Ashley Norris

We speak to The New European’s editor, Matt Kelly, on pop up publishing, identity media and how a ‘digital guy’ has ended up helming this year’s most noteworthy print success.

Artificial intelligence is a key technology that will transform many industries in the coming years. It is already playing an important role in the media, largely driven by the experiments of platforms like Google and Facebook.

Time was when the role of an editor was fairly straightforward, not any more. The digital revolution means most editors need to not only understand the art of storytelling, but also how to weave content across multiple platforms often aimed at different audiences.

In an era of multiple publishing revenue streams one is prized above all others - subscriptions. Yet getting people to commit to pay for your media product over a period of time can be a long and complex process and relies not just on offering a quality product, but also delivering imaginative and compelling marketing.

We are entering an era of two Internets – an “American”-owned one with Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon and a “Chinese”-owned one with Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent - Wolfgang Blau, president of Condé Nast International, told the audience in his keynote at the 41st FIPP World Congress in London today. It was one of several insights offered to delegates gathered in the packed main stage arena.

“No other industry predicted its own doom as much as print media. The magazine is not dying, but it may be killing itself.”

From Brexit in the UK through to Trump in the US the last eighteen months have been an era characterised by political uncertainty. Yet the recasting of the political map has ironically enough been rather good news for current affairs focused newspapers and magazines, with broadsheet newspapers reporting soaring subscriptions and booming memberships schemes.

Branded content, in all its various guises, has become a huge deal for mainstream publishers in recent years. From the meteoric growth of native advertising through to the labs that publishers have created, there is clearly a demand for brands to tell their stories in mainstream media. And in an era where consumers are increasingly ignoring display online ads, branded content has become a key revenue source.

For the last fifteen or so years Azeem Azhar has been a key commentator on the intersection of technology and online media. He has worked with both mainstream media companies like Reuters, The Guardian and the BBC alongside social startups like Peerindex and Mink Media. In many different capacities and different guises Azeem has been asked to predict the future, and many people are eager to hear what he has to say.

Have we reached peak podcast yet? The format which debuted over a decade ago has come of age in the last few years with phenomenal listening figures on both sides of the Atlantic.