This presentation was delivered at Media Culture Days at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on May 17, 2019. Linda Austin spoke as a Fulbright Specialist on 5 Trends to Watch in Journalism. Those trends include mobile, messaging apps, voice, artificial intelligence and audience. For each, she offered statistics, a case study from a media outlet, and a takeaway. Bonus slides at the end provide links to more reading.

1. Linda Austin
Project co-director,
Associated Press Media Editors’ NewsTrain
Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow, University of Missouri
laustin.newstrain@gmail.com
TRENDS to
WATCH in
JOURNALISM

2. Who am I?
● Tailored 18
workshops to
train 1,000+
journalists in
digital skills
● Taught
journalism in
Burma, China and
the United States

3. Who am I?
● Developed first mobile-microlearning
course in digital journalism.
● Led three local newsrooms in digital
transformation

4. What’s in this
for you?
“The harder you work and
the better prepared you
are, the more luck you
might have.”
– Ed Bradley,
U.S. journalist

5. What would
you pick?
TRENDS to
WATCH in
JOURNALISM

6. MOBILE

7. Mobile for news doubled
http://media.digitalnewsreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/digital-news-report-2018.pdf?x89475

8. Phone: 56%
Computer: 54%
Computer: 71%
Phone: 66%
http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2018/united-states-2018/
http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2018/romania-2018/

9. 2012: Targeted mobile
at launch.
● Staff: 20
2018: Sold for $75-110
million.
● Staff: 215
● Audience: 20
million
Case study:

10. What’s in this for you?
Take a newspaper and fold it in half.
Do it again. And again.

11. ImagebyJoycePedersenunderCCBY-NC2.0

12. Image by Greg Younger under CC BY-SA 2.0

13. What’s in this for you?
Look on your phone at a
website you follow for
news.

14. ImageusedunderCreativeCommonslicensebyOpenGridScheduleronFlickr.com

15. What could you add?
• Bullet points
• Bolded words
• List, such as “What we know/what we
don’t know”
• A map
• Audio clips
• Annotation
• Embedded social media posts
• Chart or infographic

16. MOBILE
Requires a
different
presentation
for scanners
in a hurry

17. MESSAGING
APPS

18. WhatsApp
Messenger
4 top apps’ users: 4.1 billion
From “Guide to Chat Apps,” Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia University, 2015
Top 4 social networks
Top 4 messaging apps

19. Even he gets it!
ImagebyJakobSteinschadenunderCCBY-ND2.0
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/03/11/zuckerberg-says-hes-going-
all-in-private-messaging-facebooks-declining-user-numbers-tell-us-
why/?utm_term=.b67c17841724

20. Most popular app by nation
WhatsApp
Messenger
https://www.similarweb.com/blog/mobile-messaging-app-map-january-2019

21. Facebook: 36%
WhatsApp: 14%
More using apps for news
http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2018/overview-key-findings-2018/

22. 2017: Launches India’s first
WhatsApp news service.
2019: 400,000 subscribers
• 5 million monthly page
views
• Revenue from logos,
native ads
• 80% of subs to BQ Blue
Case study:

23. MESSAGING
APPS
Provide too
big an
audience to
ignore.

24. VOICE

25. Music: 84%
News: 46%
As of January 2019
https://www.edisonresearch.com/fifty-three-million-u-s-adults-now-own-at-least-one-smart-speaker/

26. Music: 84%
News: 46%
As of January 2019
Adopted rapidly
https://www.edisonresearch.com/fifty-three-million-u-s-adults-now-own-at-least-one-smart-speaker/

27. What are they used for?
Music: 84%
News: 46%
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/future-voice-and-implications-news

28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9bUacMXGIA
News on smart speakers

29. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2019
Publishers: voice change

30. 2014: NPR One app starts:
“Hand-picked stories based
on what you like”
2018: 16% of live streaming
through smart speakers
2019: Marriage of the two
Case study:
https://digitalservices.npr.org/post/smart-speakers-drive-live-streaming-growth-public-radio
https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/04/asking-alexa-for-news-no-longer-has-to-stop-with-the-latest-headlines/

31. What’s in it for you?
Music: 84%
News: 46%
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/future-voice-and-implications-news

32. VOICE
Will grow. Will
news – and
monetization
– grow with
it?

33. ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
Imageby6eotechunderCCBY2.0

