Friday 8th December: Most news leaders think generative AI benefits newsrooms

Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Chris. Yesterday me and Peter were lucky enough to take part in the MX3 AI summit in London - stay tuned for some special content based on what we learned and heard.

It’s nearly time for Media Moments, our annual report looking at the biggest trends which have affected publishers this year. 2023’s edition will explore AI (of course), newsletters, podcasts, DE&I, subscriptions and more. Launching next week, but you can pre-register to get it sent straight to you once we hit ‘Go live’!

There’s loads of insight in here from the Changing Newsrooms 2023 study — not just around AI, either. While that’s certainly in there, it was the section on flexible working that caught my eye. This is a charged and contentious area, and it’s one that I’m always interested in given that it speaks volumes about the relationship between senior people within the business and the rank and file journalists who have less influence around working practices:

“Nearly two thirds of newsrooms have moved towards flexible and remote working since covid-19, building in specific policies and processes. That said, 16 per cent have gone back to the pre-pandemic norm of majority office hours. Perhaps not surprisingly, two per cent said they have mandated staff to return to the office but struggle to make it happen.”

Mandatory office hours do not lead to better journalism, as the output of news outlets during the pandemic demonstrates. My suspicion is that it’s peer pressure among execs who hate their spouses and can’t wait to get out of the house every morning that’s driving the ‘return to the office’ push — but I’d love to hear counterpoints!

At the MX3 AI summit yesterday we heard from some publishers who are making sure their use of generative AI is ethical and accurate. Well, after we reported last week that Sports Illustrated appeared to have used generative AI in a non-disclosed manner, a report suggests there’s been a big shake-up internally. Honestly, if you read this write-up, you’ll conclude there is not a healthy culture there overall.

In the latest episode of the podcast we chatted with Charlotte Henry about the future of the BBC. We now have a little more clarity on what that might look like as the result of a government decision to raise the license fee by a smaller percentage than expected. The BBC says that will leave an expected funding gap of around £90m. The government is also launching a review of the BBC's funding model…

What’s this? A media company hiring journalists after disappointing results instead of cutting them loose? Actually investing in long-term value creation rather than bowing to short-term pressure? Well, I never! In all seriousness, despite the share price fall and the glum outlook, this is exactly what you want to see from a publishing business.

More from Media Voices