Social start-up secures over $10 million in new funding Launch of SaySo, a creator-centric app, aims to deepen audience engagement and monetisation Caliber expands its portfolio, focusing on diverse revenue streams amid industry shifts The News Movement, the Gen Z-focused social-led media brand, has entered a new phase of growth and maturity following a significant investment believed to exceed $10 million. This infusion of capital marks a transition from its early “scrappy start-up” days to a more established media entity under the new name of Caliber. Caliber was created to oversee a portfolio of socially native brands, including The News…

Darcy’s newsletter recruits top reporters from Vanity Fair and The Wrap to deepen media coverage Status transitions to a seven-day publication, incorporating a new video podcast, Power Lines Growth driven by a focus on accountability journalism in an increasingly consolidated media landscape Oliver Darcy, the former CNN media reporter who launched the independent newsletter Status, is expanding his media-focused publication with new editorial hires, a daily publishing schedule and a push into video. Darcy, who left CNN in August 2024 after serving as senior media reporter and writing the network’s Reliable Sources newsletter, has recruited two high-profile journalists: Brian Lowry…

Activist investor Fivespan pushes for faster AI adoption at the NYT Proposes AI-driven enhancements to subscriptions, content, and revenue streams NYT balances cautious approach with the pressure to innovate amid digital disruption Fivespan Partners, the activist investment firm, has taken a stake in The New York Times Company and is urging the publisher to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence. In a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg, Fivespan described AI as a catalyst that could expand the Times’ global reach, improve subscriber conversion and open new revenue streams. The firm argues that AI could strengthen the Times’ bundled subscription…

Marcus Rashford interview amassed 1.4m+ streams and 48.8m short‑form views in 48 hours Goalhanger leverages licensed LaLiga clips and cinematic production to boost reach and commercial value Model raises new monetisation opportunities and questions over access to expensive match and archive rights A special episode of The Rest Is Football featuring the Barcelona and England footballer Marcus Rashford has underlined Goalhanger’s rise as one of the most successful challenger brands in news media, drawing more than 1.4 million streams and almost 49 million social views within 48 hours of release. The 40-minute interview — filmed in Barcelona and hosted by…

Reach says Guten cut breaking‑news publish time from nine minutes to 90 seconds Plans to extend Guten into image selection, SEO optimisation and social orchestration across 120+ brands Company stresses human‑in‑the‑loop review, quotation‑fidelity checks and entity‑mismatch safeguards Reach plc is accelerating the rollout of its in-house AI system, Guten, expanding beyond automated redrafts into content recommendation, image selection for search optimisation and orchestration of social channels. In a blog for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Reach data scientists said the goal is to make Guten a central engine across the group’s 120-plus brands. Built on AWS technologies including Amazon Bedrock, AWS…

SmartNews, the AI-driven news aggregator, has launched a new app that aims to give readers a more thoughtful and less polarised way to follow the news. Called NewsArc, the app uses AI to surface long-form journalism and in-depth reporting on complex topics in a deliberate counter to the fast-paced content that dominates many digital platforms. Rather than optimise for clicks or scrolling time, NewsArc is designed to encourage slower, more focused reading sessions. The company says it wants to create a shared news experience grounded in “discovering the whole story.” NewsArc is positioned as a companion to SmartNews’s flagship app,…

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 declaration: “I’m not real, but an avatar – however, the news I show you is absolutely real.” It mimics human gestures, facial expressions and speech patterns with impressive fluency, though occasional awkward pauses and odd visual details, such as a remote control in hand and no lapel microphone, underscore its…

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 into the Google app on mobile, AI Mode accepts queries by text, voice and image. Users can pose detailed, open-ended questions, from practical searches like “pet-friendly carpet cleaners” to travel planning in cities such as London and Edinburgh. Hema Budaraju, Vice President of Product Management for Search at Google, said…

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 AI models. Google has come in for particular criticism so far compared with its AI rivals as it has rolled out products such as AI Overviews and AI Mode, the latter of which debuted in the UK this week, without striking deals with publishers. The proposed pilot programme would reportedly…

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…