As Chief Technology Officer at Purch, John Potter brings a wealth of experience having spent more than a decade with CBS Interactive/CNET, where he held many roles. Most recently he served as Vice President, Software Engineering, managing a staff of 100+ developers in support of brands like CNET, CBS News, ZDNet and Download.com. John holds multiple patents for his system designs that improve Internet connectivity and document classification. At Purch, his role entails managing all aspects of technology, engineering and operations, and he has successfully participated in, and integrated 10 acquisitions.
Could you describe / define ad fraud?
John: Ad fraud is a persistent problem that, according to the IAB, costs the industry $8.2 billion a year in the U.S. While ad fraud is found in various forms, from a publisher’s vantage there are two main problems: One is fraudulent copies of sites that are created, and whose advertising inventory is then presented on programmatic platforms as coming from the original publisher sites. To add insult to injury, most of the traffic on these fraudulent sites is from bots. The other is non-human traffic on legitimate publisher sites from bots scraping the sites, attempting to insert comment links, or coming through content recommendation systems in an attempt to defraud them.
Each of these problems causes different issues and needs to be responded to differently.
How have issues such as bot traffic and audience verification impacted the digital advertising marketplace?
John: The prevalence of non-human traffic and fraudulent or non-viewable advertising inventory has led to an undermining of marketer trust in internet advertising. This directly harms all publishers. Just as importantly, it has led to the need for marketers to add software to their creatives to confirm viewability and detect non-human traffic. This increases the size of ad creative degrades the user experience on publisher sites. Then there are multiple, competing measurement systems in use. All this complicates the ability of publishers to deliver on marketing campaigns.
Are these issues particularly problematic given the rise of programmatic?
John: Yes, all of these issues have been compounded by the rise of programmatic. Marketer’s campaigns are running across a larger number of sites, most of which they have no direct contact with. This makes fraud a lot harder to detect than when you are signing a direct deal.
Why is it important to understand/have an accurate picture of the audience being reached?
John: In the end, all marketing is targeted at particular audiences. As publishers, it’s our ability to provide those audiences that makes us valuable to marketers. At a minimum, marketers should be able to expect that any ads they purchase will be viewed by real humans on a legitimate site that is brand-safe. Publishers and programmatic platforms need to do everything they can to make sure we meet that minimum expectation, and initiatives like TrustX can help with that.
How should the industry be addressing ad fraud?
John: First, publishers and the programmatic platforms need to cooperate to wipe out fraudulent advertising inventory. Ads.txt is a great start towards this, but it’s just a first step. I’m really enthused about the potential of blockchain solutions that will track advertising at every step of the process, and leave an auditable trail. Ideally, we get to the point where every advertising impression sold and served is auditable by all parties to the transaction.
Publishers also need to work hard to block fraudulent traffic on their sites. At Purch, we already do a lot to block bots from our sites, and to prevent advertising being served to any that get around our blocking attempts. We’ve now moved on to integrating real-time bot detection and ad blocking into our server-to-server header bidding platform. I know other publishers and programmatic platforms are taking this issue seriously as well, but it will need to be a continuing concern for a long time to come.
The illustration used in this article, Picco Robots, is reproduced, with modifications, under a creative common license.
A study conducted by International Center for Journalists survey set out to answer a critical question: Are journalists keeping pace with the digital revolution? Despite making strides in leveraging new technologies, the study concluded that the answer is no.
The State of Technology in Global Newsrooms takes a deep look at the adoption of digital technologies at a wide range of news media organizations worldwide. Working with Georgetown University, the International Center for Journalists conducted the study in 12 languages, and received more than 2,700 responses from journalists and newsroom managers in 130 countries.
Key takeaways include:
Newsrooms still face a deep technology gap.
Digital journalism has made some substantial gains.
In an era when fake news and hacking have proliferated, too few journalists are taking the proper precautions.
While most newsrooms find it challenging to gain trust with their audiences, there are two major exceptions.
