More than a decade ago, the press began to suffer the onslaught of disruption, and a painful change began to take shape. However, for those who understood it for what it was, it also boosted innovation. In recent years, newspapers and digital native media have pioneered experimentation on the Internet — the former pushed by the pressure generated by changes in their business model and in consumer habits, the latter by the very nature of their DNA.
Along the way, television was left behind. Until now. 2018 will be the year we witness how television becomes a leading player in the battle to discover formats, to find audiences in new ways, to compete on the Internet. News shows on Instagram Stories, original YouTube content with renowned journalists, interactive infographics adapted to television or new programming that is linked to mobile notifications. Television will finally become more digital, while the rest of the media will want to be more like television. To the question of who is doing a good job on the digital transformation of television, there are few answers and examples. Up to now, the elites of the digital world have been the likes of The New York Times and BuzzFeed.
I’m a newspaper journalist, having spent most of my career in print and digital media. I’ve gone through this transition before, from separated newsrooms to integration to no borders. When I landed in television more than three years ago, it felt like I had traveled back in time. I feel like I am seeing history repeating. We are living a second great digital transition, which will end up putting us all, regardless of our origin, on the same competitive plane. Television reaches this critical stage with a lot of experience and lessons that have been learned by others, with heavy pockets, and two clear strengths: a very strong footprint on social networks, both from its brands and its individual talents, and a unique sensitivity for video storytelling that is higher than that of all its competitors.
In 2018, we will witness how digital profiles will take additional ownership of the legacy side of TV companies, both in content and in business; those same traditional newsrooms will begin to create original digital content in a consistent manner; and we will see an important leap in innovation under the pressure of changes in consumer habits and variations in the business model of television. Just as happened in print media, some will lag behind. For these projections to materialize successfully, in addition to a predisposition to innovation and unique content, three factors will be necessary: leadership that rises up to the challenge, a deep understanding of the importance of technology, and high-quality execution.
Borja Echevarría is digital editor-in-chief of Univision News.
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
An Xiao Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Lucas Graves From algorithms to institutions
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Monique Judge Letting black women tell their own stories
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Emily Goligoski Looking beyond news for inspiration
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Amy Webb Listen to weak signals
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Dan Shanoff You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news