Financial Times Group CEO John Ridding delivers a keynote speech at the 2024 World News Media Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 28. He stressed the distinct role human journalism will play, and urged tech players to pay for using news organizations' data. Korea Times photo by Kim Bo-eun

COPENHAGEN — Greater agility is required for news organizations to stay relevant in today's fast-changing world. The emergence and development of artificial intelligence (AI), shifting policies of platform companies and changes in the form of news consumption among young readers are just a few of the headwinds that news media need to navigate, according to media experts and industry insiders.

Listed are some of the most referred to terms at the 2024 World News Media Congress hosted by the WAN-IFRA (World Association of News Publishers) in Copenhagen, Denmark, from May 27 to 29. These are some areas newsrooms across the world are focusing on of late.

1. AI in newsrooms

While in the early stages, newsrooms have incorporated AI in various parts of their workflow. AI is being utilized in news production such as for data collection and analysis, transcription, translation as well as summarization and headline extraction. AI is also being used for business.

The consensus is that AI can be used in areas where it can perform tasks more efficiently, and the human resources that are freed up as a result should focus on producing greater-value journalism. “It's really about freeing up resources to invest in some of the traditional strengths of quality media, excellent journalism,” Financial Times Group CEO John Ridding said in his keynote speech at the congress. Meanwhile, it is essential for newsrooms to set up guidelines and policies on the use of AI that are made clear not just internally, but also for readers, the experts noted.

2. 'Freemium' paywall

Several news outlets including Time and the U.S. business news outlet Quartz retracted their paywalls last year, prompting the idea that the paid subscription model is losing traction. But more news organizations are experimenting with diversified models, which include the “freemium” paywall. This model allows members to access basic articles for free, while requiring them to subscribe for premium content.

The freemium paywall enables news sites to maintain page views at a certain level, which leaves room for ads to serve as the other main pillar of revenue. Some news media that have adopted the freemium model are the U.K.'s Daily Mail and the Swiss German-language news outlet Blick.

Lea Korsgaard, left, editor-in-chief at Danish news outlet Zetland, shares the organization's success with its paywall, in a session on the paywall model at the 2024 World News Media Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 27. Korea Times photo by Kim Bo-eun

3. B2B vertical content

As a means to secure another stable stream of revenue in addition to the traditional B2C model, media companies have turned to the B2B model. Thereby offering niche business content for the corporate sector. Offering specialized content is also a way to differentiate, as it has become difficult to stay competitive as generalist media.

“In a world of digital abundance, you need to find your scarcity. Find your scarcity, you will find your value. You find your value, you can dictate the price,” Juan Senor, president of Innovation Media Consulting, said in the closing plenary of the congress. Some examples of news media that have adopted this model are the Financial Times, France's Groupe Sud Ouest and Denmark's Watchmedia.

4. Greater emphasis on fact-checking

Fact-checking has become even more crucial with the advent of AI and the penetration and influence of social media. But along with the obvious purpose of dedicating resources to making sure news content is fact-based and accurate, letting readers know that a newsroom is committed to this end instills trust, which has the effect of strengthening brand power. Readers will subscribe to news outlets they trust, which indicates that allocating more resources to fact-checking would also make sense from a business perspective. AFP is an industry leader in fact-checking, and the BBC launched BBC Verify last year.

“A news outlet's role as a fact-checker is the new added value to our journalism. People will pay to verify fake news,” Senor said.

5. Bundles

News product bundles have been around for some time. According to The New York Times, its subscriber growth is being driven by users signing up for its bundles that span news, games and product recommendation services.

Now, the composition of the bundle is evolving to include products from other industries as well. An example is a subscription to a news site combined with a discount on entertainment streaming platforms, which is said to be underway.

This reporter's attendance at the 2024 World News Media Congress was funded by the Korea Press Foundation.