Remember that a paywall does not necessarily lead to better journalism.
Quality journalism has a significant price tag and requires time as well as knowledge and in-depth research, elements that tend to fade into the background during the holiday season. This may be a suitable time to investigate how artificial intelligence can help to keep the news supply up to standard during the so-called cucumber time.
While other media close their doors in an attempt to present themselves as 'adult', we seem to be constantly sweeping from left to right. And when a story loses interest, we just sweep up. This represents a new style of reading where we rarely delve deeper into the content unless it is about publicly shaming someone. The question arises: how do we navigate these changing times in the journalistic landscape?
Implementing a paywall or making readers pay for content is a decision not to be taken lightly. The idea behind this is that this model offers the opportunity to invest in thorough, quality journalism because there is a direct income stream. This is in contrast to the free model which often relies on advertising revenue and can lead to clickbait-like practices to generate more clicks and views.
By opting for a paywall, a digital portal can position itself as a more "mature" or more serious media source that offers some value that readers are willing to pay for. It supports the view that good journalism has value and that value is reflected in the price readers pay.
Remember that a paywall does not necessarily lead to better journalism. The quality of the content still depends on the journalistic skills, ethical standards and practices of the media organization.
In addition, it is critical that there is transparency and accountability so that readers can see that the content they are paying for is of high quality and that their money is being used to maintain these high standards.
At the same time, there is also the risk that a paywall creates a certain form of information inequality, where only those who can afford such content have access to quality journalism. It is therefore essential to strike a balance between paid and free content to ensure that access to reliable information remains possible for everyone.
summaries
Demands of the modern world have made news consumption increasingly mobile, with reading headlines and scrolling through summaries becoming the norm over reading full articles. Because of this, readers are often on the go – literally and figuratively – and therefore prone to quickly swiping through content and digging only superficially. This has led to a kind of volatility in news consumption that can compromise the depth and nuance that characterize quality journalism.
So the challenge lies in finding a way to combine the speed and ease of sweeping with the depth and quality of thorough journalism. And it appears that artificial intelligence could play a key role in navigating this complex space.
