Amy Webb on trends that will affect journalism in 2015

Webbmedia Group’s annual trend study, released this week, is a much anticipated pointer to digital and tech developments affecing media. Founder Amy Webb spoke to Ashleigh Tullis about the advances that are likely to touch journalists in the next 12 months.

Six tech trends that are set to change news media in 2015

Webbmedia Group has released their research into near-future trends in digital media and technology. They have identified 55 key insights about media trends in 2015. Ashleigh Tullis shares the top trends relevant to news organisations and editors.

The Observer’s Readers’ Editor on the future of online commenting

Stephen Pritchard, the Readers’ Editor of The Observer, UK, has seen the progression from readers writing letters to the editor to them posting their comments online. He talks to Ashleigh Tullis about the future of online commenting systems, the tension between moderator and commenter, sponsored comments and anonymity.

In California news is free; donations welcome!

“You can’t speak truth to power from behind a paywall” – Paul Carr, Pando Daily

After three intense days of our Study Tour to San Francisco, the west coast view of original news content seems brutally clear: news is a loss leader and real investigative journalism can only be funded by donations.

What does the future of online commenting look like?

Publications such as Reuters, the Chicago Sun-Times, tech site Re/Code and Popular Science have all turned off their commenting system on their news sites. The arduous task of moderating the hundreds of uncivil comments that plague comment threads are making news sites reconsider their value. With more and more sites turning towards social media for reader contribution, Ashleigh Tullis reports on the future of online reader comments.

When the past is an investment in the future: an Italian newspaper museum builds community engagement through history

During these challenging times for newspapers, it can be tempting to wallow in the memories of the good old times, focusing on past glories. But at Italian daily La Stampa, memories are a link to the future. Federica Cherubini reports.

The ‘new media monoliths’ vs 21st Century journalism: it’s not all about technology

Emily Bell’s outstanding speech to the Reuters Institute last week stirred many plaudits, but also some reservations, among media commentators. WAN-IFRA Research Fellow Julie Posetti curates the reactions and shares her own.

Emily Bell’s seminal speech on the relationship between journalism and technology: It’s time to make up or break up

Last Friday, Emily Bell, Director at the TOW Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, delivered what the World Editors Forum believes to be the year’s most definitive speech on the future of journalism. In it, she challenged journalists and editors to hold dominant technology companies publicly accountable, take the lead in technological innovation in news and help to shape the ‘new public sphere’. This is an edited version of her speech to the Reuters Institute in Oxford, published with permission.

The top five innovative projects from WAN-IFRA Digital Media Asia

The potential of chat apps, brand extension at The New York Times, youth innovation and mobile storytelling were the key themes at WAN-IFRA’s Digital Media Asia event which was staged in Singapore last week. Here is Ashleigh Tullis’ wrap of the presenters’ industry insights and the most innovative technologies and ideas.

Case study on mobile paid content: Mobile is less of a challenge than the generation gap

PressReader is the oldest digital kiosk on the market. At the heart of its development strategy are mobile platforms. On mobile, “there’s a generation gap that calls for a differentiation in the service we offer,” says Chief Content Officer Nikolay Malyarov. “There is a split between generations still loyal to the digital replicas of a publication, and younger readers, who are open to aggregated contents personalised to their interests.”