New revenue models are emerging, but not fast enough.
Newsrooms have yet to fully embrace analytics data to make decisions.
Journalism is a young person’s profession.
The digital training journalists want is not what their newsrooms think they need.
Today’s media organizations
The report examines technological investment, use, and staffing across different types of newsrooms in the digital age. ICFJ identified three newsroom types based on their primary distribution platforms:
Traditional news organizations, which disseminate information primarily in the legacy formats of newspaper, television, print magazines, and radio. Though these organizations may have a website or some digital presence, their primary platform is a traditional format.
Digital-only news organizations that exclusively publish in an online format.
Hybrid news organizations, which use a combination of traditional and digital formats. Many hybrid organizations have transitioned from being traditional news outlets.
The report finds that digital-only and hybrid newsrooms are outpacing traditional media in most of the world. In fact, according to the ICFJ, news organizations that disseminate content primarily in traditional print, television, and radio formats are disappearing from the global media landscape. Overall, the majority of journalists surveyed work for news organizations that are either fully digital (33%) or a hybrid of traditional and online (40%). About one-quarter are employed by traditional news organizations.
Distribution strategies
Today’s newsrooms have access to a multitude of new platforms and formats — from social media to mobile apps to virtual reality, which they use to distribute their stories and reach wider audiences. Though the range of tools has expanded, the news industry relies heavily on the two social media giants: Facebook and Twitter.
Though digital-only and hybrid newsrooms are more likely to use Facebook, traditional organizations (which use digital but not as a primary distribution format) are not very far behind. Three-quarters of traditional newsrooms reported using the social media site to push out content, compared to 93% of digital-only and 91% of hybrid.
Staffing up
Hybrid organizations are the most likely to cut their newsroom staffs, with 41% reporting that their staff size has decreased in the past year. Traditional newsrooms are a close second, at 38%. Digital-only newsrooms are at the opposite end of the spectrum, with only 17% reporting that their staff size has decreased, compared to the 50% that reported adding more staff members.
Digital-only newsrooms are also more likely to have older personnel – in the 51-55 age group – than both their traditional and hybrid counterparts. Traditional newsrooms also have a higher percentage of staff in the 25-29 age group than hybrid ones, following digital-only newsrooms in this category.
Hybrid and digital-only newsrooms are more likely than traditional newsrooms to have digital content producers/editors and tech professionals on staff, though the number of these positions remains small compared to established roles.
The study shows that many journalists are hired into their positions without experience working in digital media or significant digital skills. While on-the-job-training remains an essential tactic for staff-strapped media newsrooms. However, news professionals almost universally agree that training is important to help them meet the demands of their job.
As the report points out, the digital era is forcing newsrooms to adapt to a constantly evolving space. They face an array of major challenges, including shifting revenue models, attracting loyal advertisers, engaging audiences, and developing new storytelling formats. While journalists (and the media organizations they work for) continue to experiment with a range of digital tools, the report makes it clear that continued investment, innovation, and development of the digital skillset is required.
The transformation of the media business shows no signs of slowing. While all areas have been disrupted, local news has been among the hardest hit. These neighborhood news providers have seen steady cuts and closures. This has left “news deserts” in which wide swaths of America have a troubling shortage of local news coverage. Undoubtedly, local news remains important to the communities it serves and its survival essential.
The report, Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest, explores the experience of 10 local media outlets in the Pacific Northwest. Through expert interviews and analysis, the report offers insights into a microcosm of how digital disruption is impacting local journalism more widely across the United States.
Like all media, local journalism faces enormous economic pressures and continues to evolve to address these issues. The report finds that continued experimentation is essential to success. However, some of the older digital formats — newsletters and podcasts — are experiencing a resurgence both in popularity and revenue generation. The upheaval in local journalism has also produced new possibilities for journalists and storytellers.
