Dotdash and Informa sign AI deals | Interest plummets in US local news
Plus academics review the first 12 months of cameras in court and new Mirror editor Caroline Waterston picks her top team
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A consensus appears to be forming around publisher deals with AI companies.
Two new deals announced today (Dotdash Meredith and Informa) follow the pattern set by the FT, Axios and others.
Publishers are taking money in exchange for allowing a certain amount of their data to be used to train the LLMs. But they are also getting to share the AI technology in order to improve their own productivity and operations.
The deals mean publishers get money (which they need) but they also get some control over how their information is used and they can ensure they are correctly cited in AI results.
For the large language models publisher data is particularly valuable because it is used as "grounding data" to reduce hallucinations and anchor AI-written answers in real-world examples.
You can see the latest on publisher AI deals here in our updated round-up of who's suing and who's signing.
Today we also report on an in-depth US survey which reveals the scale of the challenge facing local news publishers in the US. It shows dwindling interest in local news and a propensity to pay for it which remains stagnant.
We also report on a shake-up at the top of the Mirror where new editor Caroline Waterston has announced a new senior team.
And a group of academics have reviewed the first 12 months in which broadcasters have been allowed into Crown Court to record sentencing remarks from judges. Few cases get selected for broadcast and even fewer maker it on air.
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New from Press Gazette
US interest in local news tumbles as 15% say they have paid for it in last year
Nonetheless, 85% of respondents said they considered local news outlets at least somewhat important to the wellbeing of their community, with 32% saying they were “very important” and 12% “very important”.
Broadcasting from UK courts: ‘Highly selective and limited use’
“After over a year of filming and broadcasting sentencing remarks in the Crown Court, there has been no published evaluation of televised court proceedings, its benefits accepted at face value. Has there been any added value to the principle of open justice?”
Who’s suing AI and who’s signing: Publisher deals vs lawsuits with generative AI companies
B2B giant Informa and Dotdash Meredith are the latest companies to announce AI deals.
News in brief
Former BBC News presenter Anne-Marie Tomchak has joined the Daily Mirror as digital editorial director while former managing editor of Pink News Nic Keaney has been made the title’s audience and content director. (Press Gazette)
Business Insider global editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson is stepping down to become “an editor-at-large focused on longer term projects”. Carlson told staff his departure was not connected to Business Insider’s recent dust-up with billionaire Bill Ackman. (Semafor)
Dotdash Meredith is the latest publisher to ink a deal with OpenAI. As well as linking to Dotdash content in relevant ChatGPT responses, OpenAI will help the publisher to improve its AI-driven contextual advertising tool D/Cipher. (Axios)
OpenAI says it is developing a tool named Media Manager that will allow creators "to tell us what they own and specify how they want their works to be included or excluded from machine learning research and training". (OpenAI)
Between 2017 and 2018 Mark Zuckerberg reportedly explored acquiring or permanently funding the Associated Press. (Business Insider)
Refinery29, which was bought by Essence Magazine parent company Sundial Media Group from Vice Media last month, is taking over US beauty trade show Beautycon. Axios reports the move is part of a bid to re-focus away from programmatic ads and toward events. (Axios)
In a market update, B2B giant Informa has said its predictions are at the top end of what had been expected for 2024, at £3.5bn revenue and £970m profit. The business also says it is hiring Future CFO Penny Ladkin-Brand as chief executive of Taylor and Francis and that it has doubled its share buyback programme to £500m. (Informa)
Previously on Press Gazette
First Google core update of 2024 brings bad news for most news publishers
Alex Crawford slams Govt’s ’empty’ press freedom promises ‘without action’ on Gaza access
BBC plan to cut TV news in Scotland set to be cleared by Ofcom
Reach page views down by a third after Facebook and Google changes
Campaign for first UK memorial to journalists killed while doing their jobs
RSF Press Freedom Index 2024: UK and US scores hit by widespread job cuts
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