AI paywall busters, a history of clickbait, and Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly - all in April 20 Content Aware media news highlights.
Corbidge comments... on passionate readers driving change
Publishing and content driven by the passion of its readers is arguably some of the most useful and influential stuff put to audiences. Consumer and hobbyist media are still the great influencers that matter, says Robert - possibly from a hilltop.
https://www.gpp.io/news/how-hobbyist-media-serves-innovation-and-the-economy-aGkAQ0M5snhj
AI peering over paywalls
Many publishers now believe AI tools are bypassing paywalls to access subscriber-only content*, which then shows up in answers generated by the likes of ChatGPT. Are they right, or paranoid? Answers are being demanded. (*With Glide Verify this can't happen.)
https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/generative-ai-could-hinder-subscription-efforts-toolkits-subscription-snapshot-q2-2023/
EU vs AI in the fight for publishing's future
It turns out GDPR popups might have been the secret weapon against the machine takeover.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/19/1071789/openais-hunger-for-data-is-coming-back-to-bite-it
Digital digging and meme spies
Insight into how the New York Times tracked down the US serviceman linked to the leak of classified intelligence documents, and the role of open source investigators with an eye for kitchen counter tops.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/04/leaked-documents-nyt
A brief history of clickbait, by those who wrote it
New book Traffic outlines the war for clicks between the archetypes of attention-grabbing content producers, and wonders what the lasting effects will be.
https://newrepublic.com/article/171669/ben-smith-traffic-digital-media-clicks
AI wins photo competition, again
Didn't they look at the hands
and think something was a bit off?
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/ai-photo-win-sony-scli-intl/index.html
"What time does this fad end?"
The journalistic equivalent of being put on traffic duty might be coming to an end. Google stops featuring content so thin it can do it itself.
https://pressgazette.co.uk/platforms/seo-google-what-time-is/
How to make good content
From Google's perspective that is. An update on the guidelines to creating helpful, reliable, people-first content that should perform like a charm in search.
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content
Montana bans TikTok
The first state to do so, but unlikely to be the last. No word on how it will enforce it.
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/montana-first-us-state-pass-tiktok/
Euphemism of the day: Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly
Fun with fireworks, the Space X edition. It was great to watch; congratulations, and better luck next time guys.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1649043715686793218?cxt=HHwWhIDQybehyuItAAAA
