Monday 25th September: Murdoch out - what now?

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As AI advances continue to disrupt the way we work, there are many questions from news and media organisations: What will be the impact of AI on audience expectations? How can we maintain trust in our news content in the AI era?

Reuters sheds light on these questions in an exclusive report: Powering Trusted News with AI: Navigating the present and shaping the future.

The report explores the role of AI in news and journalism and offers practical advice on how AI can help streamline your processes.

In a memo to staff, Rupert Murdoch has said "the time is right" for him to take on "different roles". At 92, after a 70-year career culminating in a £634 million payout to settle a lawsuit over his TV company’s reporting of the 2020 presidential election, he’s probably right. Eldest son Lachlan Murdoch has won the succession battle and will take over from his father in November.

Don’t get too excited at the prospect of a Rupertless Murdoch empire re-joining the ranks of what long-time critic Margaret Sullivan calls the truth-telling media, though. Lachlan has said: “We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies."

As for the elder Murdoch, he’s said: "I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas." Yay! If you’re not totally familiar with the nonogenarian Ozzie’s life’s work, for goodness sake don’t look him up on the Urban Dictionary. There’s plenty of speculation out there on what’s next - but the dust won’t settle for a while yet.

We’re all familiar with heavy workloads but if this research is right, more people might not be the best way to make your life easier. While hiring extra staff can alleviate some of the pressures felt by small teams, independent news businesses that enjoy sustainable workloads are more likely to have well-established operational and financial processes in place. Let’s hear it for the organisers.

When I read this from Adam Tinworth at the Next conference, I didn’t know whether to applaud in awe or run screaming from the computer. How Adam managed to liveblog David Mattin’s talk on the ‘unified digital-physical field’ I can’t fathom, but the implicatons for media intimated here are many and varied. Seriously, I need a lie down.

If the unified digital-physical field is too much, here’s a cheering story about Radio Times magazine making it to 100. Now the biggest revenue-generating title at Immediate Media, the publication was founded by Lord Reith to help people understand what they were paying for with the newly introduced licence fee. Wonder how he would have dealt with the ‘defund the BBC’ nutjobs?

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