This week’s Twipe Weekly Publishing News Digest takes a look at stories from across the world of publishing and news tech, touching on topics like print price increases, AI-generated images, huge audio growth and more. Read our top 5 stories of the week below.
1. Pulp friction: Why paper has become a huge headache for news publishers
Print production may be seen to be dying out but there are no signs of it disappearing for good. But, publishers are facing familiar problems with print, namely that the price of paper is increasing. Press Gazette found that UK publisher Reach PLC reported a £13.6 million increase in newsprint costs. Press Gazette‘s Bron Maher takes a look at the full story behind the increased expense of print.
2. “News publishers expect revenues to more than double this year”: World Press Trends 2022-2023 Trends
At WAN-IFRA‘s World News Media Congress 2022, Dean Roper provided a sneak peak at the key trends which are emerging ahead of the World Press Trends 2022-2023 report. Despite difficult times, it appears publishers are expecting significant revenue growth in 2022 with lots of it coming from new revenue streams. WNIP have provided a full overview of the pre-released insights.
3. Shutterstock will start selling AI-generated stock imagery with help from OpenAI
At the Digital Growth Summit, we heard a lot about the power of AI generated synthetic content, and Shutterstock seem to have jumped on the hype early doors. The Verge‘s James Vincent reported that Shutterstock will now seek to stave off competition from these generators by selling AI-generated stock imagery with help from Open AI. This is an interesting moves which see’s a formalisation of AI-generated images. Spooky!
Read James Vincent‘s full take on The Verge.
4. Engaging news outsiders: A case study from Schibsted’s IN/LAB
According to Reuters’ 2022 Digital News Report 38% of people actively avoid the news. What opportunities do new technologies offer to address news avoiders/outsiders, and how are publishers looking at reaching these unrepresented news audiences? Nic Newman and Agnes Stenbom addressed this complex topic at the Digital Growth Summit and provided some fascinating insights.
5. Record 4.53 million people use BBC Sounds during week following the mini-budget
Audio and podcast consumption has been on the rise for a while, and with the rapidly evolving news agenda in the UK it is no surprise people want to consume more audio news than ever before. Interestingly, much of this seems to be happening away from the tech giants, with BBC Sounds reporting a record usage figure of 4.53 million users during the week following the UK’s mini-budget. What’s most fascinating when diving into this growth is that 54% of overall plays were for live content and 65% of all listening hours were live.
Find out more on BBC here.