Here are three key takeaways from Local Journalism in the Pacific Northwest:
1. The practice of local journalism is evolving.
The report finds that role of local journalists is changing. Even the notion of objectivity is being reexamined as journalists seek to authentically engage audiences and reestablish trust. This includes elements of engaged journalism, with an emphasis on listening to communities, as well as harnessing digital platforms to tell stories in new and interesting ways.
Video and social media are already well-established means to engage audiences and share the news. Local journalists are also increasingly enthusiastic about exploring different approaches to their work. This includes solutions journalism and a recognition that you can maintain journalistic independence and integrity while still being active— and visible—in the community. We can expect to see a greater emphasis on the role of analytics to shape content and inform the beats that newsrooms focus on, as well as an increased importance attached to journalists with data and visual—particularly video—skills.
2. Local media needs to be more diverse in staffing and content.
While the report unsurprisingly finds that local newsrooms will continue to shrink in terms of staffing, it emphasizes that newsrooms must become increasingly diverse. Efforts to this end are essential so that these publications better reflect and engage the communities they serve. As those interviewed point out, many communities have seen a significant change in the racial and economic profile of their readers since the bulk of staff were hired. Thus, they need to improve their understanding of their audiences, as well as the priorities and expectations of these audiences. And, in addition to staffing up newsrooms that look more like the communities they represent, the skill-set of these journalists needs to address emerging digital formats and analytic tools. Engaging local journalism must reflect its community and their information needs while leveraging multimedia storytelling.
3. Outlets are experimenting with multiple ways to increase revenue.
The report outlines the significant pressures on the local ad-based business model. These include the fact that many advertisers are focused on ad targeting at scale and only willing to pay “digital dimes” rather than “print dollars.” It also looks at offline pressures on local advertising such as like shift of Main Street businesses from local shops to national chains.
Thus, local media providers are exploring with a range of ways to expand their revenue base. These include paywalls, subscriptions (including special offers and sales through third parties, such as Groupon), events, income from foundations, sponsorship, and membership models. These efforts are part of a wider move to diversify revenue and reduce reliance on print advertising and subscriptions—which are declining overall. Finding the right revenue mix to support local journalism is a strategic priority and, typically, a combination of methods is required for success.
The report explores several more significant takeaways based upon the research. They cover issues that include metrics, on and offline engagement, the rise of visual content, and the need to create unique content. As the report states, “We can see the positive impact local journalism can make on communities and the wider news/information ecosystem on a daily basis. It supports community, democratic, and civic needs and remains valuable to audiences and communities alike.”
Local journalism bears a great responsibility and must evolve to reflect the diverse communities it serves. At the same time, it most continuously experiment with engagement and delivery tools, as well as monetization models in order to remain relevant and economically viable.
According to a recent survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, more than a third of Americans can’t name any of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment (check your knowledge here). So, perhaps it’s not surprising that we are seeing a rise in negative sentiment and action against the press here in the U.S. Yet press freedom is essential to a democracy. The public must be informed so that they can actively participate in the governance of their community and country.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (speaking); Abdülhamit Bilici and Margaux Ewen
In his opening remarks at a press freedom event co-hosted on September 13rd by the Newseum Institute, Reporters Without Borders, and Digital Content Next, Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry remarked on the average American’s lack of familiarity with many of the foundational principals of our government. It is easy, he suggested, to become complacent and shirk the obligations that come with democracy.
“Rights are inextricably intertwined with responsibility,” Rep. Fortenberry said. He reinforced the need for individuals to take an active role in government, but also pointed to the responsibility of the media to represent the interests of all Americans and varied viewpoints in order to meet their responsibility to inform the public.
The road to destruction
Panelist and former editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper Zaman Abdülhamit Bilici described the disintegration of the free press in his country and offered a disturbing roadmap for how government-initiated negativity toward the press can lead to a catastrophic outcome. His paper’s coverage of the Turkish Ministry attracted the ire of President Tayyip Erdogan, who began to publicly malign the publication. When that failed to silence them, he denied their reporters access to press conferences. Then came calls to fire journalists and threats to those who advertised in Zaman. When these efforts failed to change the coverage, Bilici says that “Erdogan had to use the nuclear option.”
