Hearst has introduced a voice-controlled AI assistant on its recipe site Delish, offering home cooks hands-free guidance through recipes. The tool, called Cooking Coach, was originally developed as a weekend experiment by Alexandria Redmon, Hearst’s senior director of AI initiatives, and has since grown into a full-featured product that addresses common kitchen challenges like setting timers, adjusting portions and suggesting ingredient swaps. As first reported by Digiday, Cooking Coach is built using OpenAI’s GPT large language model and trained solely on Delish’s archive of more than 30,000 recipes. The assistant can walk users through step-by-step instructions, respond to questions in…

Bay City News, a small local nonprofit, has won plaudits for showing how artificial intelligence can enhance coverage without undermining trust. The publication, which serves the San Francisco Bay Area, recently won the 2024 Local Media Association Digital Innovation Award for the Most Innovative Use of AI in a News Organisation. The recognition came for its AI-driven approach to the 2024 election cycle, a complex logistical challenge involving hundreds of races across 13 counties. Bay City News combines a for-profit regional newswire with a nonprofit newsroom that powers its Local News Matters website. This structure has allowed it to experiment…

Investigative podcasts have become a fast-developing format for modern journalism, combining deep reporting with the immersive storytelling of long-form audio. Though still a niche within the broader podcasting ecosystem, their ability to explore complex subjects in rich detail, free from the time or space constraints of conventional media, has made them increasingly valuable to newsrooms looking to reach younger or underserved audiences. Outlets such as Poland’s Pismo Investigation and Lisbon-based Fumaça are among the European pioneers. Pismo has produced multiple acclaimed seasons, with its fifth series – released in April 2024 – examining harassment and institutional failure through multiple hour-long episodes. Fumaça…

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has launched a daily YouTube show, The Daily Blueprint, in what it calls a key part of its digital strategy ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections. The weekday broadcast, hosted by DNC deputy communications director Hannah Muldavin, is pitched as a way to counter misinformation, explain news headlines and offer viewers ways to support Democratic campaigns across the country. Ken Martin, chair of the DNC, said the launch marked an important evolution. “The launch of The Daily Blueprint is an exciting new step for the Democratic Party – it cements our commitment to meet…

The publisher has relaunched its website and app with a comprehensive redesign focused on transparency, unbiased reporting and user engagement. A lack of trust in the news media is a problem that afflicts almost every market in the world. And steadily the number of organisations addressing it head on are increasing. Straight Arrow News, a relatively new entrant to the US media landscape, has announced a relaunch of its website and app with a major redesign focused on restoring public trust through clarity, balance and transparency. Founded in 2021, SAN positions itself as a counterweight to the perceived bias in…

Governor Gavin Newsom proposes cutting California’s $30 million commitment to a deal with Google aimed at saving local news. California’s landmark agreement with Google to support local journalism is under threat after Governor Gavin Newsom proposed cutting the state’s contribution from $30 million to just $10 million – before a single dollar has been distributed. The $125 million deal, announced last August, promised funding for local newsrooms over five years, split between the state and Google. But facing a projected $12 billion deficit, Newsom’s administration now says it must scale back, citing “fewer resources than projected”, in a development first reported…

Employees at the Axel Springer-owned title are wary about their usage being tracked. More than 70% of Business Insider staff have started using the enterprise version of ChatGPT since its rollout in April, part of a company-wide push to integrate generative AI into daily workflows. The rollout aims for full adoption across the organisation, with ongoing training and support. But staff enthusiasm has been tempered by concerns over how the tool is being monitored and managed. Staff were not initially told that individual usage data was being collected. The Insider Union said it was seeking clarification from management over what…

The title is pivoting its podcast strategy towards a more personal and relatable style. The Economist is reshaping its podcast strategy to build a closer, more personal connection with listeners, as outlined by Andrew Palmer, host of its new Boss Class series and author of the Bartleby column. Speaking to Chris Sutcliffe on the Media Voices podcast, Palmer described how the publication is adapting to changing audience expectations by making its audio content more relatable and conversational. The Economist famously has no bylines in the magazine edition – which it stubbornly calls a “newspaper” – and it has long been felt…

The study by SE Ranking raises concerns among publishers about reduced external traffic and the future of SEO strategies. A new study by SEO platform SE Ranking shows that Google’s AI-generated search overviews are now driving more than 40% of users back to Google’s own pages, intensifying concerns among media publishers about shrinking external traffic and the future of SEO. Analysing over 140,000 AI search responses across five major US states, including New York and California, the study found that 43.42% of links in AI-generated summaries pointed to Google-owned properties. As users navigate increasingly AI-driven search results, they now click…

The project aims to support and connect independent news creators with traditional media through training, funding, and industry collaboration. Google has launched the Global News Gaps Project, an initiative aimed at strengthening emerging news creators and bridging them with traditional media organisations. The announcement was made during WAN-IFRA’s World News Media Congress in Krakow last week. The project has three main pillars. The first, the News Creators Project, will be led by FT Strategies, with WAN-IFRA acting as the lead industry association partner. It will map and deepen understanding of the new wave of news providers operating mainly on social…