Audience Before AI - The Addition

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Newsrewired, an annual gathering discussing all things digital publishing, took place on Wednesday. There were some fascinating talks on stage and good conversations away from it. However, others and I were struck by how much focus there was on things like AI instead of the audience.

It seems that in journalism, people have forgotten AI is a tool, not the work itself. It means that we are in a situation in which people are doing deals and handing over their content to placate the AI beast, pretending the beast is not going to eat them anyway. We need to remember that we are writing for real people, an audience, and we need to know what they want and need instead of using the next big thing to churn out slop.

Feeding the AI Beast

The most inspiring talk came from Mattia Peretti, who told the room that we had “lost touch with the mission of journalism” and that it isn’t sufficient just to inform the public or simply produce content. We need to provide a service that has real value. He argues that producing work with real value is the only way to make journalism sustainable and I think he is right.

Chris Dicker, CEO of CANDR, was also pretty… candid… in urging the hacks and publishers not to just surrender to AI.

Let’s be honest, clickbait content can be fun. However, it only gets you so far. That’s not to say work has to be dull though. Peretti points out that the best journalism both provides a service and gets attention. It is a hard thing to aim for, but various newsletters, podcasts and other projects are showing that it can be done.

I’ve long argued that journalism does not have to accept managed decline. Some of the interventions on Wednesday that the industry might just fight back.