Reliable Sources: AI, Transparency, And The Uses That Audiences Are Actually Comfortable With
The New York Times recently announced how it will be dipping its toes into the AI pool, incorporating the technology into such operations as social copy and SEO headlines and unveiling a summarization tool for its journalists to “condense Times articles, briefings, and interactives.”
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times basically belly-flopped off the deep-end diving board with this week’s debut of its “Insights” feature, which is intended to bring AI-created perspectives to editorials and commentaries while offering “an annotated summary of the ideas expressed in the piece along with different views on the topic from a variety of sources.” (LA Times union members came out to say they doubt the unvetted AI analysis will “do much to enhance trust in the media,” while outlets like The Guardian were pointing out the dangers of critical articles getting unregulated counterpoint-friendly footnotes … all before the LA Times ultimately removed the feature from at least one article for falling down that precise dangerous trap.)
Between and beyond those two coasts, and along that vast spectrum of AI strategies, publishers are considering how best to take advantage of all that AI has to offer. And with those discussions, it’s increasingly important to weigh not just what it can do for the business-side, but what it will mean for those on the audience-side.
Digital Publishing: Outlook and Priorities for 2025
The responses confirm the priority to grow audiences, with 66% of publishers saying that they agree or strongly agree that their approach to increasing revenues will focus on exploring how to leverage their audience engagement to increase advertiser revenues. Publishers recognise the value of their quality content — with 52% planning to increase content output and 40% focused on changing the type of content they produce to attract more readers or viewers.
In the last quarter, blogs, search and product listings made significant strides, joining the consistently strong performance of influencers as top revenue drivers. In contrast, coupon pages and loyalty programs have experienced a noticeable decline.
All Hands On Board: B2B Firms Struggle To Process New Customers
B2B brands may be effective on the marketing front end. But they have a problem once they have attracted new customers: onboarding them, according to The Future of Customer Onboarding 2025, a study by Moxo. Of the companies polled, 56% have delays in processing new clients.
