NYT’s 5-Person AI Team, Nikkei’s Chatbot, The Times’ Digital Strategy, and More…
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Few media executives have shaped the digital newsroom from both sides of the Atlantic. Our Long Read this week distils a conversation between Upgrade Media’s David Sallinen and Edward Roussel, Head of Digital at The Times and previously the Chief Innovation Officer at The Wall Street Journal.
Let’s jump in…
Just 5 People: What the NYT’s AI Team Is (and Isn’t) Doing
The New York Times’ AI Initiatives team contains only five people, a paltry 0.085% of its 5,900 headcount. The skeletal team is managed by the ex-CEO of Quartz, Zach Seward, whose razor focus is on creating in-house tools that solve operational friction points. Biggest impact? Its Echo summarisation tool. Key takeaway? The need to talk with your journalists and listen to their challenges.
What Are the Comments Saying? BR’s AI Tells You at a Glance
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), the Bavarian public broadcasting service, has created an AI Summariser for its comments section. At a glance, readers can read a topline overview of where sentiment is leaning. The summary appears in a separate box beside each article, while the comment section itself remains untouched. Ominously BR says, “AI-generated summaries will not be reviewed by our editorial team.” Good luck with that.
200-Year-Old Local Newspaper’s Secret to Remaining Relevant
Local media is often a corporate blancmange with little community relevance. Northern Ireland's The Impartial Reporter has bucked the trend with a sharp focus on investigative journalism, stunning drone photography and a clear champion of local issues. The result? It’s won the UK Local Weekly of the Year two years running. It’s also among the top five best-performing UK local titles.
Politico’s Newsroom Starts Legal Battle With Management Over AI
It’s been an ugly year for Axel Springer-owned Politico. Months after the disclosure it received $8M from the US Govt to “subsidise its subscriptions”, the PEN Guild is taking it to arbitration next month over the roll-out of Politico’s AI Suite. Key quote: “This isn’t just a contract dispute, it’s a test of whether journalists have a say in how AI is used in our work.”
What Nikkei Learnt From Building its Own AI Chatbot
One of Japan’s standout media brands, Nikkei has launched Ask! NIKKEI — a chatbot embedded in articles to help readers navigate complex financial topics using the publisher’s own archive. It's been ultra careful, and won't even use its own interviews because of concerns over future copyright issues. Uses RAG technology and plans to roll it out for other products…
McClatchy Shuts Four Magazines Including ‘In Touch Weekly’
This isn’t about the end of print or the cratering interest in gossip exposés — celebrities now break their own news. The real story is that media brands with a combined audience of well over 12M — plus strong websites and millions of social followers — still weren’t worth saving. Bottom-feeder programmatic CPMs haven’t helped…
Publishers Can Now Use AI Versions of Journalists’ Voices
The tech comes from ElevenLabs, founded by ex-Google engineer Mati Staniszewski, and can be used by publishers to create audio articles, podcasts, videos, etc, using voice replicas of their own journalists. First out of the blocks is Melania Trump, who has released her memoir in multiple languages using her AI-generated voice. Feel free to grill an AI Charles Darwin on human consciousness...
Springer Nature Lays Bare the Dire Standard of Research Integrity
A new study from Springer Nature reveals huge differences across the world in research integrity. It comes at a time of strong international consensus on the need to improve research credibility, with the White House also passing a Presidential Bill last week entitled ‘Restoring Gold Standard Science’. Timely…
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EVENT FOR YOUR DIARY: Beeler.Tech Navigator | London
Taking place next Tuesday in Glaziers Hall, Navigator is an A List deep dive into the messy middle where ad tech and publishing collide. Hosted by Rob Beeler—one of ad tech’s leading voices—this is a must-attend event for any publisher looking to understand the complexities, challenges and opportunities behind their ad ops. All Day | Tues 10th June.
ON THE HORIZON: Scandinavian AI Innovation Study Tour
The Nordic countries contain some of the most dynamic, innovative media companies found anywhere in the world. This WAN-IFRA study tour promises to be a belter, with Schibsted’s Aftenposten + Verdens Gang (VG) & Amedia already confirmed. Oslo–Västeras–Stockholm | 22 - 26 Sept 2025
”Less but Better”: Inside The Times’ Strategy for Engagement and Trust
Edward Roussel has seen the digital transformation of journalism from inside two of the world’s leading newsrooms. Formerly Chief Innovation Officer at The Wall Street Journal, and now Head of Digital at The Times and The Sunday Times, Roussel brings a rare blend of newsroom experience, acumen, and product strategy.
In this week’s conversation with David Sallinen, founder of Upgrade Media, he offered a practical view on how newsrooms can stay relevant as AI, cratering SEO visibility, and shifting consumer behaviours upturn the media landscape. Watch the replay here (although brush up on your French).
The transformation imperative
When Roussel arrived at The Times four years ago, he found a product suite that hadn’t significantly evolved in nearly a decade. “If a website or an app does not move forward, it’s a product that moves backwards,” he says. The task ahead was clear: modernise the full digital ecosystem—from apps and bulletins to CMS and editorial processes.
One of the first steps was cutting the number of newsletters in half while improving quality. The result? Open rates jumped from below 50% to close to 60%. It’s a practical example of Roussel’s broader philosophy: focusing on what drives real engagement.
Redefining engagement
Indeed, the metric that matters most to Roussel is frequency. “When subscribers visit more than 10 times a month, the probability they’ll churn is very low.” This insight has reshaped how his teams approach publishing. It’s not about flooding readers with content. It’s about giving them reasons to return.
To support this, The Times has developed internal dashboards that track engagement at every level—from individual articles to sections and teams. Editors are encouraged not just to look at what’s performing well, but to study what isn’t being read.
“We don’t give editors traffic targets,” Roussel says. “But we do ask that they learn from the data.”
AI as an efficiency tool
While many publishers are experimenting with AI, Roussel is clear about its current value: efficiency. “The priority with AI is how it helps us do more with the same number of people.” Whether it’s summarising articles, QA testing code, or helping developers troubleshoot, the goal isn’t automation for its own sake, but freeing up capacity.
One initiative, called DeepContext, aims to deepen reader engagement by suggesting follow-up content based on what they’ve just read. Still in prototype testing, the tool’s success will be judged by one thing: does it bring people back?
Importantly, The Times has drawn a line. “We will not use AI to write articles,” Roussel says.
“We’re not part of the camp that believes AI should replace journalists.”
Building confidence in the newsroom
Roussel’s approach has been to invite journalists into the experimentation process. “We ask: if you wrote this piece, would you want readers to explore more? Would you use this tool?” Workshops and small pilots allow for feedback loops without forcing adoption. It’s a model built on collaboration rather than top-down mandates.
This emphasis on psychological safety also shows up in how the organisation talks about job security. “We’re not reducing headcount,” he says. “People need to feel confident to engage with new tools—not threatened by them.”
The looming SEO reset
Search traffic still matters. But Roussel acknowledges the shift underway as AI answers replace traditional search engine results. ChatGPT and Google's AI overviews already drive 3–4% of daily traffic to The Times—more than Google News. That’s prompted a shift in thinking: how do you structure journalism so it’s picked up by machines, not just humans?
So far, the answer is experimentation. “We’re studying how these bots work. But this is new territory for everyone.”
The “Spotify logic” of journalism
One of the biggest internal realisations has been that there isn’t a single digital reader. “We have traditional readers who come from print culture, and digital natives from the world of Spotify and Instagram,” Roussel says. Trying to serve both with the same product leads to friction. The future, he argues, lies in designing distinct experiences that meet each group where they are.
The underlying metaphor Roussel uses to describe this shift is this: we’re moving from an album-based world to a playlist world. “It’s not just about publishing articles anymore—it’s about themes and formats that people can follow, personalise, and build into their daily routines.” The homepage hierarchy still matters, but it’s far from the only lens.
Final takeaway
Asked what he’d change if given a magic wand, Roussel doesn’t hesitate: “We need to recognise that we have two readers—and we need to design for both.” It highlights the key point: real transformation starts with understanding your audience.
