Jessica Patterson

Over the last months, it's become a noticeable trend among publishers to invest in compostable or sustainable wrapping. Some do it to cut costs, some do it to help save the environment, some do it in response to their audiences' concerns about single-use plastic. 

In FIPP's continuing series looking behind the scenes of ground-breaking multimedia storytelling, we focus on a recent feature from Insider that delved into the Mueller Report.

Over the last couple of months, FIPP member Penske Media Corporation has made some great strides in its global expansion plans, launching in China two of its brands: WWD in mid July and Variety on 1 August. Both new editions feature a blend of original content and on-the-ground reporting that caters to Chinese language audience. 

Last month, Des Moines-based Meredith announced a collaboration with The New York Times, on a series of special interest magazines, the first of which hit newsstands July 26.

Time magazine is making headway into immersive augmented reality and virtual reality experiences this week, with the announcement of a new app and news that Academy and Emmy Award-winning talent is joining "The March" team. 

After years of shrinking budgets for training and cuts to personal development across the  magazine and news media industries, there are signs that companies are making training and education of staff a priority again. Last month, The New York Times announced it had open-sourced its data skills course for reporters, and made it accessible to all.

Last year, The Economist launched an essay contest for readers aged 16-25, in attempt to engage younger readers, that was so wildly successful, they're doing it again. 

Magazine media have long put energy and resources into efforts that are bigger than their brands, into socially and environmentally responsible events and campaigns. Companies are balancing making a profit with being responsible to the planet and the communities that they operate in.

For over 50 years, Rolling Stone has been iconic in its coverage of music and popular culture, political journalism and commentary. From the Beatles' Magical Mystery tour to Shawn Mendes, Rolling Stone has covered the greatest rockstars, the hottest celebrities, the biggest political stories. Called a 'counterculture bible' by The New York Times, the magazine has launched careers, defined what was cool, inspired a rock song, been embroiled in controversy, and over the last two years, found a new home with Penske Media Corporation. 

For publishers, AI-driven tools have largely been used for editorial purposes, to write articles on themes like sports scores, weather forecasts and real estate sales. For example, Reuters uses an AI-based tool called NewsTracer to sift through millions of tweets in real time, to flag potential news stories, for its journalists. UK-based Reach does something similar, using an AI-based tool called Krzana to monitor 60,000 online sources to alert journalists to breaking news, and Forbes has tested an AI-based tool to draft stories for contributors. Publishers have also leveraged artificial intelligence to power content recommendations, to edit homepages, and for translation.