It is never too soon to begin integrating AI in your publishing strategy, shown by publications across Germany who met for the second annual AI Day, hosted by Nordwest MedienGruppe in Oldenburg, Germany.
Like many countries in Central Europe, Germany has an ecosystem of local, regional, and national publications all vying for readership. Since print and e-papers are an integral part of German news consumption, this poses interesting questions for news producers who want to serve their consumer base in the present while continuing their digital transformation.
These AI Days are part of an effort to share knowledge on AI and how it can make journalism more time and cost efficient. Most outlets around Europe and the globe could benefit from the bulk-type work that can be alleviated through targeted Artificial Intelligence.
AI will never replace high journalistic standards and the talents journalists bring to these roles, but the learning curve for new technology is growing as some publications remain locked in stasis.
One primary insight from the day came from a demonstration of Mather’s Sophi AI product put to use in the Eidosmedia CMS platform. Within the Méthode interface used in many newsrooms, publishers can drastically reduce the time geared towards page templates and ad organization. It’s the culmination of their partnership to this point, and give signs for how AI can already integrate into newsrooms.
In fact, even when the partnership between Eidosmedia and Sophi was announced in 2022, Eidos’ Sales and Partner Program Director Marco Cetola said, “Page automation is the greatest innovation in the publishing industry since the personal computer replaced typewriters.The productivity boost obtained is exceptional. Especially for daily publications where the page-design operation is usually running against the clock.” The fruits of the last two years of labor were shown to conference-goers: a look into what Sophi, Mather, and AI have planned for the future of journalism.
These are the types of tactical changes that Liesbeth Nizet, Managing Director of Mather Economics Europe, sees giving AI instant runway, even in newsrooms behind on their digital transformation. “It is already there to help us automate and summarize. The core of every publisher will always be journalism. AI can be an enabler to work on time, cost effectiveness in a first stage.” Every creative in these newsrooms could be aided if some of the bulk work of running a news organization was minimized in their schedule. It’s the task of those in the business to deduce which sectors need help most, and to allocate resources as such.
Mather’s vision is to enable publisher sustainability, and AI solutions are a crucial piece of being able to achieve that. The journalistic importance of any given piece of content is best assessed by strong journalists. AI can do better at evaluating things like benefit to advertising or subscriptions, but without any journalist input or overrides, news publishers could lose their differentiation from what big tech platforms could do more cost effectively at greater scale.
– Liesbeth Nizet, Managing Director Mather Economics Europe
Sophi and Mather’s CMS partnership with Eidosmedia ground the tangible ways AI can optimize peripheral, bogged-down forums of your news outlet. Whether automating the time-consuming, daily tasks of site and page-building, long-term subscription pricing management, or organization of elements in print or digitally, AI will have a space as journalism figures out its future.
These sorts of conferences show how publications big and small are adjusting to the new normal in journalism. It is volatile, and each newsrooms’ issues are its own; but tactical solutions like AI can keep these publishers afloat and flourishing.
Further Reading:
Read previous blog:
