“Don’t expect help from the disruptors”: The FT’s chief executive on AI, “loyalist” readers, and its U.S. expansion

[Nieman Lab: The Daily Digest] Wednesday, March 6, 2024 [“Don’t expect help from the disruptors”: The FT’s chief executive on AI, “loyalist” readers, and its U.S. expansion]( “The reality is that big tech and social media are failing, again, to do the right thing.” By Sarah Scire. [Google wants to redirect traffic from AI-generated spam blogs to legit websites]( What We’re Reading Boston Globe / Aidan Ryan [WBUR weighs hiring freeze, job cuts as advertising revenue plummets →]( “In an interview with the Globe last week and in the message sent to donors, [CEO Margaret] Low said that sponsorship revenue — also known as underwriting — fell by 40% over the past five years.” Talking Points Memo / Josh Marshall [Why is your news site going out of business? →]( “By the time you see that drop off starting in 2017 and 2018 we actually had a decent amount of momentum with our subscription business, and then it was a race to build the subscription business at least as fast as the ad business was collapsing.” Poynter / Angela Fu [The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell on covering AI and the influence of algorithms on daily life →]( “I say it’s like a karaoke machine — it can be used for good and evil.” Apple Newsroom [Apple introduces transcripts for Apple Podcasts →]( “With transcripts, users can read the full text of an episode, search the episode for a specific word or phrase, and tap on the text to play the podcast from that point in the episode. As an episode plays, each word is highlighted, making it easy to follow along.” Inbox Collective / Claire Zulkey [What The Toronto Star does to grow their email lists fast →]( “Our old emails lost about half of our clickers before they signed up…many readers clicked to the sign-up page but never entered their email and subscribed.” Washington Post / Will Sommer [A socialist writer skewered the Formula One scene. Then her article vanished. →]( “[Kate] Wagner’s is the kind of grand, impolite story that is increasingly rare in the struggling magazine industry, where surviving outlets depend on not offending the advertisers or celebrities they feature.” Press Gazette / Bron Maher [“Internal memos of the upper class”: A British reporter says U.K. journalism is out of touch →]( “Much of what we have come to accept as commonplace has dulled our curiosity to why so much of what is commonplace is unacceptable,” Former Guardian editor-at-large Gary Younge said. “There is value in asking: ‘Why do dogs keep biting people?’, ‘Who owns these dogs?’ and ‘Why do the same people keep getting bitten?’” Digiday / Sara Guaglione [Podcast companies are investing in AI-generated translations despite questionable quality →]( “We have been experimenting. It’s getting better. Not quite to the level we need it to be to say, ‘Let’s roll it out.’” The New York Times / Elie Levine [The New York Times is testing a new puzzle called Strands →]( “Tracy Bennett, the Wordle editor, who also edits Strands, said the game will appeal to people who enjoy anagrams or games like Boggle and Scrabble. Everdeen Mason, the editorial director of Games, said it can even serve as a steppingstone for players seeking to understand the tricks of the Crossword.” [Nieman Lab]( / [Fuego]( [Twitter]( / [Facebook]( [View email in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at www.niemanlab.org. Nieman Journalism Lab Harvard University 1 Francis Ave.Cambridge, MA 02138 [Add us to your address book](