It’s never been more difficult to make money through news. Thanks to consumers’ changing news consumption habits, there’s more pressure than ever on privately-owned news organisations to monetise their programming and platforms. It’s no different for public service broadcasters, many of whom are facing budget cuts and must find ways to go digital without additional investment.
Cloud technology is here to help organisations address these challenges – both by reinvigorating their production workflows and enabling the creation of new services to audiences.
So, which trends will shape the future of news? And what role will cloud play?
Trend #1: Digitisation is enabling a story-centric approach
News organisations have been in a period of transition for a few years now. IP connectivity and the cloud have become crucial to everyday workflows, providing the scalability and accessibility needed to take more of a story-centric approach to news production.
This addresses the multi-channel consumption habits of today’s audiences. In the past, ‘mission critical’ workflows that often operated for 24 hours a day (and couldn’t afford any downtime) were rarely updated unless as part of a major technology overhaul or new facility build. However, today the flexibility and efficiency provided by cloud technologies has changed everything. Hurdles and time-consuming tasks such as reformatting and tagging are now being simplified so creating and distributing media content across multiple channels at once is becoming easier, from news channels and streaming platforms to social media and editorial products like podcasts. This means even public service broadcasters that need to operate economically can engage audiences via their preferred channels.
Trend #2: Integrating AI into content creation and management
Like many other businesses, newsrooms are adopting AI for tasks like transcription, translation, content curation and editorial management. News production is also facing a particular set of ethical responsibilities and questions when it comes to the use of AI. In a recent episode of the Cloudsourcing Storytelling podcast, Morten Brandstrup told me that TV2 Denmark had created guidelines and policies for how AI is to be used within the organisation, which is crucial to ensuring responsible implementation.
But the roll out of AI will also depend on wider cloud adoption. Realistically, processing and analysing large volumes of content or data requires a scalable, cloud-based infrastructure. In other words, as demand for AI tools continues to grow, so will the need for more accessible cloud services.
Trend #3: A shift to hybrid cloud workflows
Within news production, many organisations still need to use their on-premises infrastructure. The good news is that this doesn’t preclude them from using the cloud. By adopting a hybrid cloud, leveraging an ecosystem like Sony’s Creators’ Cloud and on-premises approach, these organisations could significantly optimise resources without completely replacing legacy infrastructure.
Hybrid systems are becoming increasingly popular thanks to their inherent flexibility. They provide the scalability and efficiency of cloud, but the on-premises elements mean that news organisations can keep their most sensitive data and workflow elements in their own physical facilities. The best of both worlds!
Trend #4: Focus on connectivity and edge computing
The explosion of mobile journalism and remote reporting has placed a growing emphasis on mobile connectivity and edge computing, which is only going to increase as news operations become more agile and mobile-first.
Regardless of whether you’re reporting from the middle of a metropolis or a remote desert, news operations need high-quality, reliable connections. As such, we’re going to continue to see news organisations adding solutions like private 5G networks and wireless extensions of cloud infrastructure into their technology arsenal.
Trend #5: Enabling innovation
It goes without saying that with the pressures of today’s news landscape, news producers need to think about how they can deploy cloud technologies in a different way to create better programming. For many, this includes using cloud to roll out faster and more efficient live workflows.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as demonstrated by recent proof-of-concept tests undertaken by news organisations or demonstrated at trade shows and events. TV2 Denmark also told us about several such tests, including a disaster workflow designed in the cloud. Developed as part of the IBC Accelerator programme, TV2 Denmark replicated its on-premises technical workflow in the cloud, which acted as a failsafe system. Then, the team pulled the plug on the on-premises operations and the cloud workflow kicked in immediately in a completely seamless, unnoticeable transition.
These trends reflect an evolving landscape, driven by the need for agility, efficiency and adaptability in a digital-first environment. However, it’s proof of concept tests like those conducted by TV2 Denmark that don’t just show the efficiencies of cloud, but also demonstrate its potential to revolutionise news production.
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