Chart of the week: News podcasts pull to the top of ad revenue in 2018

A little under half of the people in the United Kingdom and Finland said they first referred to news websites or apps when using a smartphone for news, according to Reuters most recent Digital News Report. While around half of people in the United States and Italy said they used social media and messaging apps when initially engaging with news on their smartphones.

[Sponsored] As the publishing industry has navigated its way over the past two decades through the biggest period of disruption in its history, many publishers have turned to innovation for continued competitive advantage. 

MPA – The Association of Magazine Media (MPA) announced the release of its 2019 Magazine Media Factbook. Since 1985, MPA has been compiling and packaging facts and figures around magazine media. Derived from third-party sources and MPA’s own research and data collection, the 2019 edition has over 100 pages of current information that articulate how magazine media is unique and its effectiveness compared to other media.

Hearst UK has commissioned a comprehensive piece of research with Theobalds Road, on the power of positivity. According to the research, people with a positive outlook on life are much more open minded and purposeful, and much more receptive to commercial messages. Thus, making them a key audience for advertisers.

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.

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. 

Despite popular belief, subscriptions and paywalls will not be the silver bullet most digital publishers have been waiting for. Instead, publishers should be exploring innovation in digital advertising formats, said Jessica Rovello, co-founder and CEO, Arkadium, USA, at this year's Digital Innovators' Summit in Berlin. She proposed four new formats as a good place to start.

Martha Stone Williams, CEO of World Newsmedia Network, discusses how the media industry must adapt to embrace innovation, how data and measurement must be the cornerstone of strategy and direction, and successful media firms implement a culture of experimentation.

Condé Nast International today announced the launch of Vogue Business Talent, a curated recruitment platform for professionals seeking opportunities with the world’s leading fashion brands. The new platform, launching with selected opportunities in London, New York, Paris, Milan and Hong Kong forms part of Vogue Business, the online B2B publication launched in January 2019.