AI Red Flags at News Corp, Taboola’s Chatbot, Axel Springer’s Strategic Shift
Thanks to today’s sponsor, Affino—the all-in-one platform for running media and events businesses. Affino supports everything from CRM and content to subscriptions and ecommerce, alongside advanced AI tools like search cards, article questions, and site assistants. Whether you need the full stack or just smarter AI layers on top of your existing tools, Affino delivers flexibility, insight, and growth. Read our full interview with Markus Karlsson, Affino’s CEO.
This week’s Long Read is a teardown of key insights from WAN-IFRA’s Innovation in News Media World Report 2025-26. Launched at the World News Media Congress in Kraków, the report offers an in-depth look at the rapid transformation and evolution of global news media.
Busy week, let’s jump in!
Digital Isn’t Enough: Publishers Face a Youth Disconnect
A new report from Attest reveals younger Americans are turning away not just from print, but even from digital news and magazine content. Under-30s are also thinning subscriptions due to financial pressures (-11.5 point drop) and moving into short-form video (especially TikTok) as their preferred platform for news. The path forward requires tailored strategies for two very different generations of readers.
YouTube Shorts Now Average 200 Billion Daily Views
YouTube Shorts are going supernova with a 186% increase in daily viewership compared to a year ago—moreover, it’s one of those rare formats seeing cross-generational adoption. With Google’s July rollout of Veo 3, an AI-powered video tool allowing creators to generate clips for Shorts, the momentum is clear. But is the figure of 200bn misleading? I’m legally not allowed to say yes.
News Corp’s AI Raises Red Flags Among Its Journalists
Reporters at News Corp Australia have raised 'deep concerns' over its new in-house AI tool, NewsGPT. The AI can mimic another writer’s style to generate articles and even simulate an editor to suggest story angles. Another News Corp AI tool, Story Cutter, will edit and produce copy—potentially displacing subeditors. The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance says it “threatens to undermine accountable journalism”.
Instagram Content Is About to Get a Lot More Valuable
Commencing July 10, Instagram will let Google index public posts, Reels, and photos from professional accounts—giving Instagram content real visibility beyond the app. For publishers, this means Instagram isn’t just for followers anymore, it’s now a tool for organic discovery, with every caption and hashtag carrying SEO value. But is Google SEO now a busted flush?
Publishers Facing Existential Threat from AI, Cloudflare CEO Says
Speaking at Cannes, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince issued a fresh warning for publishers to act fast and secure fair compensation for their content. As search referrals continue to plummet he warned: “People are reading the summaries of your content, not the original content.” N.B. Ten years ago, Google crawled 2 pages for every visitor it sent to a publisher. Today, it’s 18:1. For OpenAI, the ratio is 1,500:1.
Axel Springer Calls Time on Clicks-and-Ads Model
Germany's biggest publisher, Axel Springer, plans to double its value within five years by pivoting toward AI-driven journalism and direct reader relationships. Its move away from chasing clicks and ad impressions will see it create a new AI-led business unit and formally split its media and classifieds operations, giving the media arm more speed to innovate. The publisher said it will also reduce its reliance on search engines and social media.
AI Avatars Sell $7.6M in a Six‑Hour Livestream
AI Avatars are now able to sell more than real people can, representing a clear opportunity for ecommerce-focused publishers. Exhibit A? Entrepreneur Luo Yonghao’s AI avatar, powered by Baidu’s ERNIE 4.5, outperformed his own human-hosted record in just 26 minutes. The avatar handled 133 products, responded live to comments, and cut operating costs by 80%, setting a new bar for 24/7 commerce.
Newsweek Moves Into Adtech and Buys a DSP
With many publishers pulling back from adtech, Newsweek has bucked the trend and acquired Adprime, a healthcare-focused DSP (Demand-Side Platform). It’s a strategic fit with the publisher’s Nexxus Health vertical, which includes hospital rankings, editorial content, and events. Key quote: “They’re not just buying adtech infrastructure—they’re buying direct advertiser relationships in a category where spend keeps growing.”
