The Year Ahead 2025: News brands face up to AI, misinformation and revenue diversification
The Year Ahead 2025 | Opinion
World Media Group members discuss the most important topics for 2025 in media and marketing, from the embrace of multimedia platforms and formats to post-election uncertainty.
Back in January 2024, the world was facing more than 60 national elections globally, and I was facing my first month in my new role as CEO of the World Media Group. It’s fair to say I was taking on a new challenge in a time of unprecedented uncertainty. Twelve months later, and I’m pleased to report the World Media Group is doing well and continues to grow.
Unfortunately, the uncertainty affecting the rest of the world doesn’t seem to have lifted.
While the elections are over, the implications of their results are far from clear. Businesses are waiting with bated breath to see what the Trump administration does after the inauguration, with initial signs all pointing towards dramatic shifts in US policies.
At the same time, Europeans are searching for leadership, with questions over both France and Germany’s ability to construct working, effective governments in time to keep the European dream afloat. A challenge that is only getting harder thanks to Elon Musk’s interference. Against that background of uncertainty, what do things look like for the business of news and journalism?
The good news is that following a pause for some brands during election periods, businesses are returning to active marketing spend in 2025. Despite global economic uncertainty, the outlook for total advertising spend in the year ahead looks cautiously optimistic with a Dentsu report forecasting 5.9% growth in 2025.
But how will advertisers be spending that money? How will their relationship with media brands evolve? And what will be the biggest trends in content marketing? I asked World Media Group members to share their thoughts on some of the biggest issues for the year ahead.
Reaping the benefits of gen AI’s efficiencies
Two years on from the first whisperings of ChatGPT, we’re now starting to understand the true scope of generative AI and how it can benefit the industry.
“Harnessed properly, AI and other forms of technology can greatly improve productivity,” says Sean Adams, chief marketing officer at Brand Metrics, which specialises in measuring brand lift.
“We use advanced technology to automate the heavy lifting of measurement, making the process much quicker. That means people can spend less time on the process and more time thinking about the outcomes and how to interpret them, and then how to proactively use that insight in future planning.”
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Similarly, generative AI is helping Dianomi, which amplifies sponsored content for premium brands across more than 300 publishing partners. Generative AI supports its content trend analysis of over 33m articles a month across these publishers, read by circa 500m consumers.
CEO Rupert Hodson explains: “We have code on a page across our publisher partners, so we know how many people are reading an article. When we layer what type of reader is engaging with that content, it enables us to build out very interesting content consumption stats, and gen AI is helping us to sift through that data.”
However, not all premium publishers are embracing AI-generated content in ad imagery. Some outlets — including a top three news publisher — don’t want AI-generated imagery running on their site.
“There’s nothing bad about the imagery that’s generated,” Hodson says. “But it highlights the growing concerns of AI generated content and imagery across the web – what is human generated and what is by machines. The lines are getting blurred and we need to ensure that the trust in quality journalism is not eroded.”
Sean Adams thinks we may see a backlash and soon expects to see AI-generated imagery having to be labelled as such when used in advertising.
Next-level marketing personalisation
Samantha Adams, vice-president, advertising sales, at BBC Studios and co-president of World Media Group, is also expecting to see more people embracing AI for business growth next year.
“I think the industry will be using AI in a different way, with hyper-personalisation in marketing so that it’s really tailoring it to individual preferences,” she says. “There will be the ability to become much more precise, starting a conversation with the individual.
“We’ll see this coming across in things like TV trailers that might highlight a specific element of a programme that would appeal to you rather than anyone else, based on your viewer history and preferences.”
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But while AI brings with it great potential, Emma Winchurch-Beale, vice-president, growth partnerships, UK, at Economist Impact and the other co-president of World Media Group, says content studios will need to balance creativity with technology to remain competitive.
As she explains: “Generative AI and automation will streamline production, but human creativity and storytelling will be essential to stand out. Trust and authenticity will take centre stage as audiences become more discerning about the content that they engage with.”
Diversification of platforms and formats
Content studios have had to adapt to the shift towards vertical, short-form videos on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts to connect with mobile-first audiences.
In the same way newsrooms are looking at new ways to reach their audiences with interactive video and audio storytelling, content studios are strategically diversifying across multimedia platforms and formats, from online to podcasts to print and events.
According to Raquel Bubar, managing director at T Brand Studio International, The New York Times’ content studio, branded audio content is gaining a lot of traction.
“Brands don’t just want—but need—to have a meaningful dialogue with their audiences, and audio is one of the few mediums that truly enables this. Audio provides a unique opportunity to have multiple voices come together in conversation, fostering authentic discussion that gives brands a new way to connect and build their audiences,” she says.
Winchurch-Beale says The Economist has embraced vertical, short-form video to bring its rigorous journalism to new audiences. “We use platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts to distil complex topics such as inflation or geopolitics into concise, visually engaging formats that reflect The Economist’s analytical style,” she explains.
“These videos combine data visualisations and sharp storytelling to make big ideas more accessible.”
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A more fragmented media landscape
Connected TV (CTV) continues to emerge as a growth area, blending programmatic capabilities with TV’s mass reach. While it’s typically been the realm of the streaming platforms, Sean Adams says publishers are now starting to think about how to measure their own streaming video.
“We’ve had a lot of growth in that area this year being driven by the increase in Connected TV, with ‘traditional’ publishers who produce video content now thinking about what their CTV measurement strategy should be,” he says.
Samantha Adams sees the rise of CTV as another challenge to an already fragmented media landscape. She’s concerned that the proliferation of media has intensified competition for audience attention and advertiser budgets.
“There are so many different ways for brands to spend their budget,” she says. And it’s not only in new areas like programmatic TV, but with social and search commitments. “Brands are wanting to make their money go a lot further, so we’re trying to do more but with the same amount. As a result, we’re going to see clever uses of marketing budgets next year.”
Pressure to prove ROI may quash innovation
Winchurch-Beale says the pressure to prove return on investment has led to a shift in performance-driven strategies over traditional brand-building efforts. The downside, according to Bubar, is that brands play it too safe.
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“Hesitating to experiment due to the pressures of meeting specific KPIs can restrict a brand’s freedom to innovate and miss out on opportunities to win big. As much as possible, brands should continue to think outside the box and trust master storytellers to deliver their messages in new and interesting formats – formats that audiences are really craving to read, watch, listen to and share. Give the people what they want!”
The outlook for premium publishers
Even after the elections, the rise of misinformation and unchecked news sources continues to be a worrying theme, especially in light of the recent Meta announcement. However, World Media Group news brands are seeing a positive shift, with audiences turning back towards trusted news sources.
The Economist, which usually sees an uptick in readership around election time, says that subscription numbers have continued to rise since the result of the US Election, suggesting that in times of global uncertainty, audiences are turning to trusted outlets for clarity, accurate journalism and thoughtful analysis.
“Independent news brands are important for our democracy,” says Hodson. “We hope there’s going to be continued support for premium publishers and a movement towards professionally curated content that’s got a trusted brand behind it.”
Sean Adams agrees: “We’re great believers in premium publishers, what they do and the value they bring, not just to their readers, but to the world. I’m hoping that everything the premium publishers are currently focusing on is helping to strengthen their relationship with their audiences and also underlining their wider importance.”
Jamie Credland is CEO of World Media Group, a strategic alliance of international media organisations.
Its members include BBC News, Business Insider, CNN International, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, The New York Times Company, Politico Europe, Reuters, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, associate member The Atlantic, and partners Brand Metrics and Dianomi.