In an era where everyone talks about what digital has taken away from journalism, few see what it has made available. Between algorithms deciding what we read and platforms dominating distribution, there is another story: that of concrete tools, often unknown to newsrooms, that today can make the difference between surviving and being reborn. Technology, when understood and governed, is an ally to know deeply.
The fear media organizations have of confronting the real issue, the need to find a sustainable equilibrium with Big Tech, the sector’s principal strategic partners, is killing journalism more than digital transformation itself.
In 2024, 75% of global traffic to news sites was driven primarily by Google and Meta. The tech giants have radically changed the rules of the digital game, while also offering resources and tools that are fundamental to the economic and technological sustainability of news organizations. Despite this, only a handful of major publishers have seriously committed to building an independent alternative model.
As a manager at Evolution Group, one of the leading tech companies in the publishing world, I have seen firsthand the strategic value of partnerships with newsrooms. Today more than ever, publishers and journalists have access to advanced technological tools such as Pinpoint and Google’s News Consumer Insights: they improve operational efficiency and the quality of journalistic work, and they help convert occasional visitors into loyal readers, a decisive factor for the economic sustainability of news organizations.
Yet media companies continue to seek the next “deal” with Big Tech, giving up the effort to build direct channels with readers and advertisers. It is a systemic mechanism: newsrooms invest resources to optimize content according to platform algorithms, progressively losing control of user data and, as a consequence, their editorial freedom and economic independence.
Ignoring this problem is a fatal economic mistake, as well as an ethical one. Every click gained today through Google or Meta is a reader who could be lost tomorrow with a simple update.
The Role of Big Tech in Supporting Journalism
Google is the undisputed leader in supporting digital journalism. Through the Google News Initiative (GNI), it has invested more than 300 million dollars to fund over 7,000 editorial projects in 120 countries, with specific initiatives covering innovation, economic sustainability, and the fight against disinformation. Tools such as Google Pinpoint have revolutionized investigative work, enabling journalists to rapidly analyze hundreds of thousands of documents through artificial intelligence and OCR technology. Subscribe with Google, moreover, has helped publishers gain more than 500,000 new digital subscribers, creating a direct and profitable relationship with readers.
Google has also developed News Consumer Insights, a strategic solution designed to help newsrooms convert occasional visitors into loyal readers. This tool provides detailed analyses of reader behavior, enabling media organizations to adopt targeted strategies for building user loyalty and increasing digital subscription revenue.
Meta, through the Meta Journalism Project, has directed 600 million dollars toward local journalism and fact-checking. Programs such as CrowdTangle provided essential tools for monitoring conversations on social networks, significantly improving newsrooms’ ability to identify relevant stories in real time.
Apple, with Apple News+, introduced a premium distribution model based on human curation, reaching more than 125 million monthly users. Despite the much-criticized revenue-sharing model, the service has offered a new channel for reaching a large audience, especially for magazines and niche content.
Microsoft has supported local journalism through its Journalism Initiative, collaborating with OpenAI to integrate AI into newsrooms. Pilot programs in the US have allowed local outlets to experiment with advanced tools such as GPT-4 to accelerate investigative reporting and increase journalistic productivity.
OpenAI, through tools such as GPT-4 and Whisper, has given newsrooms advanced capabilities for summarization, transcription, and automated content generation, allowing editorial resources to focus on high-value journalistic activities.
Why Effective Collaboration with Big Tech is Essential
Underestimating the potential of partnerships with major industry players would be a significant economic and strategic mistake. Traffic generated by Google and Meta, alongside direct funding, represents an indispensable resource for many publishers: it ensures financial sustainability and amplifies content.
The tools provided by Big Tech, and Google’s offerings alone make this clear, offer enormous potential for increasing operational efficiency and improving journalism quality. These tools, however, often remain little-known or underused by newsrooms.
Our role as advisors is also this: to accompany our partners in understanding the logic of algorithms and in identifying opportunities that are often hidden.
Only those who, like us, have worked for years behind the scenes of the great show that is digital publishing can truly know these opportunities in depth and bring them to light for the publishers and newsrooms that need to act on them.
A Reflection
It is essential that newsrooms regard Big Tech as strategic allies, to build with them lasting and productive collaborations. What matters is making the most of the tools and opportunities they offer, to strengthen editorial independence and economic sustainability over the long term, more than debating whether it is possible to do without these platforms.
Those who keep chasing the next deal with Google or Meta, without investing in these tools or in a direct relationship with readers, are condemning themselves to depend forever on rules written by someone else.
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