoing frustrations over the volatility of referral traffic from tech giants, with discussions revealing both sustained declines and some early signs of recovery. Referral traffic — particularly from Google and Meta — remained a key concern throughout the summit. According to Digiday, many publishers reported that despite ongoing investment in SEO and user engagement, social referral traffic in particular has yet to rebound meaningfully. “We haven’t seen a big recovery [in social…