Podcast: What next for digital publishing?

What does the future of digital publishing, and in particular, digital news publishing, look like? Raymond Snoddy, the former presenter of BBC News Channel’s NewsWatch and a longtime columnist for The Media Leader, and Richard Reeves, MD of the Association of Online Publishers, join the podcast to discuss.

Digital publishing has been in a near-constant state of development and transition since it began supplanting traditional press two decades ago. But with the recent dissolution of BuzzFeed News, the bankruptcy and sale of Vice Media, and ever-quickening developments in generative artificial intelligence, today’s digital publishing leaders perhaps have their hands full now more than they ever have.

In a wide-ranging conversation, the pair spoke to Jack Benjamin talked about publishers’ progress in defending their intellectual property from “unscrupulous” tech vendors and large language AI models, the challenge of making hard news appealing to young people, and the importance of consumers’ trust in news.

On the increasing popularity of comedic news content on short-form video platforms, Snoddy said: “The only hope for legitimate news and ultimately the survival of legitimate democracies is to keep focusing on trust, accuracy, meaning, explanation… if the world is totally dominated by the funnies, we’re all in a very serious position indeed.”

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