The document outlines trends to watch in journalism, focusing on mobile usage, messaging apps, voice technology, and artificial intelligence. It emphasizes the importance of adapting news presentation for mobile devices and leveraging messaging platforms for audience engagement, along with the growing role of AI in automating journalism tasks. Additionally, it highlights the increasing revenue from digital subscriptions and the significance of understanding audience behavior in the evolving media landscape.

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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