Covid-19 origins: A media conspiracy of silence
We also hear how The Guardian is mitigating the 2023 ad downturn in the US and find out how publishers are hoping AI chatbots will drive engagement and revenue
Good morning and welcome to your weekly Future of Media newsletter from Press Gazette on Thursday, 14 December, brought to you this week in association with OneTrust – The Trust Intelligence Platform. Their latest toolkit ‘AdTech and Consent Toolkit’ is available to download now.
In 2020 Covid-19 was pretty much all we wrote about. The virus that turned all our lives upside down went on to kill seven million (at a low estimate).
Yet one major theory about where Covid-19 originated from was a story many journalists were reluctant to write.
Jim Edwards has conducted a major investigation into journalists and the coronavirus origins story and concluded that many allowed themselves to be captured by scientific sources, dismissing the Wuhan lab-leak theory as a conspiracy theory.
Today we also speak to The Guardian’s vice president of advertising for North America Luis Romero about the tactics he is using in response to the toughest market since 2008. He also explains why the $2bn spent annually with Twitter would be far better given to publishers.
And as we approach the second year in the age of generative AI we find out how publishers who have launched AI-driven chatbots on their sites are getting on.
Congratulations to all the finalists at this year’s Press Gazette British Journalism Awards. We will find out the winners at the Hilton Bankside in London tonight. Press Gazette will be live-tweeting from the event and look out for tomorrow’s email when we will share all the results.
New from Press Gazette
Covid-19 origins: A media conspiracy of silence
Why did so many journalists dismiss as a conspiracy the idea Covid-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan?
How publishers are using AI chatbots to boost engagement
Forbes has used Google tech to create its own generative AI-based search experience.
Guardian US ad chief on how publisher is navigating ‘toughest ad market since 2008’
“Even in well-lit places like X, there are very dark corners there, as we’ve all read and seen. And there’s still over $2bn being spent on that particular platform.”
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Our latest podcast
Podcast 62: How publishers can sell online advertising in an awful market
Guardian US senior vice president for advertising Luis Romero talks to Press Gazette about what it is like to sell in the toughest ad market since 2008.
He also shares some tactics and strategies the Guardian is deploying to persuade more brands to spend money on reaching its 45 million US readers per month.
His pitch is a simple one: stop supporting the dark corners of the internet on tech platforms and instead help fund a news business which is shining light on the world's most important issues.
Must-reads this week from Press Gazette you might have missed
What The Guardian has learned from five years of daily news podcasting
Why building resilient newsrooms is a necessity, not a luxury
Mail Online looks set to adopt partial ‘freemium’ paywall in 2024
Using AI to transform discoverability at Germany’s oldest news publisher
Future pledges £25m investment and 200 hires to reverse revenue decline
