Ashley Norris

There aren’t too many things that we can be sure of in these increasingly bizarre times. But here are two.

It is now nearly two years since the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Yet while many publishers have ensured they comply with its basic statutes some are still struggling to come to terms with the way it has changed the media landscape. The fact that different countries appear to have taken different perspectives on its guidelines has further complicated matters.

Scott Lamb explains Medium’s publishing strength and the centrality of building relationships between readers and editorial entities. He also looks back at his time at BuzzFeed and offers his views on how venture-backed media entities, like BuzzFeed and Vice, might evolve in the future.

One of the big concerns that publishers have had in recent years is keeping staff away from the lure of the big tech platforms. Yet, for a number of reasons, there does appear now to be a trend of talent heading in the opposite direction.

The last decade was a turbulent, but rather exciting one for B2B media brands. Navigating a path from primarily print to mainly digital production meant that many companies had to look very closely at their core revenue sources. For some, like Berlin based company Vogel Communications, it meant a significant revamp of its portfolio of services.

The last decade has been an eventful one for digital media with the massive growth of new online platforms like Spotify and Netflix creating challenges for both existing media companies and consumer electronics manufacturers. What will the new decade hold for digital media? Will we see new businesses emerge? Or will the current market leaders go from strength to strength?

The world of SEO is constantly evolving with Google updates and new formats and platforms to consider on an almost monthly basis. Yet might it be that as publishers we get so fixated on trying to keep on the right side of the SEO gamekeepers that we lose sight of the bigger picture?

The financial and business media has been at the forefront of many of the key innovations in contemporary media. It was the first to successfully implement subscription and membership schemes and it has led the way in experimenting with data journalism.

Over the past decade social media has provided a rich source of news for media companies. Yet the phenomenon of fake news, and in particular the emergence of deep fakes, has meant that organisations have had to tweak their approach.

In recent years, the Amazon-owned livestreaming video platform Twitch has become an increasingly attractive option for both brands and media companies who want to engage with young audiences. A site that was largely built on gaming activities has now evolved and features all kinds of content, including video from media behemoths like The Washington Post, Sky News and Cheddar.