The Turkish President enlisted the court system to help the government take control of the paper and initiated a police raid on the headquarters. Tear gas and water cannons were used to quell protests against governmental control of the media. Newseum Institute COO Gene Policinski pointed out that Turkey was once viewed as a beacon of hope for democracy in the Middle East. “Turkey was not a perfect democracy, but it was on the way,” said Bilici. His careful breakdown of the dismantling of press freedom in his country and how it sped up destruction of its budding democracy was certainly a warning to all in the room.
Fight for your rights
Abdülhamit Bilici, Margaux Ewen, Gene Policinski, Simegnish Mengesha, and Tim Crews
Another panelist, Tim Crews, editor/publisher of The Sacramento Valley Mirror, said that his journalists have been threatened on numerous occasions both online and in person. He has also experienced censorship and an uneven application of the law when it comes to prosecuting those who threaten or assault members of his staff.
Ethiopian journalist Simegnish Y. Mengesha, has seen many colleagues imprisoned “for doing their jobs.” She said that we must remain vigilant in protecting our rights because undermining press freedom “is a gradual process, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Mengesha also sees that the danger goes beyond the threats to journalists themselves. “People are afraid to talk to the media; they are afraid to use their own social media accounts [to discuss news].” This, she says, strips citizens of their basic right to being informed about what is going on in their own country.
Governments in different parts of the world have shown a willingness to block social media platforms and even shut down the internet to stem the spread of information, as Margaux Ewen, Advocacy and Communications Director for Reporters Without Borders pointed out. She also noted the disturbing pattern of harassment, doxing, and outright threats made to journalists via social media channels.
Another alarming trend Ewan has observed is that “The authoritarian strong man model of government seems to be sneaking it into places we didn’t expect to find it.”
Lead by example
Bilici sees an unnerving parallel between what happened in Turkey and trends in America. In both cases, he said, “a popular elected person is putting pressure on the media.” Policinski from The Newseum reminded the audience that here, our President refers to the press as “enemies of the people.” And, as Ewen pointed out, the administration’s anti-press stance has a negative effect on journalists in other countries although she noted “I have to keep reminding myself that this didn’t happen overnight.”
“An important question we should ask ourselves,” said Bilici, “Is why isn’t the media getting the support from the public when we claim to speak in their name?”
Rep. Fortenberry said the media must carefully consider its diminished estimation in the eyes of the public. “There’s cynicism toward the institutions that uphold the idea of press freedom.” He called upon members of the press to support “an authentic dialog and public service for the good of community.”
Indeed, the participants—speakers, panelists, and attendees of Press Freedom: Lessons Learned From Around The World—would all agree that open discussion is essential to shoring up this key aspect of equitable government here and abroad. Yet even as the event was being arranged, Mexican journalist Martin Mendez Pineda, who has received death threats for his work, was denied a visa to participate. According to Ewen, the program was not deemed “important enough” to allow him to enter the United States.
Streaming video on demand—also known as OTT viewing –is becoming the norm in video content consumption today. It also presents an incredible opportunity. The combined size of the OTT market was estimated at $29.4 billion in 2015, and is expected to grow to more than $64 billion by 2021. Parks Associates reports that one-third of US homes have a streaming player, which is one of the most popular ways to view video today (other than traditional TV). Though mobile already accounts for more than half of all video viewing.
In its report, Top 5 Video Trends in an IP-based World, Parks Associates examines both the challenges and opportunities presented by the rise of OTT video viewing. In addition to outlining these trends, the report looks at larger market challenges such as allowing content distributors to own the consumer relationships and the evolution of storytelling, content production and delivery in an IP-based world.
