It’s time for the news industry to stand together and stand united. This is more important than ever before because Generative Artificial Intelligence, of the kind that ChatGPT has brought spectacularly to public consciousness, is the most transformative innovation that we all face, perhaps in our history. What looked to be the next step in digital transformation has quickly become about the transformation of digital itself. How we respond could define the future of our industry.
Here’s our guide to manoeuvring through the interesting times that lie ahead of us.
1. It’s time for AI and for AI-first media companies. So let’s understand this new wave of technology and not fight it. The key to this is in studying the ways that AI can work for us rather than approaching it with a fear that it might replace jobs. Generative AI models can do many things but they rely solely on what has already happened and been documented. News publishers have the upper hand here, compared to virtually every other industry in dealing with AI, because only editors and human beings can tell original stories and go to the ground to report. AI literally cannot write the future of our industry, but it can help, in many ways, to make workflows more efficient and free up journalist to do their best work.
2. Let’s get our business model around this right. We missed the search train and the mobile train, giving up our valuable content to Big Tech intermediaries in the hopes that it would lead to growth and prosperity. We cannot afford to miss this one in a similar fashion. AI now presents the media industry with its greatest ever paradox – it is the single greatest threat to our business model but also the single greatest opportunity.
3. Find the niche that makes you different. Perhaps the more tantalising prospect with AI is that it offers media businesses the chance to reorient themselves. As we prepare to experience an unprecedented explosion of online content, fuelled by new AI technologies, the only way to cut through the clutter will be to build direct relationships with our audiences. The era of scale and distribution through social media is over.
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Read the full report for discussions on:
- Industry Focus: The Challenge of Generative AI
- Monetisation: Business Models for News
- Evolution: Toward a Membership Economy
- Storytelling: New Formats for a New Era
- Future-Ready: Integrating Advertising with Reader Revenue
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