More cuts at Business Insider | Top 50 UK newsbrands ranking
Journalists pass vote of no confidence in PA editor, commenting returns to Press Gazette and Met Police told to hand back laptop seized over journalist's tweets
Good morning and welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Friday, 30 May, in association with Avid Collective.
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Stories about job cuts and industrial strife in news media are coming thick and fast this week.
Business Insider has said it is cutting 21% of staff (at least 150 people I reckon), apparently in response to Google-driven traffic variation. This follows cutting 10% of the team in 2023 and a further 8% last year.
My guess is that the title (mainly based in New York and London) is too broad in focus - covering everything from the cost of millennial divorce to "things you should never do at a work event" and from coverage of the Diddy trial to foreign affairs.
Its woes stand in contrast to Axel Springer stablemate Politico, which continues to expand fuelled by expensive subscriptions to its in-depth coverage of politics and policy (as covered by Press Gazette last month).
The Business Insider cuts follow the abrupt closure of the South London Press earlier this week.
Meanwhile, at PA Media, new editor-in-chief Jack Lefley looks in danger of losing the dressing room after union members passed a motion of no confidence in him after 74 journalists were put at risk of redundancy in order to cut 25 jobs.
There has been a lot of chat in recent weeks about the rise of generative AI-powered search spelling doom for website publishing as we know it. I'm happy to report that this is yet to be reflected in the traffic numbers tracked by Ipsos iris.
Our latest top-50 ranking of UK newsbrands has The Guardian, Independent and Sun all neck and neck as the most popular commercial publishers with a monthly UK audience of around 22 million each. Mail Online is close behind on 21.2 million, but trounces other commercial publishers in terms of total time spent on its site.
And finally, I am tickled pink to announce that live commenting is back on the Press Gazette website thanks to a partnership with OpenWeb. It follows the arrival of our metered paywall yesterday.
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On Press Gazette
50 biggest UK news websites: Top four commercial newsbrands neck and neck
Press Gazette's monthly ranking of the top 50 news websites in the UK.
PA Media journalists back no confidence vote against new editor-in-chief over cuts plan
Jack Lefley has led the PA Media newsroom since the start of the year.
Met Police raid on journalist over Palestine tweets was illegal, judge rules
“This ruling resoundingly affirms journalists’ right to protect sources as enshrined in law. The seizure of our member’s property was a brazen attempt to intimidate journalists working in the public interest.”
Commenting returns to Press Gazette powered by OpenWeb
“We will be post-moderating the discussion so readers will be able to discuss the future of media in real time.”
Future of Media Awards 2025 are open for entries
The awards celebrate great journalism-based apps, podcasts, websites, newsletters and more.
News in brief
The New York Times has signed its first AI licensing deal - with Amazon. (Press Gazette)
The managing director of lifestyle publisher Refinery29 is joining The Standard as CEO. (Press Gazette)
The German government is looking at imposing a 10% tax on global internet firms like Google and Meta. Other proposals include a voluntary commitment by the companies to pay more tax in Germany. (Financial Times)
The latest edition of The Economist in Asia which has Vietnam's leader To Lam on the cover has been banned in the country, according to Reuters and Bloomberg News which both spoke to distributors unable to sell the magazine.
Cosmopolitan UK has launched Club Cosmo, the latest Hearst UK membership offering. It includes a digital subscription, e-zines, archive access, events, giveaways and discounts and hopes to be an "antidote" to disconnect. Other Hearst UK memberships include at Women’s Health and Men’s Health, Elle, Good Housekeeping and Runner’s World (links to previous Press Gazette interviews).
Ofcom is consulting on requests from the BBC to reduce its news and current affairs quotas: at BBC Radio Foyle from at least 1,043 hours a year to at least 710 hours, and at BBC Asian Network from 1,224 hours to at least 675. Ofcom expects to approve the plans. (Ofcom)
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How launching podcasts on Youtube has prompted ‘explosive’ growth for Goalhanger
How BBC History is bringing content about the past to tomorrow’s audiences
Online subs and town centre shopfronts: Tindle plan to safeguard local news
Guardian grows revenue and reduces losses for year to March 2025
Latest podcast: Death of the website, the never-ending pivot to video and why Dom loves Substack
'The death of the website' was the name of one panel session at a recent publishing industry conference. Press Gazette editor in chief Dominic Ponsford and UK editor Charlotte Tobitt discuss why this statement is nonsense, but also the tech and behaviour changes which are prompting people to say it.
They also analyse the latest publisher pivot to video (more a never-ending pirouette) and Dominic explains why he has become an unpaid brand ambassador for Substack.