The News/Media Alliance, which merged with MPA – The Association of Magazine Media in July 2022 – works with its members to advance news and magazine industry priorities through advocacy, critical research, resources and events that demonstrate the value and importance of supporting and preserving a free and independent press.

“We are delighted to welcome these 16 news, magazine, and digital media organizations to the Alliance family, and we are grateful for their support and their recognition of the need to share a voice on important issues facing the industry,” stated News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “The support of these innovative, multimedia businesses are invaluable as we continue to advocate on behalf of the industry and fight for the future of journalistic and creative content.”

The need to support and sustain quality journalism has reached a new level of urgency this year, as the rapid adoption of generative AI has introduced yet another threat to publishers of original content. The Alliance published a White Paper in October that found AI companies significantly overweight publisher content in their crawling of the web – often while not paying the publishers who invested in producing that content – to train their generative AI systems, coming in direct competition with publishers, as well as infringing on publishers’ copyrights.

The Alliance continues to push for legislation to require Big Tech platforms such as Meta and Google to pay publishers for the use of their content, with the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) being reintroduced in the Senate earlier this year. Canada recently passed similar legislation, which is modeled after the law in Australia that has been extremely successful, and the California State Assembly introduced a state journalism compensation bill that was the subject of a Senate informational hearing last week.

In addition, the News/Media Alliance works on behalf of its members to advocate on press freedom/First Amendment issues, privacy, digital advertising, copyright, postal delivery and more.

New News/Media Alliance members in 2023 include (not a complete list):

• AlterNet
• American Craft Council
• California Broker Magazine
• The Economist
• Future PLC
• G/O Media Inc.
• Grandstand Publishing LLC
• The Guardian
• Hughes Media Corp.
• Raptive
• Raw Story
• Rookie Road
• Style Media Group Inc.
• Today Media Inc.
• Ziff Davis

Coffey continued, “We look forward to working with our new members and all of membership to move forward key legislative and policy initiatives and demonstrate the importance and need for high-quality content in an information-driven world.”

For more information about membership in the News/Media Alliance, please click here.

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The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,200 news, magazine and digital media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

The post News/Media Alliance Grows Membership to Over 2,200 News, Magazine & Digital Media Organizations in 2023 appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

How would you describe the VR experience you provide?

Credit: The Guardian

The Guardian’s VR pieces are focused on first-person storytelling – offering viewers the opportunity to experience unique encounters and allowing them to see the world from a different perspective while becoming fully immersed and involved in a story. We’re excited about the new perspectives and challenges that VR can bring and view it as an opportunity for viewers to ‘learn by doing’ – a kind of embodied journalism. The use of first-person perspective in all of our VR pieces enables the viewer to step inside the story. This is something that is unique to the medium of VR and we’re excited to see where we can take this.

What does VR add to traditional journalism?

VR is a very different type of storytelling and there has to be a reason to place the viewer in a particular situation. The pieces can take [from] a few weeks to a year to make—depending on the complexity and ambition of the piece. It’s an incredibly visceral and experiential medium and if the story benefits from having the viewer there on location, it can be powerful, giving viewers a chance to see and experience things that they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to.

What makes a good VR experience?

This can vary widely depending on the particular piece of VR journalism and what the viewer is looking to get out of it. In general terms, a good piece of VR journalism would allow the viewer to experience something that they wouldn’t be able to access in day-to-day life, opening their eyes to different locations and experiences.

Why did the Guardian decide to invest in VR over other technology?

The Guardian is dedicated to digital innovation and, as a news organization, we have been early to VR. In doing so we are helping to form what VR journalism looks like. It’s all about being innovative, testing and pushing boundaries to be at the forefront of what is a very exciting time – marrying The Guardian’s experience of quality journalism with innovative storytelling.

Technology is moving at a break-neck pace. What are the technological holes in VR that you would like to see fixed in the future?

We’re excited about the development of wearables and believe this ​could really change the landscape of both VR and AR.

The post 5 Answers with Francesca Panetta, The Guardian appeared first on News/Media Alliance.