UK media rich list 2024 | UK public polled on journalism in AI
And what Google's competition fight in France means for UK publishers
Welcome to this week’s Future of Media newsletter from Press Gazette on Thursday 11 April, brought to you this week in association with Opti Digital, an adtech company developing innovative AI-based technologies designed to help publishers maximise their advertising revenues.
How much do the big bosses of the UK media and information technology world earn?
Data journalist Aisha Majid has crunched the numbers for us to create our second news media rich list of the 60 top-paid execs, after we first carried out the analysis in 2022.
The four companies represented in the top five are: RELX, DMGT, Yougov and Informa. Total pay in the ranking (when including share payouts etc) ranges from £13.6m to £411,000.
Speaking of Yougov – today I’ve delved into exclusive data giving the best idea yet of how the UK public feels about the potential use of AI in more journalism tasks.
People were pretty negative about the top-level question about it being bad for the industry – but then quite willing to let it do a surprising amount of tasks. Crucially though, the overwhelming majority will trust publishers more if they are open about when AI has been used.
And finally, we have an interesting take on Google’s fight over news in France and what it could mean for UK publishers. David Buttle’s piece left me feeling encouraged that we’re going down the competition law route to tackle the power imbalance, rather than Europe’s copyright route.
Promoted report
How have eCPM evolved over the course of 2023?
In a recent study carried out by Opti Digital, the average eCPM fell by almost 30% in 2023 compared to 2022 in Western Europe, averaging less than €1: €0.89 in 2023 compared to €1.04 in 2022.
If you would like to benefit from a more in-depth analysis and see how you have performed compared with other media in your category, don't miss the live presentation of Opti Digital's barometer on the eCPM variation in 2023, across Europe.
There will be a focus on the evolution of eCPM based on the following points: geo, media size, category, device, etc.
Register here for valuable insights on the market.
New from Press Gazette
UK news media rich list 2024: 60 highest-earning execs revealed
DMGT, whose chairman and chief executive Lord Rothermere topped the ranking the last time we did this analysis in 2022 with total earnings of £10.9m in 2021, dropped to third after its highest-paid director made £6.5m in 2023.
What UK really thinks about use of AI in journalism
The Yougov survey of 2,046 adults carried out in January and shared with Press Gazette found that 48% of people fear AI will have a negative effect on journalism.
Comment: Google’s fight in France and what it means for UK publishers
“Google’s decision to pay repeated fines instead of comply gives us reasons to think that UK publishers are soon going to be able to improve their terms with the Mountain View behemoth.”
Also on Press Gazette
Editors unite in bid to stop anti-SLAPP bill being ‘ultimately redundant’
Henry Winter made redundant from The Times as Mail sports journalists await restructure
Open Democracy cuts fifth of staff, including head of news and political correspondent
BBC faces Pandora Papers libel trial versus Tory donor Amersi after defamation ruling
Sun halves losses, Times titles grow revenue, TalkTV losses rise to £88m
Ofcom warns TalkTV over ‘potentially offensive’ Julia Hartley-Brewer interview with Palestinian MP
Our latest podcast
Podcast 68: How to make news pay on Youtube with TLDR News
Founder of video news network TLDR News Jack Kelly explains how he funds an 11-strong editorial team providing serious news for younger viewers on Youtube.
The profitable publisher is funded mainly through the Youtube ad revenue split and direct-sold sponsorship – but also made a successful foray last year into print publishing.
Press Gazette live
Entries are now OPEN for the Future of Media Awards 2024 (which celebrate the best journalism-based digital products). Check out the full list of categories here. Note: These awards are free to enter.
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