As an industry, it’s our duty to help readers understand what we do, how we work, how we make money, and how they are part of this process. The media industry has shifted in so many ways in the last two decades, but our readers have not been privy to the process in a way that helps them understand. For instance, they might not understand why we break news the way we do, or why quality journalism can be expensive to generate.
Distrust in institutions — including flinging the term “fake news” at our best news organizations — only contributes to the problem. In 2018, I anticipate more newsrooms sharing how the sausage gets made to our consumers, engaging with young readers to stress news literacy at an early age, or getting readers involved in the reporting/producing process more frequently beyond commenting and sharing stories on social media.
Michelle Garcia is race and identities senior editor at Vox.
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Dan Shanoff You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
AX Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Lucas Graves From algorithms to institutions
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Emily Goligoski Looking beyond news for inspiration
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Amy Webb Listen to weak signals
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams