Why Reach is launching more Substacks | Keeping ahead of fake experts industry
And we meet the head of PA Media's 20-strong team feeding the growing UK appetite for puzzles
Good morning and welcome to your daily Press Gazette media briefing on Wednesday, 11 June, brought to you in association with Opinary - the audience engagement platform behind the polls you've seen on The Times, Yahoo, Daily Mail and elsewhere.
If the news business is to survive we have to prove we are better than the AI-generated slop which now proliferates online.
Staying grounded in reality seems like sensible advice to any publisher who wants to stay in business.
Today we return to the story of Barbara Santini, a psychologist who has been quoted hundreds of times in news publications around the world - including the Telegraph, BBC and Independent - and who, I can now state with certainty, does not exist.
‘Barbara’ previously threatened to sue me if I said this but two months on no legal letter has arrived and her commentary career appears to have come to an abrupt end.
Press Gazette reports today on how the fake commentary industry continues to churn out possibly AI-generated insight from experts who do not exist. And how some journalists are taking extra precautions to stay ahead of the game.
Meanwhile, the fake experts are getting more sophisticated with some also creating backup profiles on LinkedIn.
It's an issue which was thrown into focus by last week's fake story in the Telegraph about a rich banker struggling to afford school fees. That story was based on a real interview with a case study who decided to give a fake name but did not inform the journalist they were doing so. It was brokered by a PR promoting a wealth management service.
Reach audience and content director Jenna Thompson talks about the three ingredients of a great newsletter: exclusive content, personality/expertise and shared passion.
Press Gazette Future of Media Awards: 19 June is the deadline for entries
This event celebrates the websites, apps, podcasts, newsletters and commercial strategies which are lighting the way to a profitable future for journalism in the digital age.
Promoted
How the Financial Times uses polls to keep subscribers engaged
The FT has used newsletter polls from Opinary for over five years to build engagement and retain subscribers. Now it’s rolling them out across web articles and the FT Edit app, including The Big Question, a weekly poll designed to spark regular interaction.
Early results: Up to 18,000 votes per poll, higher retention among subscribers, more engagement from younger readers, stronger performance of specialist newsletters.
In an exclusive piece, newsletter editor Gordon Smith shares how Financial Times is using Opinary to deepen reader habits.
On Press Gazette
Journalists are adding extra checks to keep ahead of the fake experts
“After we submitted our client’s approved comments, the journalist then asked us to have the client email them directly to confirm the authenticity and approval of the statement. This was the first time I had come across this.”
Reach launches series of Substack newsletter digests in bid for new audiences
“It is about putting us in that space where people might not have that relationship with Reach, but can discover our journalists in that way.”
How 20-strong PA Media team feeds growing publisher demand for puzzles (promoted)
“One thing that’s particular about puzzles, is that while you can sometimes read an article fairly quickly, the dwell time for people who are trying to solve a puzzle is typically quite a bit longer.”
News in brief
On the second day of the Getty vs Stability AI trial, the AI firm argued Getty has only been able to pick out a handful of images that allegedly infringe its copyright in a "borderline cynical exercise" carried out by working "backwards". (Law 360)
Good Morning Britain's North America correspondent Noel Phillips was hit on the arm by a police rubber bullet while covering the Los Angeles protests against immigration raids: "Police don’t appear to care whether you’re a journalist, whether you're a resident or a protester.” Multiple journalists have been hit by police projectiles during the current unrest in the US city (ITV)
Mark Guiducci has been named the first global editorial director of Vanity Fair, a newly created role to oversee its direction in all markets including the US and UK. He has been creative editorial director at Vogue since 2020. (Conde Nast)
David Beckham will guest edit Country Life in October to mark his 50th birthday year. Beckham told the magazine's editor he "reads every issue from cover to cover and it’s been a great companion to him as he’s developed his own life in the countryside". (Country Life)
Premium Content
New London culture title to launch in September with five-strong team
Around ten staff axed in Techcrunch move to scrap Europe coverage
Telegraph withdraws banker school fees story after being deceived by source
Staying true to ‘core cause’ has helped Stylist survive bonfire of the free mags
Google ‘handling stolen goods’ with Youtube theft of paywalled news articles
Why Business Insider is axing 100-plus staff and who is leaving
How launching podcasts on Youtube has prompted ‘explosive’ growth for Goalhanger
How Reach returned to audience growth after two years of decline
Newsletter platforms for publishers compared: Substack versus the rest
Press Gazette now operates a metered paywall, so you’ll need to subscribe in order to read more than a couple of premium stories on our website.
This newsletter remains free.
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.