Content Aware media news: October 20, 2022

Semafor signals, publishers hit by Google, and rising piracy - all in this week's Content Aware media news highlights.

Published: 16:39, 20 October 2022

Corbidge comments... is in Germany
The Sunday Times is 200 years old today; the BBC turned 100 two days ago. First, Happy Birthday to both, institutions of news in their homeland today and over the years. Second: will they be here in another 100 years? Our man with the eye on the industry is currently in Germany at the big MX3 event for specialist media and publishers, hearing some of the things we can do to ensure Google and Facebook Tech don't eat Big and Small Media for breakfast, and how the publishing industry can not merely survive but actually grow. Read his thoughts and takeaways next week - including insight from our own roundtable on the matter.
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Semafor launches
Long-heralded media startup Semafor is now live, putting it says a new voice into an increasingly busy market of 'fast digestible news'. It aims to boost trust in news, targeting college-educated audiences worldwide - although most of its news is decidedly US for now - with a delivery style that very deliberately outlines differing viewpoints of a subject.
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Life finds a way (to defeat censorship)
An interesting look at how Chinese writers find novel ways to get round automated censorship.
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Sailing the free seas
Piracy is on the rise again - the online kind that is. If the rise of subscriptions for everything from heated car seats to tractors has stretched the world's patience for payment plans, will content businesses be the first losers?
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Is TikTok just short-form TV?
Can't get your head around TikTok? This view surmises that it's secret is simply to tap into the feel of the bits of TV we love and remember the best.
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UK Govt eyes cybersecurity supremo
You may have thought there was one already, but putting the onus back on device manufacturers to ensure their hardware is safe would be a top priority for the new role. After all, how many devices does your office have connected at peak times? You'd like to think they are all secure by design.
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Google update hits publishers
A great bit of digging by Press Gazette into the impact on news sites of the most recent Google Search algorithm update, which appears to have had much more effect than the scarier Helpful Content Update.
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Horrible name, horrible thought
'Pink slime news' sounds pretty vile, and it is: industralised fake news that looks just like the real stuff.
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How the FT boosted newsletter open rates
Can you spare a moment to fill in this survey?
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Reporters thoughts on how to reach younger audiences
Publishers worldwide are scratching their heads on how to win the attention of younger audiences: here's what some of those tasked with making the content think.
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