According to the report, these are the top 5 video trends today:
Users expect opportunities to interact with their content.
This presents challenges in terms of flexibility and responsiveness, but provides an opportunity to learn more about—and appropriately monetize—audiences.
Global, IP-based video services will be the next big revenue pool for content makers.
This presents challenges to reaching a global market for everything from technology to legal and localization issues. However, the opportunity for monetization at scale and in hyper-local and niche contexts is huge.
Live TV is not dying; it is shifting to connected devices.
The technological demands of delivering live content at scale are quite high but audiences are attracted to real-time content, which creates a must-watch revenue opportunity.
Consumers will demand new, diverse types of content.
Creating new content types is never easy, but for those who do, audiences and earnings are sure to follow.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a key role in the success of video services.
Though already being effectively implemented in a range of media settings, AI is hardly a perfected technology. There’s plenty of work to be done. That said, Parks sees it as the key to the evolution of personalization, with monetization opportunities to match.
For each of its key trends, the Parks Associates report offers real world examples while outlining the associated challenges and opportunities. And this, of course, is the most practical way to capitalize on digital’s promise: Understand and address the challenges while creating solid revenue strategies that support a long-term strategy
Artificial Intelligence is a term used to describe everything from Apple’s Siri to Google’s Deep Mind and is being leveraged for a wide range of applications from shopping to quantum computing. At its core, AI is the capacity of computing to perform tasks that correspond to decision making and learning by humans. True AI doesn’t just infer or make deductions, it understands natural language, and can develop based upon experience.
Today, AI powers everyday tools used by millions of people. With the rising popularity of voice-based interfaces such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa – and the increasingly-accurate recommendation tools offered by the likes of Netflix and Pandora – AI tools are becoming embedded in people’s everyday activities and expectations.
Meet the Bots
Chatbots are another booming implementation of AI. That said, not all of them are powered by AI. As Trish Mikita, AccuWeather’s VP of Digital Media Strategy points out, “There are plenty of dumb bots out there. Many bots are based upon simple decision trees that use a scripted format to (eventually) deliver answers to common questions. Mikita says AccuWeather experimented with this approach in the past, however its latest chatbot leverages true AI.
The company has just launched AccuWeather for Facebook Messenger. The AI-powered weather assistant handles plain-language questions from users and provides easy weather-related answers. According to Mikita, Facebook Messenger was the natural choice for this launch given its large user base and the fact that AccuWeather fans were already communicating with the company on Messenger. “Messenger is a great platform that extends our conversations with customers in a natural way.”
Natural Language, Real Answers
AccuWeather’s chatbot—which was dubbed Abbi in beta — strives to be natural in its conversation. “The goal with us is for users to be able to ask a question, for our chatbot to come with an intent, and then answer the question in a meaningful way,” says Mikita.
So, while Abbi can answer questions about the weather forecast, she can also advise on appropriate attire for the day. The idea is for the chatbot to provide an accurate response given the context of a run in Cape Cod or a business meeting in Manhattan.
According to Mikita, being able to respond, “no it’s going to be 75 and sunny, no need for a jacket today” is a great first step. However, as the chatbot evolves, she looks forward to answers like “not today, but you’ll need an umbrella if you are going to be out later tonight.” To get there, AccuWeather is logging all of its audience interactions with Abbi. “This helps us with all of our products, so we can better understand users’ intent.”
Evolution of AccuWeather AI
Another step in AccuWeather’s chatbot evolution will be developing a personality. “A bot absolutely needs to have a personality, though it is a big challenge.” First, says Mikita, you must understand intent and get the outputs to be accurate. “The next phase is that personality piece. Natural interactions should have a personality. But having a personality doesn’t mean it has to be irreverent, or jokey. It can be a science nerd. Getting that personality to match our brand voice is a very important aspect.”
Mikita says that in addition to the continued development of Abbi (which may well have a name change in her future as the bot’s personality and functionality evolve), we can expect more AI-based launches coming within the next few months. The long-term roadmap also includes wrapping the intelligence piece into the AccuWeather API and incorporating these functions into its subscription products. AccuWeather’s presence on Alexa – as well as its evolving chatbots and plans for improved and innovative implementations of AI in its premium products – offers what Mikita describes as an “innovation opportunity that helps our other ad supported platforms.”
The company is already seeing efficiency savings with customer service. And they look forward to emerging opportunities to monetize these innovations directly. In the meantime, however, the company’s investment in AI is paying off in its ability to better interact with consumers, to get to know them better and to better serve their needs.
Today, business leaders across the US are aware of the importance of digital transformation, regardless of their industry. However, as most know, it is not an easy undertaking and needs to go well beyond buzzwords to truly change an organization.
It is helpful to understand how leaders prioritize digital transformation and how they evaluate their progress. To that end, digital consultant and company builder etventure, with the support of market research firm YouGov, has published the results of their study “Digital Transformation and Cooperation with Startups.” The aim of the study was to ascertain the current state of digital transformation in mid-to-large companies. It looks at the significance of digitization; progress and barriers; digital transformation activities; and the impact on employees. The report also examines cooperation with startups as a means to accelerate digital transformation in larger, more established organizations.
The State of Digital Transformation
The report identifies three levels of digitization: incremental, transformative and disruptive. Incremental digitization involves the digitization of existing business processes and customer experience. Transformative digitization involves new digital business models, while disruptive digitization is a radical reinvention of the existing business. Digital transformation, for the purposes of this study, include transformative and disruptive digitization. However, the report does not view incremental digitization as transformation.
Survey respondents recognize the importance of digital transformation and have made it a top priority. Unfortunately, while the overwhelming majority of companies surveyed rank digitization as critically important to their businesses, the study found that many of the activities classified as digital transformation are actually incremental changes. According to the report, “many businesses have a false sense of security.” They also find that transformation is often delegated rather than aggressively driven from the top.
Other key takeaways include:
There is a heavy reliance on IT teams to deliver transformation initiatives, even though many IT teams lack the entrepreneurial DNA required for true transformation.
Although survey respondents rank digital transformation as business-critical, only 3% of business state their CEOs are directly involved with management of digital transformation.
Nearly all survey respondents are currently undertaking some form of digital project. However, these projects are rarely disruptive or transformational.
Traditional business environments are poorly suited for digital transformation, as true transformation cannot be a part-time exercise.
Businesses lack an appreciation for how true transformation might lead to a fundamental shakeup of business, with a significant impact on employees at all levels.
The majority of businesses surveyed do not see startups as a threat.
Moving Forward
While it is heartening to read that leaders believe that the vast majority of their staff are equipped to undertake digital transformation, they point out that it is unrealistic to assume, as survey respondents indicate, that 90% of employees are ready for the challenges make an impact on revenue or market share in less than one year. Digital transformation isn’t just about digital processes and business models. Instead, true digital transformation requires significant cultural change. Thus, it is essential to help employees prepare for digital transformation.
While many businesses put all their energy into driving digital transformation themselves, another way of coping with digital transformation is to cooperate with the disrupters themselves: startups. Most startups are in dire need of what traditional businesses have – an established customer base, market experience and reach. For traditional businesses, collaboration with startups enables them to get on the fast track to true transformation – with low risk. Cooperation between corporations and startups brings together two very different cultures, which can be challenging. However, the report views corporate/startup collaboration as typically a win-win.
For years, Telemundo was viewed as a distant second to Univision’s domination of America’s Hispanic media market. Then, shift started to happen. Now, “Every week, prime time ratings are a nail biter,” according to NBC Universals’ EVP of Digital Media and Emerging Businesses, Peter Blacker. But—like most overnight success stories—this shift, which the company will highlight with it’s theme “Shift Happens” at the Upfronts on May 16, has been happening for some time now.
Blacker traces the origins of Telemundo’s strong and steady growth trend to its decision a few years ago to focus on “Generation M.” No, that doesn’t just stand for the desirable millennial demographic. Telemundo’s definition includes two other major factors that are impacting media: multiculturalism and mobile.
The racial breakdown of the American consumer is steadily moving towards a multicultural majority made up of non-whites. From a programing perspective, that means that audiences are more socially complex and less starkly defined. Combined with the technological forces of social and mobile, a wave of innovation is occurring at NBCUniversal overall, and Telemundo in particular.
Authentic content and ongoing relationships
According to Blacker, this is readily apparent in their approach to social content. They consider the unique properties of each social platform and aim to create distinct experiences and programming for each one. As an example, Blacker noted the shift in their social efforts around their popular Telemundo series El Señor De Los Cielos, which boasts 8.5 million Facebook fans. “We used to approach these shows as very connected to television programming. When the show was on the air, we were very active. Then, when the show ended, we went on to the next show.”
However, those millions of fans had a year-round appetite. With the help of some additional staff, his social team worked with the show’s writers to create eight-minute mini-episodes to “feed the fan base all year.” Other social-specific content may take the form of a simple gif or meme. The important part, according to Blacker, is that it is that the quality and tone accurately reflect what the audience loves about the show itself. And the strategy seems to have paid off. And the strategy seems to have paid off. According to Shareablee’s 2016 data, “not only did Telemundo come up as the biggest inside NBCU, top three across all media companies.”
When the developers on Blacker’s team approached the studio about creating a second-screen app experiences for El Señor De Los Cielos “they wanted to kill us” because of the added complexity. The app, Double Acción, uses audio queues to sync up access to secret archives, exclusive photos, videos, trivia, games and more. The impact of their complex request was softened when AT&T signed on as app’s debut sponsor.
Much Ado about innovation and monetization
Blacker notes that the ability to work closely with the larger creative team at NBCUniversal helps keep Telemundo’s social strategy authentic to their show brands. He also points to NBCUniversal’s investments in companies like Buzzfeed and Snapchat, as well as its own innovation lab, as inspiring and informing experimentation.
Blacker hinted at multiple pioneering projects that will be announced at the Upfronts in May, including virtual reality and ad innovations. An advance preview can be seen in his partnership with Buzzfeed on a digital telenovela “Much Ado About Nada.” The program will take the form of 10-minute episodes that will be distributed on a weekly basis across Telemundo and BuzzFeed digital platforms. It was created in response to research about what resonates with Generation M, this younger, mobile-oriented and multicultural audience.
The ability to identify and engage Generation M has supported continued investment in innovation, Blacker said. “Our partners are trying to connect with a multicultural millennial audience on mobile devices. That is the future of their business.”
Ultimately, said Blacker, “the reason why we’ve been able to continue to invest in virtual reality and new pioneering formats like the Buzzfeed project is because we’ve been able to connect with sponsors and advertisers. We’ve developed a reputation for innovation that we can back up with scale.”
At the Associated Press, the news department leaders were the first to suggest trying artificial intelligence. They were motivated by two mega trends in the media business: “the relentless increase in news to be covered and the human constraints associated with covering it.”
In 2013, the AP teamed up with Durham, North Carolina-based Automated Insights to automate the production of certain types of news stories directly from data. They started with sports and then extended the initiative to corporate earnings reports. Since then, the AP has continued to experiment with AI and recently published “A guide for newsrooms in the age of smart machines” based upon on its own learnings as well interviews with dozens of experts in the fields of journalism, technology, academia and entrepreneurship.
What they’ve found is that “artificial intelligence can do much more than churn out straightforward sports briefs and corporate earnings stories. It can enable journalists to analyze data; identify patterns, trends and actionable insights from multiple sources; see things that the naked eye can’t see; turn data and spoken words into text; text into audio and video; understand sentiment; analyze scenes for objects, faces, text or colors — and more.”
