What publishers can learn from US election | Scott Trust explained
And who were the election day web traffic winners and losers among leading US newsbrands?
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Friday 15 November 2024, brought to you today in association with PA Media.
The second edition of PA's lifestyle content publication - Unwrapped: Lifestyle Content Decoded - is now live. Featuring expert insight, advice and handy tips around creating engaging lifestyle content across different platforms and formats - Unwrapped is your go-to resource for lifestyle content support!
Following last week's US presidential election one could be forgiven for asking: what's the point of journalism?
Most mainstream media coverage was pretty sceptical about Donald Trump's ability to lead the free world. Most news publishers who expressed a preference endorsed Kamala Harris.
Yet Donald Trump romped home with a slender victory in the popular vote (expected to be about 1.5%) and a landslide in the Electoral College.
Are US journalists out of touch with 50% of the population?
We've also taken an in-depth look at the website traffic winners and losers among leading newsbrands on November 5 and 6 in the US according to data from Similarweb. Overall traffic was only slightly down compared with 2020, which is not surprising given the election outcome was decided much more quickly.
Here is an incredibly geeky quiz question for a Friday: who owns The Guardian?
The Scott Trust, I hear you say. But who owns the Scott Trust? I learned this week that David Olusoga, Russell Scott, Haroon Siddique, Ole Jacob Sunde and Kath Viner each have equal shares.
But while their names are over the door, the Scott Trust only exists as a vehicle to "preserve the financial position and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity" - they can’t dip into the Trust’s £1.3bn savings if they want a new conservatory.
There are 12 directors of the Scott Trust who will have the final say over whether or not to sell The Observer to Tortoise Media, with a decision expected to be made this year.
Most Guardian and Observer journalists appear to be strongly opposed to the deal and some are asking questions about the governance of the body which holds their fate in its hands.
Why was a new director appointed this week (investment banker Jonathan Paine)? Who decided to change the composition of the body ahead of such a crucial vote and how does the appointments process work anyway?
Given the Scott Trust only exists to support their indepence, Guardian and Observer journalists feel entitled to more answers than they were getting. Read my Scott Trust backgrounder here.
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On Press Gazette
Polls, trust and video shorts: Lessons for news publishers from US election
Six senior leaders look at the media's performance during the US election and what's on the way next.
Scott Trust appoints new member as it nears crucial Observer sale decision
Scott Trust board will need 75% agreement to go ahead with Observer sale.
Top publishers saw less traffic on day of 2024 US Election versus 2020
The AP and NBC News saw their traffic grow while the NYT, CNN and Fox all shed visitors.
Content Ignite becomes Google Certified Publishing Partner (Promoted)
This accreditation underscores the company’s dedication to boosting publisher revenues using Google’s sophisticated monetisation tools consistently over a long period of time.
News in brief
Google plans to test removing articles published by EU-based news sites from search results for 1% of users in European countries because publishers and regulators "have asked for additional data about the effect of news content in Search”. However a Paris court is blocking the plan in France after a request from professional body Le Syndicat des Éditeurs de la Presse Magazine. The court said Google would get fined up to €90,000 a day if it went ahead.
Spain's fourth biggest newspaper La Vanguardia has followed The Guardian by leaving X, saying it "has increasingly tolerated toxic and manipulated content thanks to the proliferation of bots" since Elon Musk took over. The editor also suspended his account. (Reuters)
The Onion has won the bankruptcy auction to buy Infowars. (The New York Times)
PA Media has launched a site for its Election Check 24 Ireland partnership with The Journal Fact Check, which has funding from the Google News Initiative. Both news providers will add fact checks for journalists to keep on top of campaign claims. (PA Media)
Impress is launching a new "ethical journalism training programme" which it says will be open to all. More details on the programme, which is being created as part of a partnership with the University of Huddersfield, will be announced in coming months.
This week on Press Gazette:
Newspaper ABCs: Sunday Mail in Scotland manages to hold off monthly decline in October
Telegraph is launching an AI-driven newsroom tool every month
Fresh auction looms for Telegraph as Dovid Efune yet to secure financing
Paul Staines steps down as Guido Fawkes editor, Ross Kempsell becomes publisher
News Corp adds Google-powered AI summaries to Factiva search results
Open web group says Google Sandbox ‘governance framework’ lets it ‘mark its own homework’
Daily Mail wins European Court appeal over £822k costs payout to terror suspect
News Provider of the Year 2024: Six publishers make the shortlist
Facebook still powering commercial success for local news brand The BV magazine
Podcast 78: Generative AI in the newsroom at The Telegraph
Telegraph Media Group director of technology Dylan Jacques talks to us about the title’s ambitious plans to roll out a new generative-AI powered feature every month for 12 months.
It has already rolled out AI-written summaries and various internal tools which are helping journalists use AI to improve content, increase reader engagement and so sell more subscriptions.