Lords call for action on news and AI | RAJAR radio listening figures for Q4
And forgive us for tooting our own trumpet a bit on a Friday
Welcome to your daily update from Press Gazette on Friday, 2 February.
It has been a bumpy start to the year for news media and it has not been all plain sailing for Press Gazette either over the last 12 months.
But, if you would permit us to blow our own trumpet a little here, we are a news media success story.
In 2009 we were shut down for the second time in three years. At a time when the news industry was (frankly) dying on its arse, the idea of profitably running a publication dedicated to journalism seemed far-fetched.
Today Press Gazette is the most popular website dedicated to covering news media in the English-language world. We’ve also just had our two most successful years commercially since the mid-2000s.
You can read all about it here.
We have more on that bumpy start to the year here. The Messenger has gone from being the biggest news media launch of the last year to the biggest closure with 300 jobs lost in the US.
The House of Lords has published a major report on generative AI with input from the news industry. The headline news for the Government is: Please don’t wait ten years to clarify the situation on copyright. Action is needed now to stop large language models stealing editorial content without permission or recompense.
Channel 4 News correspondent Ciaran Jenkins has spoken to us about how he caught out former Scottish First Minister in a fib over the release of her Whatsapp messages.
Children are consuming news in their millions on Tiktok, but they are not getting information from professional journalists. Instead they learn about current affairs from a 20-something Tiktok personality calling himself the News Daddy. Lisa Campbell, from ITN, explains what the broadcaster is doing about this somewhat concerning state of affairs.
We also have the latest quarterly round-up of radio listening figures from RAJAR. Talksport, Talkradio and GB News are the fastest growers and BBC local leads the fallers following a round of major cutbacks.
Jobs of the Week
New from Press Gazette
Copyright, news and gen AI: Action needed from Government says Lords
House of Lords report says it was unfair for AI firms to use copyrighted work without permission or compensation.
Press Gazette tops the chart for media business news in the UK and US
Press Gazette is now the most visited media news website in the English-speaking world, according to a ranking compiled using independent data from Similarweb.
C4 News’ Ciaran Jenkins wanted to set ‘benchmark’ for openness with Sturgeon Whatsapp question
Sturgeon admitted this week she deleted Covid-era Whatsapps, despite telling Jenkins she would not.
Taking on Tiktok’s ‘news daddy’: Why ITN wants kids to know how journalism works
Millions of children use Tiktok accounts like Dylan Page as their primary news source - but that comes with risks.
News media job cuts 2024 tracked: Year starts with at least 950 redundancies
Jimmy Finkelstein’s digital news start-up The Messenger abruptly closed on Wednesday with many staff finding out from New York Times, Semafor and Axios reporting rather than management.
News in brief
Shutterstock has bought the celebrity picture agency Backgrid. (Press Gazette)
Mother Jones has merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting. (Press Gazette)
Ex-employees of The Messenger are suing the defunct site in a class action suit, alleging it violated a law that protects employees from mass layoffs or shutdowns by failing to give at least 60 days' notice and denying them benefits and wages they’re owed. (Politico)
UN experts have condemned the "extraordinarily high numbers of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured and detained" in Gaza, "blatantly disregarding international law" as it appears to be a "deliberate strategy by Israeli forces". (UN)
More than 200 news, magazine, book, music and more organisations have jointly called on the EU to approve its AI Act today. They said it will "help set a global standard for how we expect AI systems to operate" as it will ensure rights are protected. (European Publishers Council)
Alison Phillips was banged out of the Mirror newsroom in Canary Wharf on Wednesday. She has sent best wishes to her successor Caroline Waterston "as she leads Mirror in next chapter of its great history".
ITV has the most nominations at the RTS Television Journalism Awards 2024 with 16, followed by the BBC on 13 and Sky News on 11. Susanna Reid, who is up for Network Presenter of the Year for GMB, will host the ceremony next month. (RTS)
Society of Editors has promised to "name and shame" parties and candidates that use fake newspaper-style campaign leaflets in the run-up to the general election. It said the "absurd" practice damages democracy, undermines public trust and is "insulting" to voters. (Society of Editors)
i editor Oly Duff has announced 11 new hires at the title as well as eight vacancies. Last year Duff told Press Gazette the i's digital subscriptions strategy was working "because we've got deep long-term investment in the quality of the journalism".
This week on Press Gazette
Why publishers need to wrest back control of content value chain
Politico embraces generative AI web crawlers with website redesigns
Google plans to limit reader data sharing for publishers to groups of five sites
Sport journalists cut at Record, Scotsman and Scottish Daily Mail
Top 50 UK news websites: Sun extends lead over Mail Online in December
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Global news industry trends for 2024: Publishers optimistic on new revenue streams
Youtube drives increase in paying readers as Novara Media nears 15,000 donors