34. What’s in it for you?
https://youtu.be/GAfiATTQufk

35. What’s artificial intelligence?
• Autonomy
• Adaptivity

36. What’s in it for you?
1) Automating more stories and
videos (“robo-journalism”)
2) Personalizing content and
recommending it to audiences
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2019

37. What’s in it for you?
3) Helping journalists deal with
information overload
https://insights.ap.org/industry-trends/report-how-artificial-intelligence-will-impact-
journalism

38. 2014: AP automates
writing stories on
corporate earnings.
2016: AP automates
writing stories on minor
league baseball.
Case study:
2018: AP produces 3,700 earnings stories per
quarter, 12 times more with fewer errors.
Saves 20 percent of its journalists’ time.
https://insights.ap.org/industry-trends/report-how-artificial-intelligence-will-impact-journalism

39. ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
“All journalists
will benefit
from having…
understanding.”
– AP Insights

40. AUDIENCES

41. 60%+ digital ads to top 3
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-
2019

42. Publishers subscribers
52% focused on
subscriptions
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2019

43. Who pays for digital news?
Norway: 30%
USA: 16%
Romania: 11%
All: 14%
http://media.digitalnewsreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/digital-news-report-2018.pdf?x89475

44. 2014:
2018: 2019:
Case study:
https://www.vdz-distribution-summit.com/fileadmin/user_upload/praesentationen/2018/vdz_martin_joensson_dn.pdf

45. 2015: 5,000 digital subscribers
2017: digital-subscription revenue was up
92%; the increase was greater than the drop
in print-ad revenue
2018: 146,000 digital subscribers; newsroom
budget increases for first time since 2012,
allowing key hires
– Martin Jönsson, head of editorial
development https://www.vdz-distribution-summit.com/fileadmin/user_upload/praesentationen/2018/vdz_martin_joensson_dn.pdf
Case study:

46. AUDIENCES
Focus on
revenue from
users could
mean better
journalism –
for some.

47. TRENDS
1. MOBILE
2. MESSANG-
ING APPS
3. VOICE
4. AI
5. AUDIENCES

48. Mulțumesc foarte mult!

49. More reading: last 7 slides
Find all the slides at:
slideshare.net/laustinnc
Contact Linda Austin at:
@LindaAustin_
laustin.newstrain@gmail.com

50. To learn more: Trends
• Digital news report 2018 – Reuters
Institute for the Study of Journalism
• Journalism, media and technology
predictions 2019 – Reuters Institute for
the Study of Journalism
• 2019 trend report for journalism, media
& technology – Future Today Institute
• BetterNews.org – best practices for news
innovators from American Press Institute
• Subscribe e-newsletter, Need to Know,
from American Press Institute.

51. To learn more: 1. Mobile
• Unlocking mobile revenue and audience:
New ideas and best practices – American
Press Institute
• What The Guardian’s Mobile Innovation
Lab has learned – Nieman Lab
• 35 prototypes, one year, and lots
learned: The BBC puts its mobile
storytelling plan in action – Nieman Lab
• Visual storytelling on mobile phones –
Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism

52. To learn more: 2. Messaging
• “WhatsApp has come in to fill the void”: In
Zimbabwe, the future of news is
messaging – Nieman Lab
• Guide to chat apps – Columbia University’s
Tow Center for Digital Journalism
• Try Bloomberg|Quint news on WhatsApp:

53. To learn more: 3. Voice
• The future of voice and the implications
for news – Reuters Institute for the Study
of Journalism
• Weekly blog from Guardian Voice Lab,
Nov. 2018-April 2019
• Smart speaker use is growing. Will news
grow with it? – Nieman Reports

54. To learn more – 4. AI
• The Big Nine: How the Tech
Titans and Their Thinking
Machines Could Warp
Humanity – Amy Webb
• Free online course in artificial
intelligence – Helsinki
University
• An ethical checklist for robot
journalism – Tom Kent
• Newsletter on data, AI and machine
learning – NYC Media Lab

55. To learn more – 4. AI
• Report: How artificial intelligence will
impact journalism – AP Insights
• E-book: What’s the role of journalists in
an era of algorithms? – AP Insights
• Guide to automated journalism –
Columbia University’s Tow Center for
Digital Journalism

56. To learn more: 5. Audiences
• New ways to capture consumer revenue –
AP Insights
• Guide to audience revenue and
engagement – Columbia University’s Tow
Center for Digital Journalism
• 50 ways to make media pay – Damian
Radcliffe for What’s New in Publishing
• Paying for news – American Press Institute
• Building subscriptions and memberships
for quality journalism – Digital Content
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