How to survive and thrive in 2025: Media leaders share their insights
We also have an interview with Channel 4 News editor Esme Wren and our final top-50 rankings of 2024 for English-language news websites in the world and US
Good morning and welcome to your last daily Press Gazette media briefing of 2024.
As we reflect on a year that has seen some high-profile newsbrands bite the dust - Estates Gazette, Total Film and the daily edition of the Evening Standard to name just three - we leave you with a big forward-looking feature to enjoy at your leisure over the Christmas break.
Some 23 news media leaders from the UK and US have shared their insights into how we can all make a go of the news business in 2025.
Working in news publishing often feels like taking part in one of those mad cheese-rolling competitions they enjoy in parts of rural England - tumbling pell-mell down a hill chasing the cheese wheel of revenue. But it is good to have a job with challenges, as they say, and it is warm work indoors.
At Press Gazette we've actually had a record year for revenue fuelled by our growing portfolio of events in the UK and US. And the signs are that the economy is picking up in the fourth quarter of 2024. If you can take the time to read our mega round-up of media revenue trends for next year I think you will be all set for a profitable 2025.
We have the latest top-50 lists of the biggest English-language news websites in the US and the world, showing many American sites had a bumper November as they covered a close presidential election.
And head of the News Media Association Owen Meredith writes exclusively for Press Gazette about why the UK government's approach to copyright reform threatens to undermine journalism in the age of AI.
Have a great Christmas break when you get there and thank you for giving us your time this year.
Observer update: Our final update on the Observer sale for the year comes in the form of a clarification. Contrary to early reports a legally-binding contract to sell The Observer to Tortoise Media has been signed (with completion of the deal due in the spring). We had been led to believe it was just a heads-of-terms agreement in principle.
We have asked a couple of times but we still have not been told by Tortoise who exactly is funding the deal.
On Press Gazette
Diversify or die? 23 media leaders reveal how to make news pay in 2025
Senior editorial and commercial leaders at 23 news publishers share their expectations and challenges for 2025.
Channel 4 News editor: ‘We defy expectations because we move quickly’
Esme Wren discusses programme's strengths as it wins News Provider of the Year.
Top 50 news websites in the world: AP and NBC see more than 50% monthly surge
Agencies, US broadcasters and political news saw big gains in November.
Top 50 news websites in the US: Washington Post and LA Times miss out on election boost
Press Gazette's monthly ranking of the top 50 news websites in the US, using Similarweb data.
’Opt-out’ AI rights would let tech companies ‘shirk responsibilities’ on copyright
News Media Association boss says Government's proposed approach "overlooks the real challenge".
What we have learned about journalism in the AI era two years on (promoted)
Rich Fairburn of Glide reflects on key learnings from publisher round-tables at Press Gazette conferences in the UK and US.
Glide scores huge contract win as CMS provider for Arsenal FC (promoted)
Glide Publishing Platform will support a diverse range of content for Arsenal's huge global fan base.
News in brief
Lizzy Buchan appointed Mirror political editor. (Press Gazette)
Reporters Without Borders has called on Apple to remove a new AI-generated news notification summary feature which has attributed false claims to major news publications. (BBC News)
Forbes has said it will stop using freelances as writers for its product review section because of Google's "site reputation abuse" policy. (The Verge)
A Russian security council boss has threatened the "lousy jackals from The Times who cowardly hid behind an editorial", adding "be careful! Because a lot of things happen in London". The Times had said the killing of a Russian general was a "legitimate act of defence" by Ukraine. (The Moscow Times)
The BBC is advertising for a Newsnight chief presenter to succeed Kirsty Wark. The job ad says the programme's rebrand into an interview/discussion show has "helped grow the average nightly audience by a third" with a 26% growth in average audience share. (BBC)
Fraser Nelson is joining The Times in January as a weekly columnist. Nelson, who began his journalism career in 1996 as a business reporter for the title, said: "I think of no greater honour than being a columnist for this newspaper - and no better time to be doing it."
The BBC says it has analysed Facebook data and found Palestinian news outlets suffered a steep drop in audience engagement since Oct 2023 when the current conflict began. Meta responded that any implication of deliberate suppression was "unequivocally false". (BBC News)
The Atlantic's two union units have struck their first tentative contract with management, raising salary minimums for the lowest-paid staff by 55%, adding "just cause" termination requirements and giving the editorial union a say over AI use in the newsroom. (News Guild)
Crypto trade publication Coindesk reportedly removed a story about crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who last month bought and then ate a $6.2m banana artwork, after crypto exchange Bullish (the site's owners since last year) demanded it be deleted. (Fortune)
Semafor has announced "The CEO Signal", an invite-only membership for CEOs of companies with annual revenues above $500m. Launching at Davos next month, the offering will start as a weekly newsletter and is led by new hire Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson. (Semafor)
Ofcom's most-complained about programme of 2024 was Julia Hartley-Brewer's interview with a Palestinian MP in January (17,366 complaints) - TalkTV was told "to take extra care to ensure that potentially highly offensive comments are editorially justified". Second place was a Good Morning Britain episode in August that featured a fiery interview with Labour MP Zarah Sultana and Ed Balls interviewing his wife Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. (Ofcom)
Spain has announced a bill to combat fake news aimed at forcing tech platforms and social media influencers to publish corrections about inaccurate information that has harmed someone. (The Guardian)
Two men have been taken into custody in London over the stabbing of a British-Iranian journalist after they were extradited from Romania. (Reuters)
Also on Press Gazette:
How AI search tool Perplexity is sharing ad revenue with publishers
Journalist of the year Caroline Wheeler on her 23-year crusade: ‘Never give up’
Ad-blockers mean publishers missing out on ad revenue from one in five readers
Media Concierge to take over National World, promising to invest in local news
Tortoise-Observer deal signed and Lucy Rock named print editor
‘Paywalls safest way to guarantee journalistic jobs’ says Bloomberg editor in chief
Latest podcast
Podcast 80: What we learned in 2024 about the business of news
The Press Gazette team look back on the big themes of 2024 for news publishers and reveal what they have learned. They also share their predictions for 2025 which include: more paywalls in the national media, an economic upturn all around and big changes in the tech platforms which readers use to discover their news.