Key Takeaways
Among the key takeaways in the report is that, in the field of journalism, AI has potential to:
Attend to menial tasks and free journalists to engage in more complex, qualitative reporting.
Enhance communication and collaboration among journalists.
Enable journalists to sift through large corpuses of data, text, images, and videos.
Help journalists better communicate and engage with their audience.
Empower the creation of entirely new types of journalism.
In addition to providing insights into the practical journalistic applications of AI, the report covers the relevant technologies in this field—including machine learning, supervised learning, natural language processing, robotics, computer vision, and more. It looks at the potential impact of AI on journalists and journalism. It also considers ethical, philosophical and practical implications of implementing AI within media environments.
Above all, the report focuses on the potential for AI-human “collaboration” in which journalists are freed from many of the craft’s more mundane or repetitive tasks. Rather, leveraging AI can save organizations time and money, while being better equipped “to keep pace with the with the growing scale and scope of the news itself.”
The link between a positive sentiment around context and ad effectiveness has been established. And, though there’s not yet been definitive research on the subject, the reverse seems an intuitive given. Ads running in negative or unfavorable contexts would be less effective.
So, it might seem that the recent uproar around Google YouTube ad placement could be seen as a boon for premium publishers. But as has been well-documented, a lack of marketer trust in digital advertising is bad for the entire ecosystem, not simply the bad (or careless) actors. So it is with great interest that our industry has watched Google’s YouTube brand safety saga unfold.
Here are the highlights of how the story has developed so far:
The media industry is in a time of great transition, in part due to the proliferation of digital publications and the growth and popularity of social platforms. While industry consolidation might threaten the independence of some publications, there is also an unprecedented opportunity for publishers to communicate their unique perspective to underserved, targeted audiences.
With this in mind—and with the help of funding from the Knight Foundation—Digital Content Next worked with Ascolese Associates on the research report Niche Publishers: How to Create Sustainable Business Models in a Digital Marketplace, released January 18. This niche publisher research examines how 11 digital publications each capture a unique space, attract audiences, and monetize those audiences.
“I know firsthand that we’re much more nimble than larger news organizations. We can try things out quickly. You know, we can try things out and fail fast, or we can try things out and see some early wins and then build on them. I really appreciate our ability to be nimble and flexible and measure our results and make quick decisions.” Mary Walter-Brown, Voice of San Diego
The research identified two core focus areas for niche publishers that are vital for their success: content strategy and business strategy. According to the report, these core focus areas are made up of seven tactical components, which are discussed in detail: content development, editorial brand, audience development/ delivery, data, KPI’s, revenue streams and operational efficiencies.
Publishers interviewed agreed that superior content is the core deliverable, but content alone can’t drive a publication to success; an integrated business strategy is necessary. While a quest for scale dominates many digital strategies, niche publishers focus on providing distinctive, even unique content that meets the needs of a very specific audience.
Almost universally, these niche publishers emphasized something that has become a common theme across digital media: the importance of revenue diversification. Additional revenue streams give non-profit publishers more independence from corporate and individual sponsorships and for-profit publishers some independence from advertising sales.
“The number one mistake that media companies make is that they have a journalistic idea, and it’s not done in tandem with a business idea that operates in synchronicity with the journalistic idea.” Jim Vandehei, Axios
Many niche publishers interviewed cite repurposing content and digital or live events among their revenue streams. However, other avenues include outsourcing internal talent, a “data store,” and a marketing membership program. Notable among these publishers is a willingness to collaborate and create partnerships that allow them to fight above their weight class in terms of staffing and data resources.
Ultimately, the report finds that a niche publication’s smaller size translates into a flexible and nimble environment and, often, a more entrepreneurial approach to their business. Notable among these publishers is a willingness to collaborate and create partnerships that allow them to maximize their staffing and data resources but also to ensure the viability of this segment of the digital media industry.
