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Platforms vs Publishers, AI in newsrooms, Google vs DOJ, and more - all in this week's Content Aware weekly newsletter.
Platforms vs Publishers: The Forever War
Much like Joe Haldeman's sci-fi classic, the period from 1997 to 2024 seems like a time dilation that only lasted a few years, and another round of unnecessary conflict seems upon us again.
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AI content, efficiency & credibility
In an INMA article, our own Richard Fairbairn speaks out about newsrooms' conflicting notions when it comes to the role of AI in content creation. Although it can boost efficiency, is it really worth the risk of damaging credibility and facing legal issues?
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Not Sutton the fence
The DOJ's latest antitrust case against Google, centered on allegations of ad monopoly, is unfolding in a Virginia courtroom. The case highlights Google's shift from a search engine to an advertising powerhouse after its 2007 DoubleClick acquisition, allowing them to monopolize the ad market and in turn harm publishers. To no one's surprise, Google is denying the charges, claiming its ad tech benefits businesses and publishers. Does it, though? Media expert and a force of nature Ricky Sutton is providing both insight and analysis via his Future Media Substack. Do subscribe.
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The Edinburgh Minute: turning local news into a daily delight (much like Haggis)
Michael MacLeod's newsletter, The Edinburgh Minute, is becoming a successful model for local news revival. With 13,205 subscribers, it curates local stories and community events with support of reader payments and no ads in sight. This approach is part of a broader trend on Substack where local news is thriving despite traditional media cutbacks. Other newsletters, such as The Knot and Local Authority, aren't far behind.
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Feeding the future: how writers are training the AI that might replace them
Jack Apollo George examines the paradox of writers being employed to train AI chatbots, which might make their skills obsolete one day. Despite the flexibility and decent pay, the irony of this isn't lost on anyone, as this contributes to the technologies that threaten to automate writers' jobs. Human input and training is obviously very crucial in AI training to avoid fake information and maintain accuracy, but it also underscores the debate about the value and future of human writing in an increasingly automated world.
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Is Google's facing a split up? TBD.
The ruling that Google is operating an illegal monopoly isn't news to anyone, however, we might have to wait a bit more for the consequences. To be exact, until Summer 2025. The US Justice Department will propose remedies in the coming months which could include breaking up the company, with the final decision expected after the 2024 election. The case follows a historic ruling against Google's anticompetitive practices.
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UK News: Online surpasses TV for the first time
For the first time, more UK adults are getting news online (71%) than from TV (70%), driven by a rise in social media usage. Print newspaper readership has dropped significantly to 34%, however despite the shift, TV remains the most trusted news source, with the BBC leading in overall news provision.
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Big Tech's double edged sword for journalism
Even though tech giants such as Google seem to offer a helping hand to journalism, they also create dependency issues and impact press independence. While some projects benefit, there are also a vast number of those struggling to sustain themselves, which raises concerns about the tech overlord's broader influence and role in shaping regulations.
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AI search overlap: same but different
A new study by Rich Sanger and Laurence O'Toole from Authoritas reveals that about 46% of links in Google AI Overviews overlap with those in traditional search results. After analysing 11,163 queries, they found YouTube and Wikipedia to be the most frequently linked sources.
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And now for something different: AI sparks artisan revolution in Mexico
Someone Somewhere, founded in 2016, uses AI to augment the creativity of Mexican artisans by demonstrating to global brands how products could look with their creative input, using Stable Diffusion's text-to-image model. Their work has attracted global giants such as Adidas.
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