Top 5 Digital Publishing Trends in 2024
Digital publishing continues to develop at a rapid pace, driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behaviour, and innovative business models. As we navigate 2024, several trends are reshaping the field of digital publishing. In this post, we discuss some of the emerging trends set to define the industry in the coming years.
1. AI-Driven Content Creation
The emergence of AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Grammarly, has introduced a noteworthy transformation in content production and writing. These AI tools speed up the process and improve the quality of publishing by offering a variety of functionalities that help journalists with their jobs – such as content generation, checking grammar, providing high-accuracy language translation, fact-checking, and more. An increasing number of newsrooms use AI tools alongside their existing newsroom software, such as Superdesk, to improve their functionality and productivity.
AI tools aren’t infallible, however; they can generate fake information due to limitations in their training data. Using only AI generated content without any human input can also negatively impact search result rankings. Aware of the risks, Le Monde, France’s leading newspaper, implemented a charter on the use of AI in its newsrooms, ensuring AI cannot replace humans in their journalistic productions, and emphasising the transparency of any use of generative AI to be disclosed to readers.
But when used correctly, AI-powered content creation helps in delivering personalised news feeds, improving the overall reader experience. News organisations, Le Monde included, have adopted AI tools to assist in translating articles, generating audio versions of articles, moderating comments, and much more.
2. Interactive and Multimedia Content
With audience engagement paramount, interactive and multimedia content has become essential in digital publishing. Readers are increasingly accustomed to dynamic and immersive online experiences. News publishers are incorporating videos, infographics, interactive graphics, and quizzes within their articles to create a memorable reading experience.
In recent years, audio and video formats have increased in popularity, driven by advancements in technology, the rise of specialised platforms for creation and distribution, and the preference of younger consumers for these formats over traditional text-based content. Websites with visual content typically attract longer audience engagement. Live blogging platforms have also become great tools for integrating rich multimedia content into news websites.
Podcasts are also used by news media to diversify their media offerings and attract listeners who prefer consuming news on the go. Podcasts can be shared through online radio stations that use online broadcasting software such as Airtime Pro.
News publishers such as The New York Times and the BBC use Instagram and TikTok for posting short new videos and reels, while The Economist offers subscription podcasts about global issues, business, politics, technology, and other topics.
3. Cross-Platform Distribution and Platform Shifts
Traditional social media platforms like Facebook and X have shown a decline in traffic while content-based networks such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have gained strength. These platforms provide creators with powerful tools for content creation and distribution, where social interaction is significant, but not the primary focus. These video-centric networks are rapidly expanding globally and becoming the main source of news for younger audiences, posing a challenge to digital publishers. For instance, video production is not the core expertise of most news websites, and social media platforms offer limited opportunities to drive traffic back to their news websites, which is essential for monetisation.
Additionally, traditional news organisations often struggle to gain visibility compared to young news creators who are easily navigating the conventions of these platforms.
Besides Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, many news publishers, including The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, are using WhatsApp Channels to share news in a shortened version with the link to the original article.
4. Focus on Data Privacy
Another trend is the shift toward more ethical, transparent, and user-centric digital publishing, with a focus on data privacy.
First-party data, which is collected directly from audiences, is becoming increasingly valuable. Contextual advertising, where ads are placed based on the content of the page rather than user behaviour, is also gaining popularity. These changes are driving innovation in privacy-compliant data practices and establishing a more transparent relationship between publishers and their readers.
The planned phasing out of third-party cookies by major browsers such as Google Chrome was expected to change digital advertising and audience tracking. News publishers were preparing to adapt to a cookieless world by exploring alternative methods for data collection and audience targeting. Google has been delaying the phase-out of third-party cookies in Google Chrome for years. However, this phase-out has now been cancelled.
Instead, Google is adopting a new approach that focuses on giving users greater choice and control over their web browsing privacy. Google will implement a new feature in Chrome that enables users to make informed decisions regarding their privacy settings. News publishers preparing for a cookieless future will need to reevaluate their strategies.
5. Subscription Based Models
Traditional advertising methods are no longer sufficient to support newspapers financially. The emergence of digital platforms has changed consumer behaviour, resulting in decreased advertising revenue for news organisations.
Media professionals have adopted subscription models to generate sustainable revenue. These models create the potential for ongoing revenue streams and provide a direct connection with readers. A widely used subscription model in the media industry is the implementation of paywalls. Paywalls limit access to content, and readers can only view the whole article if they pay a fee. Diversifying revenue streams is essential for the long-term success of newspapers, as subscriptions alone might not be enough for major media outlets to maintain their operations. Superdesk, our award-winning headless CMS, also offers a Paywall Component. Another method to access news content is called micropayments, which gives readers the option to pay only for the content they consume.
The Washington Post is introducing a third newsroom in addition to its main news and opinion sections and aims to shift away from a standard approach to news consumption. The new newsroom will provide flexible payment options like micropayments, while concentrating on video storytelling and using AI to help with coverage.
The landscape of digital publishing in 2024 is marked by rapid evolution driven by many technological developments and changes in audience behaviours. As digital publishing continues to evolve, embracing these trends will be crucial for publishers aiming to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.