BL-24 - Flipbook - Page 60
ENTREPRENEURS
say, often lead to arti昀椀cial news clogging up other parts of
the digital sphere
a chance that we are in the wrong and, of course, mistakes
do happen, but I will not accept threatening letters as a
substitute for polite engagement.
My attitude towards legal threats is far from the only thing
that has changed since I edited my 昀椀rst edition on Sunday
17th August 2015. The Square Mile has changed, for a start.
A decade ago I couldn’t even get a Starbucks coffee in the
City on a Sunday (working on Monday’s edition), whereas
today the City’s often busiest on the weekend.
Canary Wharf has evolved, too, as has our approach to
publishing. Before the pandemic I used to say to the owners
“I think we should have an app” and they’d reply, “why
would we encourage people not to pick up the newspaper?”
Today, having launched our app just over a year ago, it has
been downloaded more than 250,000 times. And we’re still
printing. Our focus is obviously a lot more digital, and we
pump out videos from our own studio in the heart of the
City.
The economics of news publishing has also shifted (it will
never be static) and we now have to contend with a world
going crazy for Arti昀椀cial Intelligence which can, I regret to.
How do we retain trust? How do we earn the loyalty of
readers? How do we monetise a product that, for 20 years,
has been free to read? These are mighty questions with no
easy answers, but City AM has some hard-won advantages
as we navigate the new landscape. We’re agile, we’re
entrepreneurial, we’ve got supportive and patient owners
and, perhaps most importantly, we’ve got a personality and
a reputation.
We strive to add value to the issues and stories we cover
and add some fun to the world of business and 昀椀nancial
journalism. We have to have faith that this approach will
continue to resonate with our audience, even as we cut a
path towards the future through the jungle of AI.
Elements of that technology are supremely useful to
journalists (deep research and data analysis), and other
elements are great for our consumers, such as personalising
news feeds, or translating stories to audio or foreign
languages. But one of my many jobs is to make sure that,
amid this constant and necessary experimentation, we know
where we’re going and that we don’t get distracted by
noises off. Or, for that matter, by angry lawyers.
The sun rises on the Square Mile, casting light on a city — and a newsroom — that thrives on change. Forward, always
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ISSUE 24
