BI is increasing its reliance on AI and will focus on events amid falling traffic. Business Insider is laying off around 21% of its staff as part of a major restructuring aimed at addressing sharp declines in web traffic and the growing impact of generative AI. The move, outlined in a memo from CEO Barbara Peng, comes just weeks after the publisher made headlines over its use of AI and union fears over the monitoring of employees. Peng told staff that while revenue per web visit has doubled over the past two years, 70% of Business Insider’s business remains heavily…

The move is in stark contrast to the legal battle it is fighting with OpenAI. The New York Times has signed a landmark licensing deal with Amazon that will allow the tech giant to use its journalism across a range of artificial intelligence products. The agreement covers content from the Times, NYT Cooking and The Athletic, and is the paper’s first major partnership involving generative AI. The deal comes as the Times is also pursuing a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using millions of its articles without permission to train large language models. Taken together, the…

The strategic sale of The Observer to Tortoise Media and international growth highlight a significant shift in the publisher’s financial health amid wider sector changes. The Guardian has reported record revenue of £275 million for the 2024–25 financial year, as digital reader income and international expansion help cut its operating losses by a third. The figures mark a sharp improvement from the previous year, when the company brought in £257.8 million and posted a £37 million operating loss. That figure is now below £25 million. Growth was led by a surge in digital reader revenues, which rose more than 20…

The US investment group has reached an agreement to acquire The Telegraph overcoming previous governmental hurdles. US investment group RedBird Capital Partners has reached an agreement to acquire the Telegraph Media Group for £500 million, marking the end of a protracted saga marked by political opposition and scrutiny over foreign influence. The in-principle deal gives RedBird “sole control” of the publisher, which includes the Telegraph’s print and digital operations, while Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments (IMI) retains a minority stake in line with UK rules that cap foreign state ownership of newspapers at 15%. The agreement follows the collapse of…

The publisher is to launch Ouest-France TV in September 2025, aiming to engage underserved young adults aged 25 to 49 beyond Paris with locally focused video content. Ouest France will launch its own television channel in September 2025 as part of a wider effort to reach younger viewers and diversify its revenue base. The new service, provisionally called Ouest-France TV, will focus on locally produced video content aimed at 25 to 49-year-olds living outside major cities. Speaking at the World News Media Congress, CEO Fabrice Bakhouche said the initiative was a response to shifting media consumption habits. “Video is the…

Ahead of Norway’s parliamentary election, Amedia offers free access to over 100 newspapers for 15 to 20-year-olds. Norwegian publisher Amedia is offering free digital access to more than 100 local newspapers for 15 to 20-year-olds in the run-up to September’s parliamentary election in a bid to boost democratic participation and rebuild trust in journalism among younger readers. Funded by a NOK 4.8 million ($470,000) grant from the Amedia Foundation, the initiative targets a demographic increasingly captured by social media and disengaged from traditional news. “We’re in a fierce battle for young people’s time and trust,” said Amedia CEO Anders Opdahl.…

Led by the entrepreneur Florian Novak, Jetzt aims to revive Austria’s media landscape with its subscription-based independent text and audio journalism. A new independent journalism platform in Austria is attempting a bold experiment: signing up 5,000 paying members before it even launches. The site, called Jetzt, is the brainchild of Florian Novak, and aims to rebuild public trust in news through a blend of in-depth text and audio journalism. Due to launch in September, Jetzt is selling itself not just as a publisher but as a community. A standard monthly membership costs €17.90, though sliding-scale pricing is available for those…

Advances in AI summarisation have caused 75% of Google queries to be answered without clicks, cutting traffic to independent websites and undermining their revenue models. Cloudflare calls for industry-wide compensation frameworks to protect content creators and preserve diversity online. The Decline of Traditional Web Traffic in the Era of Zero-Click Search For over a decade and a half, search engines—primarily Google—served as the pivotal gateway to internet content, underpinning the economic model of the web. Under this model, content creators optimised their material for search engine ranking, attracting visitors who were then monetised through advertising, affiliate marketing, or direct sales.…

The New York Times beat analyst expectations with strong results. The New York Times added 250,000 digital-only subscribers in the first quarter of 2025, helping push total revenue up 7.1% to $635.9 million and delivering better-than-expected profits despite continued pressure on its print business. Nearly half of its digital subscribers now take more than one product, a sign that its bundling strategy – which combines news, lifestyle, games, The Athletic and Wirecutter – is gaining traction. Average revenue per user rose to $9.54, up 3.6% year-on-year. Digital advertising also grew strongly, up 12.4% to $70.9 million. Total ad revenue rose…

The independent Slovakian news outlet Denník N celebrated its 10th anniversary with a groundbreaking subscription campaign that vastly exceeded expectations. Denník N, one of Slovakia’s leading independent news organisations, has recorded a major subscription success after a 10th anniversary campaign that combined flexible pricing, audience mobilisation and a strong editorial mission. The result was an example of what publications can achieve when they bring a innovative and cross-organisational approach to a campaign. The outlet initially aimed to attract 10,000 new subscribers over ten weeks with a simple offer: try Denník N for ten weeks and pay whatever you thought…