Let’s face it: Digital news publishers have little reason to feel optimistic heading into 2018. There’s no shortage of ominous headlines or hot takes from the pundits and media prognosticators who, despite the fact that digital advertising will surpass $90 billion in the U.S. in the coming year, are predicting more pain for publishers.
Only 15 years ago, before the hyper-migration to digital began and a wave of consolidation swept across the print media space, U.S.-based newspapers raked in $67 billion in advertising. As many traditional publishers and newsrooms began to transform their businesses (and continue to do so today), meaningful digital advertising growth proved elusive to most, simultaneously contending with both the fickle demands of the marketplace and having to support an inordinate number of online publishers, platforms, and adtech companies.
Then came along a slew of “digital natives,” backed largely by venture capitalists, and the promise to invent a new publishing model. They stood up modern websites, relied on the social web for content distribution, and chased audiences and advertising businesses that could flourish, free from the shackles of a legacy business. Or so they thought. In reality, what many of these startups succeeded in doing was to launch new media properties, in an already over-crowded space, and produce content the world never needed. If companies like Mic, NowThis News, or even BuzzFeed never existed, would the state of news and journalism in this country look any different?
It’s easy to blame the platform monopolies for publishers’ quandaries, but it’s time to also acknowledge that there are simply too many of us in the digital news space. Digital ad spending continues to soar, but the lion’s share remains hijacked by a handful of companies, and exceedingly, gets vacuumed into the programmatic abyss. But if there’s one silver lining, it’s this: For too long, an excessive number of VC-backed publishers and adtech companies have been able to survive by siphoning off the digital advertising hose. Those days are winding down, however, and 2018 will be a year of reckoning for many. We are already seeing it via reports of missed revenue forecasts, shrinking company valuations, big M&A activity, and of course, pivots!
In today’s digital news economy, either you are a buyer or a seller. It’s time to decide which you are, and act accordingly; getting caught somewhere in between means being dealt a knockout blow, and the VCs won’t pull you off the ropes. 2018 will be all about pivoting towards consolidation, and creating strength-in-numbers alliances. That’s likely a good thing, as it should open up wider lanes for many heritage-based news publishers to maneuver. Those who can look past the headlines and sprint towards the opportunities.
Michael Kuntz is president of advertising sales and brand partnerships for the USA Today Network.
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game
Amy Webb Listen to weak signals
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Lucas Graves From algorithms to institutions
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
An Xiao Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Emily Goligoski Looking beyond news for inspiration
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Monique Judge Letting black women tell their own stories
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism