The Weekly Bulletin | June 24, 2025

Hi SODP community,

Let’s recap on what’s been happening, the new content, industry updates, tips, and more.

TIP OF THE WEEK

This year’s Reuters digital news report confirms the scale of disruption — and opportunity — for independent media.

Audiences are changing in terms of where, how, and why they consume news. Legacy formats continue to lose relevance. Platform-native, mobile-first, AI-visible, and community-embedded content is the future.

Here’s how independent publishers can adapt — and lead.

1. Be Platform-First — But Not Platform-Dependent 

   TikTok is the fastest-growing news source globally. Social feeds, aggregators, and video now outpace TV and direct visits.

   → What to do: Build native content for TikTok, Shorts, and Reels — but also strengthen direct channels like newsletters, push alerts, and community forums. Use each platform for reach, not reliance.

2. Optimise for Interrupt-Driven Mobile Habits 

   Over 50% of under-35s now access news primarily via smartphones — on-demand, in bursts.

   → What to do: Rethink content for short, engaging, mobile-first formats — visual explainers, carousel headlines, audio snippets, or context-driven push notifications.

3. Stay Visible in an AI-Driven Ecosystem 

   AI chatbots now serve news to 7% globally, and 15% of under-25s. But if content isn’t structured or discoverable, independent voices risk becoming invisible.

   → What to do: Use clear metadata, summaries, and schema markup to make journalism AI-friendly, while labelling human-vetted content to maintain editorial trust.

4. Build Local Authority, Not Just Reach 

   As platforms dominate local search and community information, newsrooms must double down on original, timely local journalism.

   → What to do: Reclaim your role as a trusted source by prioritising local explainers, fast-breaking updates, and service journalism.

5. Rebuild Trust Through Transparency & Format Innovation 

   Only 40% globally trust the news, and nearly the same percentage now avoid it. Fatigue, bias, and negativity are key drivers.

   → What to do: Embrace solutions journalism, clear sourcing, and formats that foster connection, such as podcasts, constructive explainer series, or community Q&As.

6. Diversify Like a Product Company 

   Subscription growth is stalling (18% average in high-income markets), and most non-payers say no model would change their minds.

   → What to do: Treat every content and interaction point as a potential product — explore events, memberships, training, branded content, and licensing. One-size-fits-all monetisation is no longer viable.

📌 The takeaway:

Independent publishers need to act like product companies, distribute like creators, and build trust like journalists. That means meeting audiences in their space while reinforcing your editorial strength.

SODP POSTS

Should Global Media Giants Shape Our Cultural and Media Policy? Lessons From Satellite Radio

Debates about regulating Canadian content for streaming media platforms are ongoing, and key issues include revising the definition of Canadian content for audio and visual cultural productions and whether big streaming companies would be mandated to follow new Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) policies.

Global streaming companies are fighting regulations requiring them to fund Canadian content and news.

The Motion Picture Association-Canada, which represents large streamers like Netflix, Amazon and Disney, has argued that the CRTC should not impose “mandatory positions, functions or elements of a ‘Canadian program’” on global streaming companies.

The Online Streaming Act, passed in 2023, amended the Broadcasting Act to “ensure that online streaming services make meaningful contributions to Canadian and Indigenous content.”

For example, according to the act, online audio streaming services that make more than $25 million in annual revenue and that aren’t affiliated with a Canadian broadcaster will contribute five per cent of those funds to organizations such as FACTOR, Musicaction, the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Indigenous Music Office, among others.

This has the potential to benefit musicians in Canada. But Apple and Spotify, and other tech and music companies, have banded together (under the Digital Media Association, DiMA), labelling the act a “streaming tax” on users.

This is a pivotal moment to think about the important role of policy to support Canada’s independent artists, as well as public and community media, and the increasing power of global streaming companies when it comes to setting the terms of cultural policy. One way to do this is to consider the trajectory of satellite radio.

READ MORE

JOB BOARD

➡️Gannett is seeking an audience editor to focus on growing their base of loyal users at sites across our local network by collaborating with newsrooms to maximize existing platforms and devise ways of reaching new audiences. (USA). SEE MORE

➡️ News Corp Australia is looking for Head of commercial partnerships editors who will be responsible for driving the national commercial strategy and delivering impactful, revenue-generating content initiatives, and leading the development and execution of campaigns that enhance audience engagement, strengthen market positioning, and support long-term business goals. (Australia). SEE MORE

COMMUNITY BUZZ

Industry News

➡️ Network Ten has long been the third horse in the race for free-to-air news ratings, but its new evening news and current affairs bulletin has opted to do something different: be everywhere, all the time. The company said it had inked what it believes is a world-first deal with audio streaming platform Spotify to broadcast its 10 News+ show as an hour-long podcast and video each day, to be available within minutes of it ending on TV. It will also broadcast live on YouTube. READ MORE 

➡️ Google’s adding a slew of AI features to its productivity-focused Chromebook Plus line of devices, including a screen-selection tool for search and text capture, a tool that explains complex text, and NotebookLM. The new screen-selection tool works similarly to Google Lens and the “Circle to search” feature in Chrome on smartphones: long-press the launcher button or use the screenshot tool to select what is on your screen, and Google will instantly search for it. READ MORE 

➡️ CapCut - the Chinese, ByteDance-owned video editing app behind countless viral TikToks and Instagram Reels - has become a newsroom staple for fast, mobile-first storytelling. However, its newly updated terms of service, rolled out quietly on 12 June 2025, should prompt urgent scrutiny from any journalist or editor relying on the platform to produce vertical video. Under these new terms, users grant CapCut and its partners a global, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use any content uploaded to the app. READ MORE 

Social Media Discussions

➡️ Jérôme Salomon on LinkedIn:

How does ChatGPT Search select the sources to crawl? Title and Description are still key!

I’ve been asking questions to the ChatGPT support team for a couple of months now, trying to break down the ChatGPT Search process. I learned something new yesterday :)

I already knew that when you send a prompt with Search activated:

1. ChatGPT transforms the prompt into one or multiple queries to request Bing

2. Bing sends back a list of Search Results

3. The ChatGPT-user bot crawls a selection of relevant sources

4. ChatGPT includes the relevant content in the answer with inline citations

When you study the ChatGPT conversation JSON file, you can actually see the full list of Search Results (including the ones that ChatGPT didn’t use in the answer).

For each result, you get:

• URL

• Title

• Snippet (usually based on the meta description)

• Ranking position

• Metadata (like publishing date)

While answering a user, ChatGPT needs to select and crawl, in real time, a couple of sources to provide the best answer. I was wondering how those URLs are selected from the long list of Search Results. So I asked the support team again :)

CONTINUE READING

These are the highlights for the last week.

Until next!

Vahe Arabian and the editorial team at SODP