Guardian creates 55 jobs | Top 50 UK Substack newsletters by paid subs
Plus spurious copyright claim sees second Press Gazette story removed from Google search
Good morning from the team at Press Gazette on Wednesday, 1 July.
Today’s newsletter is brought to you in association with WordPress VIP.
According to new research from 2,000 consumers and decision-makers: 74% say the internet feels less human than it did 10 years ago — and no brand has figured out how to fix it yet.
WordPress VIP’s five-chapter Future of the Web report covers AI brand visibility, content trust, platform risk, and what comes after the website.
⬆️ A fairly clear strategy is emerging when it comes to publisher dealings with AI companies.
Create as much friction as you can to slow down the scraping and stealing of content whilst also making it straightforward for LLMs to strike actual, legal licensing deals.
That was the big take-home from yesterday’s Press Gazette AI Summit which gathered around 100 media leaders at County Hall, opposite the Houses of Parliament in London (sponsored by Prorata and Monetisation OS).
Publishers ranging from Reuters to Mediahuis said it was impossible to completely stop illegal bot attacks on their websites, but most are deploying a few different technologies that enable them to shut out most of the scrapers. We also heard about the importance of gathering and recording as much evidence as you can about illegal scraping in order to gear up for potential legal or licensing claims in the future.
SPUR is gathering more publishers to join its coalition of the willing which is creating a framework for payments based on content usage. This would see the likes of ChatGPT share data and revenue with publishers in the same way that Spotify does with record companies.
Another encouraging sign was the fact that one pretty niche B2B publisher told me they had been approached by a major LLM seeking a cash licensing deal.
The assumption has been that someone like OpenAI would only do deals with a couple of top news providers in each geographical market. But this could also now extend to key industry verticals.
My sense from yesterday is that the news industry is willing to collaborate and coordinate like never before to help ensure its shared survival. I hope this spirit continues and that the era of short-term sweetheart deals with particular tech companies is over.
The decisions that publishers make now aren’t just about the next half-yearly revenue targets – they will decide the future of the news business for decades to come.
🎥 The Guardian has put more flesh on the bones of plans outlined last year for a major expansion of video journalism.
This follows major investment in new video shows and creator-style journalism at Reach, The Sun, Daily Mail and other leading publishers.
Some 55 jobs have been promised, a 3% increase in headcount, as The Guardian pivots away from publishing two novels’ worth of words every two hours (as editor-in-chief Katharine Viner put it) to creating more audio and video journalism.
📧 We have a new list of the top 50 Substack newsletters in the UK ranked by paid circulation.
Finance, politics and food & drink seem to be the subject areas most likely to attract a paying audience. And thankfully there aren’t too many far-right nutjobs in the list (I will let you decide who I am referring to there).
🚨 Press Gazette’s reporting on parasite SEO firm Clickout Media has resulted in some extraordinarily underhand reputation-managing tactics.
An anonymous entity has filed a spurious copyright complaint with Google, falsely claiming the Press Gazette story was copied entirely from a Reddit post.
For now the article can’t be found via Google search, so please re-share it if you can to spread the word about Clickout Media – a company that buys decent websites, replaces actual staff with robots and then pumps out marketing copy promoting dubious online casinos.
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🤏 News In Brief
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is “minded to intervene” in Paramount’s $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, a mega-merger involving Channel 5, CNN and TNT Sports, on grounds of media plurality and competition. (Deadline)
The National Union of Journalists has rejected a 1% pay rise (minimum of £500 increase) offer for BBC journalists. (The Telegraph)
The Canary says it has been debanked by Lloyds Bank and says it received no notice or explanation for the decision. The publisher said it does not have enough cash to pay all its staff, with the bank "holding so much of our money”. (Canary)
The Economist has rolled out a lower-priced subscription tier for its audio and video journalism called Economist Play, a bundle offering to pull in younger and more diverse audiences. (Digiday)
The Stage Media Company has changed its name to Playbook Media. It publishes The Stage and acquired The Bookseller in 2020. It also runs associated events.
Photographer Klaus Thymann, a Danish national who lives in London and is a member of the NUJ, has been arrested in Uganda where he was trying to enter an area in which he has previously documented receding glaciers. (NUJ)
NPR has retracted an article stating that an associate justice of the US Supreme Court had announced his retirement. NPR’s editor-in-chief said in a statement that the article had been published because of a “misunderstanding". (The New York Times)
👀In case you missed it:
1) Axel Springer promises ‘AI-powered transformation’ as it completes Telegraph deal
Politico and Business Insider publisher ends three years of ownership limbo for Telegraph.
2) ‘Timidity is the thing that kills you’: Ian Hislop on 40 years editing Private Eye
Private Eye print circulation continues to buck rest of magazine market.
3) Court sets precedent on source protection in Westgaph-Mill Media case
County Court claim left Mill Media with more than £75,000 incurred costs.
4) Confusion and anger as publisher moves journalists to pay-per-click contracts
Journalists on The Gamer paid $8 per thousand clicks.
5) Google AI changes could deal further blow to publisher Discover traffic
SEO experts outline challenges and opportunities for publishers in latest Google changes.
📻Latest podcast
Publishers versus LLMS: Trusted Reviews is leading fightback
Candr Media CEO Chris Dicker has seen its flagship website - Trusted Reviews - be pillaged by AI bots over the last 18 months.
He spoke to Press Gazette about a new legal tactic that uses a branch of law dating back to the Romans to secure justice and perhaps force big tech to the negotiating table.