Journalism, media and technology trends and predictions 2018

Abstract

2019 will be the year when the regulation of platform companies starts to become real following growing concern about misinformation, privacy, and market power. Something once considered unthinkable has become ‘inevitable’, in the words of Apple boss Tim Cook – though the details will be messy, hard-fought, and take time to play out. Meanwhile the spread of false, misleading and extreme content will continue to undermine democracies around the world with polarising elections in India, Indonesia and Europe likely flashpoints. Journalism will continue to be hollowed out by structural shifts that have already led to significant falls in advertising revenue. Publishers are looking to subscriptions to make up the difference but the limits of this approach are likely to become apparent in 2019. Taken together these trends are likely to lead to the biggest wave of journalistic lay-offs in years – weakening further the ability of publishers to hold populist politicians and powerful business leaders to account. This annual trends and predictions report explores key developments in the practice and business of journalism. It explores publishers’ relationships with platforms, the boom in podcasting and voice activated technologies and the potential for Artificial Intelligence in the newsroom.