Welcome to the Publisher Newsletter by Media Voices: profiling the people and products powering publishing.

The Publisher Masterclass: Spring 2026 AI Special Series

Our popular Masterclass series is back! This time, we’re bringing the classes from our AI Forum in November online, so a wider audience can benefit. We had really great feedback for these, so don’t miss out on your chance to hear from leading experts in AI and publishing on how these tools and trends can help your business.

Tickets will be £49.99 per masterclass (and we’re paying all our experts). Live attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and dive deeper, but all sessions will be recorded and will be available on-demand for attendees and those who can’t make it live.

As always, we don’t want cost to be a barrier for small and indie publishers, so if affordability is an issue, please drop us a line on [email protected].

Using AI to enhance content

Wednesday 25th February, 4pm GMT

AI can do more than just generate text. For savvy journalists, there are tools available to transform content into multimodal formats which can engage audiences on multiple levels and platforms.

Former journalist and AI executive Stacie Chan will take attendees through various tools to add other dimensions and enhance journalistic reporting.

You will learn:

• How to identify opportunities to enhance content with AI

• Some of the most common AI tools and what they do

• Hands-on demo of transforming your content for different mediums

Masterclass lead: Stacie Chan

Optimising for AI discovery

Wednesday 4th March, 4pm GMT

The way audiences find new content is undergoing dramatic changes with the rise of AI-powered search. Adapting to these new habits will be crucial for surviving and thriving over the next few years.

David Buttle of DJB Strategies will help attendees formulate a strategy for weathering rapid changes, and future-proofing your content discovery strategy.

You will learn:

• How the search and discovery landscape is shifting and what the consequences are for publisher strategy

• Assessing the benefits and costs of remaining visible in AI-powered search

• Optimisation paths to create resilient businesses in this new platform era

Masterclass leads: David Buttle & Stuart Forrest

Frameworks to successfully implement AI in your business

Wednesday 11th March, 4pm GMT

Whether you’ve already got an AI strategy for your business or know you need to make a start on one, clear leadership is needed from the top to ensure it is implemented safely and successfully.

In this workshop, senior executive consultant Madhav Chinnappa takes you through a framework for senior leaders and executive teams to introduce AI tools and workflows in their organisations.

You will learn:

• How to empower senior leaders and teams to experiment with AI in a way that benefits the business

• Pitfalls and things to be aware of when introducing AI tools

• The benefits of having AI champions at a senior level

• Where time could be re-invested for higher-value work

Masterclass lead: Madhav Chinnappa

How AI chatbots can be used to increase engagement

Wednesday 18th March, 4pm GMT

One area publishers are exploring the use of AI tools for is keeping users on-site and surfacing vast archives of relevant, trusted content.

Zoe Coutinho, Product Director at the FT has been leading a team experimenting with AI chatbots on FT Professional. In this workshop, Zoe will outline the process they went through to implement the chatbot, and where they’re looking to next for AI-powered engagement.

You will learn:

• How to evaluate where AI products are (and aren’t) appropriate for building engagement on-site

• How to measure success and ROI for chatbots, and what signals to look out for

• Whether a build or buy approach is right for you

Masterclass lead: Zoe Coutinho

The ROI of AI

Wednesday 25th March, 4pm GMT

There’s a great deal of pressure on companies to introduce AI, but how do you go about assessing its impact and potential for return on investment?

James Carson, founder of Absolutely Agentic and formerly of History Hit, The Telegraph, Bauer and more will take you through a framework for measuring ROI in a media business.

You will learn:

• How to evaluate AI projects before, during and after inception

• What signals success beyond financial savings

• Managing rollout of AI projects in a way which sets them up for success

Masterclass lead: James Carson

As a reward for reading all the way to the bottom, here’s a discount code for you - MV25 will get you 25% off all Masterclass tickets!

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