Friends In AI Places? Publishers And Tech Companies Discussing Content Deal

Financial Times is reporting that it and other publishers such as News Corp, The New York Times, The Guardian, and Axel Springer are in early negotiations with leading tech companies to “strike landmark deals over the use of news content to train artificial intelligence technology.” Sources are saying tech companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Adobe could pay media organizations a subscription-like fee to use their content with their AI products, something that would, in Financial Times’ words, “set the blueprint for news organizations in their dealings with generative AI companies worldwide.”

 

The Importance Of Editors In The Age Of (Highly Unreliable) AI

Germany’s best-selling newspaper, Bild, is reportedly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to replace certain editorial roles, in an effort to cut costs. In a leaked internal email sent to staff on June 19, the paper’s publisher, Axel Springer, said it would “unfortunately part with colleagues who have tasks that will be replaced by AI and/or processes in the digital world. The functions of editorial directors, page editors, proofreaders, secretaries, and photo editors will no longer exist as they do today.”

 

Can You Spot An Email Written By A Robot? The AI Email Test

In the past few months, AI language tools have taken the world by storm. The likes of ChatGPT, launched in November last year, and Google Bard, launched this March, have been used by everyone. From University students asking AI to write their academic essays, to email marketing platforms using AI to craft smart, undetectable marketing communications. But is AI-generated marketing actually undetectable? To find out, we surveyed 510 Brits to see if they could spot the difference between brand marketing emails written by AI and those written by an actual human copywriter. 

 

The Irate Customer: People Are Unhappy With The Service They’re Getting

Marketers should be alarmed by the findings in CCW Digital’s 2023 Annual Consumer Preferences Survey. Of the consumers polled, only 4% feel the customer experience has improved in the past year. And 57% say it has gotten worse.

What Publishers Are Prioritizing To Expand Their Audiences in 2023

Echobox recently released its Publishing Trends Report 2023, summarizing the “challenging year” that was 2022 but also looking optimistically ahead, particularly at how those circumstances have “driven innovation at an astonishing pace.” And whether they know it or not, savvy publishers may already be utilizing the most-forward thinking innovation in audience development.

 

Young People Are Abandoning News Sites: New Research Reveals Scale Of Challenge To Media

Not only is consumption of traditional television news and print formats continuing to decline at a relentless rate, but online websites are also struggling to engage news users, despite the tumultuous times in which we live.

 

Marketing App Sprawl is Wasting Time and Money. Here’s How to Fix It

Marketers rely on software or applications for just about everything—managing campaigns, analyzing data, and connecting with their target audiences. In fact, 67% of SMB marketers plan to invest more in tech in 2023.

 

61% of Workers Embrace Generative AI, but Lack Trusted Data and Security Skills

Generative AI is dominating the news cycle — and with good reason — as companies embrace opportunities to boost productivity and improve customer experiences in a myriad of ways. But amid this innovation lurks a new risk for enterprises: How can they keep trusted data secure?

What’s Your Mix Of Six? Alternative Revenue Streams In Digital Publishing

Nowadays, no single revenue stream is enough to sustain, let alone grow, a digital publication. Instead, online publishers are relying on a combination of revenue streams to ensure they can bring in sufficient capital.

 

Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2023

The internet never sleeps so the best time to post on social media seems like it’s at every hour of the day. We’re going to demystify this myth so your social team can plan, prioritize and create a successful social media marketing strategy.

 

Why CMOs Need To Learn The Language Of The Boardroom

Marketers and boardrooms have never operated in perfect harmony — and while businesses continue to view marketing as a ‘sunken cost’ rather than a valuable investment this will continue. Recent research carried out across Fortune 500 companies found that the tenure of the average CMO is currently only half that of the average CEO, pointing to an increasing dichotomy between marketing departments and boardrooms.

 

59% Of Gen Z, 49% Of Millennials Will Give A Brand 3 Chances Before Abandoning It

Strike three and you’re out. Sounds like the rules of baseball filtered into ecommerce and brand loyalty — mainly because great products alone are not enough to keep customers loyal. It takes products and great customer service. Consumers’ patience runs thin, with 59% of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials saying they will give a brand a third chance before abandoning it.

The 5 Myths of Digital Flatplanning, and How To Overcome Resistance

It takes all types to put a publication together, and those who work on the production side are often some of the most project-focused, systematic people around. Ask anyone on staff and all would agree that effective production managers and assistants are underappreciated, overworked, and, perhaps most of all, complete control freaks.

The resistance that some production managers have in opening up their flatplans to the rest of the company is widespread. And after 20-plus years in publishing, I do know how to address the rationalizations given for that resistance. 

These are easily dispelled myths that can be addressed head-on for the better of the publication, the people who make it, and the process overall.

 

California Assembly Ignores Meta’s Threat, Votes To Pass The Journalism Preservation Act

One day after Facebook parent company Meta threatened to remove news content from its platforms if Assembly Bill 886 becomes law, the California Assembly voted 46-6 to advance the bill to the State Senate. “I’m not interested in a debate between Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg,” said bill author Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, in support of her legislation. “…Free press is in our Constitution, and it is at risk right now.”

 

Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s New $3,499 AR Headset

Apple has announced an augmented reality headset called Apple Vision Pro that “seamlessly” blends the real and digital world. “It’s the first Apple product you look through, and not at,” CEO Tim Cook said of the device, which looks like a pair of ski goggles. 

 

The Roar Of GDPR: The Impact On Marketers And Their Tech Stacks

Marketers wondering how a national privacy law might affect them should look at Europe. Five years in, companies seem to have accepted GDPR, judging by a new study from  Piwik PRO. For instance, 82.6% of respondents agree that brands can adhere to privacy laws and effectively market their products — up from 63% last year.