Big Tech vs. News

Despite the many challenges facing the news business, panelists pushed back against the idea that in the age of scaled platforms, news media can’t compete for ad dollars.

The New York Times has built direct relationships with readers through its huge subscriber base, Robbins pointed out. Those relationships have also helped the publisher increase its direct traffic so it’s not entirely dependent on search.

“We may not be the scale of Meta,” she said, “but it’s not even about comparing audience size. It’s about building direct relationships.”

Josh Stinchcomb, chief revenue officer at WSJ/Barron’s, argued scale is overrated—especially for B2B brands that have “maybe 10,000” customers looking for reporting on very specific topics. He said the Journal is designing its app to convert casual readers into subscribers—part of a broader effort to reduce reliance on search-driven traffic.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, is exploring new avenues to keep its audience engaged. Leaning more into connected TV has driven a 45% year-over-year rise in video consumption, said Christine Cook, chief commercial officer.

Swisher warned publishers against depending on Google or Meta—especially as generative search begins to reduce news referrals. “I’ve always said this… they’re not your friends,” she said. “They’re there to eat you.”

Will AI save or ruin news?

Swisher invited panelists to share one use case of AI in the newsroom they loved—or hated.

“I think Ember is ridiculous,” she said of The Washington Post’s generative writing tool. “It’s the dumbest application of AI I’ve seen yet—but they keep lowering the standards at the Washington Post.”

Robbins, meanwhile, pointed out how New York Times Cooking uses AI for recipe metric conversions, making its product more accessible overseas. WSJ offers AI-generated bullet points and audio reads on its articles, and may soon test video summaries.

Bloomberg is using AI to power contextual video ads, while WPP is using it to build more accurate audience profiles and to better fight ad fraud.

Goodhart emphasized that as news publishers adopt AI, contextual understanding is paramount. “We cannot sidestep context in any situation,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is better understand the context—not just summarize content, but understand meaning.”