Taboola’s Recommendation Engine Evolves into an AI Chatbot
Taboola’s new tool—DeeperDive—is launching in beta on USA Today and The Independent, and will answer readers’ questions using information “from trusted sources across the open web”. The AI bot also surfaces additional context and stories from within the same publisher site, and allows readers to highlight a portion of an article and ask questions about it. USA Today is treading warily, testing only 1% of its audience.
NYT: AI Can Generate, But Only Humans Can Curate
In a recent Magazine feature, the NYT openly explored how AI helped shape a story—brainstorming ideas, even drafting passages—before human judgment stepped in to refine and direct. With AI-assisted editorial out in the open, curation is now emerging as the key differentiator. Robert Capps writes: “When creative options are nearly limitless, people with the ability to make bold, stylish choices will be in demand.”
AI TOOL OF THE WEEK: AI Labyrinth
ICYMI: Available on a free plan, Cloudflare’s AI Labyrinth protects sites from AI scrapers by serving up infinite AI-generated decoy pages. It detects bots that ignore robots.txt then embeds invisible, no‑follow links into site HTML, luring scrapers into a maze of meaningless AI content that also reveals their identity. This is shared with the entire Cloudflare network, creating a beneficial feedback loop. Genius.
REPORT: Inside the Print Revival
Media Voices’ Peter Houston is a leading authority on print as a publishing medium. In this free report he convincingly outlines how print is thriving via collectability, premium experiences, and general digital fatigue. Contains 60 pages of trends, case studies, and arguments for publishers to re-evaluate their print strategy. Or even resurrect it.
WORKSHOP: Build a No-Code AI Agent That Curates a Newsletter
Tomorrow—NichePublisher’s Alisa Cromer hosts a 90 minute workshop [12pm-1.30pm, EST] showing how to build a no-code AI agent that curates news in any niche. Practical and designed for teams with limited technical resources. Quote: “The playbook I created took 30 hours, but yours will not. You’ll leave with your own AI agent, and an understanding of how to build one for any purpose.”
EVENT FOR YOUR DIARY: Subscription Show 2025
With six keynotes, 36 breakout sessions, workshops, and an exhibition hall, Subscription Show 2025 is focused on equipping publishers with the latest tools, insights and trends covering every aspect of media subscriptions. 6-9 October, 2025 | Harborside, Jersey City, NJ.
Innovation in News Media World Report 2025-26
The 2025–26 ‘Innovation in News Media’ World Report, co-edited by Innovation Media’s Juan Señor and Jayant Sriram for WAN-IFRA, offers a bird’s eye view of how publishers are rethinking AI, audience revenue, and business models.
Despite unpredictable ad revenues, plateauing subscriptions, and ongoing platform dependency that continues to erode value, the report strikes a remarkably upbeat tone—offering an actionable roadmap for publishers, but only for those agile enough to adapt quickly.
The core message? Integrate AI carefully, re-engineer audience revenue strategies, and, as has been the siren call for over fifteen years, diversify beyond traditional formats.
Here are a few key takeaways…
1. AI in the Newsroom – Smarter, Not Cheaper
“Artificial Intelligence is reshaping journalism, but it is not replacing it,” writes Juan Señor. “Journalism remains fundamentally a human profession.” That sentiment runs throughout the report. In short, AI liberates journalists from repetitive tasks and allows them to focus on the value-adding parts of journalism.
Example #1: Taiwan’s United Daily News uses its proprietary ‘Curate X platform’ to track how different types of content drive engagement and retention, feeding that insight back into editorial planning through a live feedback loop that informs—but doesn’t dictate—editorial judgment. Its success? A 280% increase in subscriptions and a 180% boost in membership penetration.
Example #2: Hearst’s predictive modelling (developed with Mather Economics) identifies key reader behaviours strongly correlated with retention, including app visits, newsletter clicks, and article recirculation. These signals are used to score users and trigger tailored engagement tactics across platforms, helping prioritise who to target, and how, before churn sets in.
Example #3: TIME’s use of generative AI to adapt its Person of the Year content into multiple reader-friendly formats—video scripts, listicles, social media posts—shows how editorial packaging can be scaled to meet audience preferences across multiple touchpoints, and retain brand tone of voice.
2. Subscription Fatigue and the New Revenue Maths
The boom in digital subscriptions has cooled. “Publishers long ago converted the low-hanging fruit,” says Kevin Anderson of Pugpig. What remains are tougher-to-reach segments—and the need to hold on to existing subscribers with more relevant, flexible products.
Example #1: Amedia in Norway reduced churn 96% by bundling national and local content, making its offer more comprehensive and compelling.
Example #2: Hearst UK is segmenting its membership models by brand, recognising that the motivations and behaviours of a Men’s Health subscriber differ from those of a Good Housekeeping reader. It’s moved away from a one-size-fits-all model toward a portfolio approach that prioritises relevance and perceived value.
“Churn is natural when consumers are faced with too many subscriptions and limited attention.”
3. Making Money with AI – The Content Licensing Boom
A new revenue stream has emerged: content licensing deals with AI platforms. OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity have all signed agreements with major publishers including News Corp, The Guardian, FT, TIME, and Vox Media.
Some publishers have reported early wins. “We believe that people searching with AI models will be one of the fundamental ways that people navigate the web in the future,” said Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, which saw an 80% jump in referrals from ChatGPT.
But others caution against overhyping the opportunity with publishers advised to see licensing as incremental revenue—if they’re big enough. “We’re talking dozens of deals in a world with many thousands of news publishers,” warns Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. He notes that much of the revenue is concentrated among a few global English-language brands.
“Most of the licensing money will go to a few big players. For the rest, the returns will be marginal—if they come at all.”
4. Beyond Programmatic – Rethinking Advertising
The old programmatic ad model is no longer dependable. Cookie deprecation, algorithm changes, and zero-click search have disrupted what was once a reliable revenue stream.
The response? A pivot to quality: direct deals, branded content, and AI-enhanced targeting. NYT’s BrandMatch and WaPo’s Zeus are two examples of publishers reclaiming value with their own proprietary ad tech.
Studios like Vox Creative, SCMP, and WP Creative are focusing on high-quality branded content that complements editorial values rather than competes with them. At SCMP, CEO Catherine So emphasises their edge lies in storytelling and reaching influential audiences—making a strong case for direct partnerships over programmatic noise.
The key message is clear: advertisers want trusted environments. Publishers who can deliver them—at scale and with measurable ROI—will win.
“We’re witnessing a reversal of a 20-year (advertising) trend that prioritised the illusion of scale.”
5. The New Business Model Menagerie
WAN-IFRA highlights a growing list of new roles for publishers: educators, pollsters, brand licensors, marketing agencies, and philanthropic partners.
The FT now offers an accredited diploma for non-executive directors. The Economist has launched an executive education pillar. The NYT School trains future journalists. Meanwhile, Arab News is using YouGov polling to position itself as a regional opinion leader.
Karl Malakunas, leading AFP’s new Philanthropic Partnerships Initiative, says: “These partnerships must align with our editorial mission. This isn’t just funding—it’s strategy.”
Forbes is licensing its brand to business schools in India and the Middle East, extending its authority in professional education and international markets—an ambitious evolution of traditional media branding.
“There is no longer a single blueprint for success in publishing—just a growing list of viable, diversified models.”
WAN-IFRA’s 2025/26 report makes a few things clear: AI isn’t the enemy; inertia is. Reader revenue isn’t broken; it’s evolving. The newsroom isn’t obsolete; it’s just in need of reinvention.
“The pursuit of truth is the foundation of our work, and no algorithm or large language model can replace the responsibility journalists bear,” concludes Señor. In a media environment shaped by disruption, this human-first principle is the anchor point.
The full report is available for WAN-IFRA members via the report download page.
