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At the beginning of 2025, let’s take a moment to look back at five trends that defined news media in 2024 – and The Fix’s coverage of them.

To be sure, it’s a snapshot, not a definitive list. Stay tuned for more coverage of 2024 results and 2025 predictions in January.

1. Charting the future after traffic 

Most major social platforms have deprioritised news. Search traffic is still meaningful but feels precarious in the age of AI. How can news publishers adapt? 

In June we published a column by Andrey Boborykin, media analyst and executive director of Ukraine’s major digital news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda, where he reflected on “life after traffic”. 

Life after traffic (by Andrey Boborykin, June 2024)

2. Generative AI: less hype, more practical adoption 

Two years ago ChatGPT blew everybody away. After a period of AI hype, though, publishers have found limited but real use cases where generative AI might be useful – such as repackaging content from one format to another or assisting journalists with mundane tasks.

What can newsrooms learn from Swedish Radio AI strategy? (by Sofiia Padalko, September 2024)

AI in newsrooms – three interesting use cases (by Priyal Shah, April 2024)

3. Social media fragmentation

2024 was the year of further fragmentation of the social media landscape. Twitter is still a place for media, but not the place. Bluesky seems interesting at the moment, though we’ll see whether it lasts. TikTok works well for some publishers, LinkedIn for others.

Are there bluer skies to leave for? (by Anton Protsiuk, December 2024)

30 leading European news publishers on TikTok in 2024 (by Anastasiia Kuzmenko, March 2024)

4. News publishers bet on non-news products 

As news media struggle to make money, creating non-news products like educational courses and online games seems like an interesting strategy. 

In Europe, for example, “more and more media are banking on online gaming platforms to gain visitors, subscriptions, and ultimately revenue”, Romain Chauvet wrote for The Fix a few months ago.

Online games, a new strategy to increase media audiences and subscriber loyalty (by Romain Chauvet, August 2024)

Publishing books as a digital-first news media outlet? Three European newsrooms share their experience (Veronica Snoj, April 2024)

5. Adversity and censorship helps boost innovation 

Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine is ravaging Ukraine’s media sector and by extension independent Russian media.

The only silver lining is that adversity helps boost innovation. Major Ukrainian media have found ways to make money from offline events during a full-scale war. Exiled Russian media are creating unique technological solutions to bypass censorship and reinventing their business models.

How Ukraine’s leading publisher Ukrayinska Pravda is growing its non-hard news coverage (by Anton Protsiuk, May 2024)

The tech stack behind Meduza’s efforts to bypass Russian censorship (by Veronica Snoj, August 2024)

How Russian media makers in exile are redefining the traditional radio format (by Veronica Snoj, May 2024)

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