AI Licensing Launch, Condé Nast’s Elite Tier, WAN-IFRA & FIPP Merge, & More
A shout out to today’s sponsor, Songbird.Group (SBG) M&A, who specialise in the sale of publishing businesses. Their newly released SBG Dealbook (Q4 2025) includes a portfolio of 12 current, privately listed, media and publishing brands, with target exit-sale prices ranging from $700k USD to $22M and revenue multiples between 1.4x - 8x.
Today’s Long Read (scroll down) breaks down ‘Really Simple Licensing (RSL) 1.0’ - the first AI-era content licensing protocol that was officially adopted as an industry standard yesterday. Backed by The Associated Press, USA Today, Boston Globe Media, The Guardian, Vox Media, and many others, it gives publishers new tools to block AI scrapers while staying visible in search. And a legal path forward.
Let’s crack on…
Meta Strikes Multiple AI Deals With News Publishers
Meta has inked content deals with several publishers including CNN, Fox News, Le Monde Group, USA Today, Washington Examiner and People Inc. Crucially, under the terms of the multi-year commercial agreements, the Meta AI chatbot will link out to articles on each publisher’s website. P.S. For updated AI deals between publishers and platforms, visit Tow Center’s AI Deals and Disputes Tracker.
WAN-IFRA and FIPP Unite in Global Publishing Alliance
The rumours were correct—the merger, commencing Jan 1st 2026, will see the creation of the largest network of media companies globally, bringing together 20,000 media brands and tech vendors across 120 countries. Key details: The annual FIPP Congress will continue and FIPP Members will have their own “Consumer Lifestyle and Special Interest Media” community within WAN-IFRA. #goodluck
Mea Culpa: Colombia’s El Espectador Apologises for AI Fake News
An intern for one of Colombia’s most respected news brands, El Espectador, used ChatGPT to create several fabricated news stories. Fidel Cano, the publisher, has since fronted up to his readers in a video address, apologising profusely for the fact it “passed our filters” and that “the deception was supported with nonexistent sources”. Ya gotta love the fact he ran ads on the video…
Members at Condé Nast Have 50x Higher LTV Than Subscribers
Condé Nast’s new membership tier sits above subscriptions, aimed squarely at high-value readers. Membership is built on three pillars - access, utility, and belonging - and includes high-value experiences such as intimate Vogue Business’ industry dinners with ‘white-glove treatment’. N.B. Members are also 1.5x more likely to stay than subscribers.
New Help Desk Launches to Support Local Newsrooms
The Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) and the Local Media Consortium (LMC) have launched a central hub to give local news publishers access to tools, templates, resources and ‘vetted’ digital experts to plug knowledge gaps and manage projects. The aim? To provide a dedicated ‘Learning Centre’, accelerate innovation, and enhance local news sustainability. Link: News Media Help Desk.
Aftonbladet’s 75% Increase in Subscription Sales Using AI Recommendations
Sweden’s largest news media brand, Aftonbladet, has developed an AI model that identifies high-performing content in real time and places it in automated front-page positions, where it has the highest likelihood of converting a reader into a paying subscriber. The result? A 75% jump in conversions. P.S. Existing subs get recommendations based on their interests alone to increase engagement.
INMA Launches Young Audiences Initiative
Hot on the heels of WAN-IFRA’s launch of its Future Audiences Initiative comes INMA’s Young Audiences Initiative. Supported by the Knight Foundation, the program aims to give publishers a ‘practical playbook’ to connect with emerging audiences—includes reports, webinars, events, and private AMA sessions. Led by Kerstin Hasse, previously the youngest ever editor at Tages-Anzeiger, the Swiss daily.
What Publishers Need to Know About Ad Tech in 2026
Programmatic is shifting from scale to precision: AI-driven buying, sell-side optimisation, first-party data strategies and cleaner inventory are all combining to fundamentally change the ad ecosystem. TL;DR: Publishers who offer higher quality and trusted environments will be far better positioned in 2026 to win the serious ad budgets. AI Slop is going to destroy the rest…
Five Reasons To Use The Internet Archive’s New WordPress Plugin
And one smart reason not to: AI bots are bypassing robots.txt and are instead using the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) and Common Crawl to scrape publisher content. It’s now such a problem that Reddit blocks the IA’s Wayback Machine from scraping its site, whilst The Atlantic’s recent exposé on Common Crawl should make any publisher think again. #becareful
Reuters Report: What People Think of Climate Change News
TL;DR: Not much. The great climate grift is coming to an end, with even The Spectator announcing that, “the global warming craze has kicked the bucket.” Bill Gates has also rowed back on his doomsday predictions - any suggestion it’s because each of his AI data centres uses the same power as a small city would be a level of cynicism I can only aspire to. #followthemoney
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Footnote: Before Greta was born, my university thesis was on climate science, and in 2006 I spent an entire day one-on-one with the Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; i.e. I’m informed. Essential reading: COP30 in Brazil.
AI Tool of the Week: Magai
Magai is an all-in-one AI workspace that lets you switch between 50+ AI models mid-conversation without losing context. It handles brainstorming, rewriting, translating, fact checking, image creation, summarising and SEO - its USP is that it allows you to use the best AI tool for each task. All for the price of one ChatGPT subscription.
Webinar: Ethical AI Takeaways for Local Media
Redux: The Alliance for Audited Media recently co-hosted a webinar with the U.S. Local Media Association on how media companies can implement a new framework for ethical, responsible AI implementation. Here is the full webinar replay - including a written summary of the key takeaways.
Event: The Editors’ Perspective: The Year Ahead
Four international editors convene to help publishers decode 2026: Business Insider’s Hannah Diddams chairs a panel including the BBC’s Economics Editor, Faisal Islam; TIME’s Senior Editor, Ayesha Javed; and The Economist’s Business Affairs Editor, Rachana Shanbhogue. Thurs Jan 29th, 16.00 | Havas Village, London | In-person | Free [17.30 #networking #drinks]
“A Line in the Sand”: How Publishers Can Use RSL to Assert Their Rights in the Age of AI
AI models are trained on vast swathes of internet content, often without the knowledge or permission of the creators. For publishers, it poses a serious threat not only to revenue but to the principle that professionally produced content has value.
A new open standard, Really Simple Licensing (RSL), is emerging as one way to push back. Developed by the RSL Collective, a partnership of technologists and rights advocates, RSL gives publishers a practical, enforceable way to declare their licensing terms to AI systems. It is the next step beyond robots.txt, a signal that says: “this content is available for training - if you pay.”
To understand how it works, and why publishers should act now, I spoke to Cosmin Ene, a payments and licensing expert who is working closely with the RSL framework. He is also the CEO of Supertab, which offers a managed RSL service that was built in direct coordination with the RSL Collective.
Clarity in a chaotic moment
“Right now, everyone from journalists to musicians is being turned into raw material for someone else’s business model,” Ene told me. “RSL is a way to be part of the revenue model. To draw a line in the sand.”
At its core, RSL is a lightweight digital marker that sits within a website’s robots.txt file. RSL tells AI crawlers whether a licence is required to use the content, and where to go to obtain it. Publishers can specify if their content can be used for training, inference, or not at all. They can also define commercial versus non-commercial uses.
“RSL tells AI systems: this content is not free. If you want to use it, here’s how,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
Not theoretical. It is already being used
The RSL protocol is being rolled out now. Early adopters include major media brands such as The Associated Press, Vox Media, USA Today, Boston Globe Media, BuzzFeed, Arena Group, The Guardian, and Slate as well as digital content networks like Yahoo!, all of whom want to send a clear signal to AI companies that their content is not free to scrape and reuse.
The benefit is twofold. First, it gives legal clarity and asserts intellectual property rights. Second, it lays the groundwork for monetisation. AI firms that want to license content directly, or do so at scale, can more easily identify willing partners.
“If your content fuels AI, you deserve a seat at the table. RSL is the mechanism that moves you from silent partner to active stakeholder,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
Practicality over promises
Unlike sweeping regulatory hopes or long-shot lawsuits, RSL is pragmatic. It only requires a tech team to implement - not a legal team. It does not demand large scale platform changes. And it avoids the hype of speculative AI ‘solutions’ that promise the earth and deliver little.
“Doing nothing is a signal in its own right - just not the one publishers want to send. The AI models are not waiting. If publishers don’t assert their rights now, the opportunity to shape the ecosystem may vanish,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
Media companies can implement RSL themselves or use third-party providers like Supertab, who host and manage the framework on their behalf. Publishers already onboarding onto Supertab’s managed RSL service include a major lifestyle media group, a leading advertising industry publication, and a mission-driven independent news organisation - three very different publishers that all wanted a fast, reliable way to get RSL in place without having to build it themselves.
What if AI firms ignore it?
A common concern is what happens if AI firms simply bypass the signal. Ene acknowledges the risk, but says action is still better than silence.
“If an AI company chooses to ignore your terms, you still establish a clear record of your rights,” Ene says. “Once you’ve stated your conditions in a machine-readable way, you’re no longer silent - and that matters legally and strategically.”
For Ene, the real value of RSL is not just in protection but in preparation. Publishers who implement it now are better positioned to understand the emerging AI ecosystem and find new ways to participate in it.
“This isn’t a silver bullet that stops scraping overnight. But it’s a necessary intelligence tool. The moment you implement RSL, you stop guessing and start to understand how your content is being used, who is accessing it, and what patterns are emerging,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
That data can shape future licensing models, support commercial negotiations, or feed into broader rights frameworks.
RSL will not stop bad actors overnight. But it puts publishers on the front foot and opens up space for negotiation, not just resistance.
“This isn’t about fighting AI. It’s about creating rules of engagement that work for everyone - publishers, platforms, and the broader ecosystem,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
“We’re trying to make it transactional and enable value exchange between both sides,” Ene continues. “If AI companies want high-quality data, that’s fine. But they need to respect the terms attached to it.”
Takeaways for publishers:
● RSL is an essential protocol. It uses existing infrastructure (robots.txt) and standard web practices.
● It asserts your rights clearly. AI systems are told what content they can use, and how.
● It supports monetisation. Firms willing to pay for content will know how to find and license it.
● It builds evidence. Even if ignored, RSL shows intent. That is useful in disputes or negotiations.
● It helps you learn. Logging access and usage creates insight into who is consuming your content.
“Monetisation starts the moment you can measure usage. RSL gives publishers the telemetry they’ve never had,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
The time to act is now
AI’s role in media is only set to expand. As models become more capable, the value of the content they rely on will only grow. Publishers have a limited window to make sure they are not left behind.
RSL gives publishers a way to take a first, practical step. It brings visibility, sets expectations, and starts to establish standards where there have so far been none.
It is not about stopping progress. It is about making sure publishers have a say in how that progress unfolds.
“The future isn’t paywalls or scraping. It’s a structured value exchange. RSL is part of the solution,” Cosmin Ene, CEO, Supertab
Click here to learn more about RSL.
Hat tip: Erin Boudreau (Alliance for Audited Media), Marni Drew (INMA), Eric Shanfelt (Nearview Media), Da Vinci’s Café (Alvor)