Latest news with #AxelSpringer
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Politico's UK newsroom to unionise as Trump pressures media
Journalists at online media outlet Politico are preparing to unionise as Donald Trump puts its parent company in his sights. Staff in Politico's UK newsroom have submitted a formal request for union recognition to the company, which is owned by German media giant Axel Springer. Insiders said morale at the publication had slumped, with staff unhappy about pay and benefits. It comes amid a chilling of relations between the Trump administration and Axel Springer, which is run by media tycoon Mathias Döpfner. Mr Döpfner, whose empire also includes Business Insider and newspaper titles Die Welt and Bild, has previously been sympathetic to Mr Trump's politics and arranged for Elon Musk to write an opinion piece expressing his support for Germany's far-right AfD in one of his papers. However, he has since distanced himself from Mr Trump over the US president's treatment of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Politico has found itself in the spotlight after Mr Trump repeated false claims that the outlet had received millions of dollars in funding from the US Agency for International Development. The payments were in fact subscription fees for the news outlet for US government departments. Relations soured further last month after Business Insider published a story scrutinising Donald Trump Jr's business dealings and comparing him to Hunter Biden. The story reportedly sparked anger in the White House, fuelling speculation that Mr Trump could seek to retaliate against Axel Springer through a potential federal investigation. Politico also came under scrutiny from one pro-Trump Axel Springer board member, who branded journalists 'woke' in a row over the outlet's coverage of the war in Gaza. Martin Varsavsky, a Spain-based entrepreneur, accused Politico of 'one-sided Hamas support'. He parted ways with the Axel Springer board just a week later. The union plans come amid unrest in Politico's US newsroom about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver summaries of major political news stories. US staff, who are represented by the PEN Guild union, have complained that the rollout of the new technology violates an agreement that states bosses must give 60 days' notice. Increased use of AI has also stirred tensions at Business Insider, which this week sparked fury and a union backlash after it announced plans to lay off more than 20pc of staff. In the same memo bosses declared the outlet was going 'all-in' on AI. Leaders of the nascent UK union are set to survey members about their concerns ahead of negotiations over a house agreement, with guarantees around AI likely to be included. Staff have also raised concerns about a leadership vacuum in the newsroom. Politico, which publishes the popular Westminster newsletter Playbook, has been without a UK editor since Jack Blanchard relocated to Washington DC. Nevertheless, sources close to the union insisted discussions with the company had so far been amicable and that they were aiming to develop positive relations. A member of the Politico NUJ Chapel said: 'Members of the Politico UK newsroom are seeking recognition through the National Union of Journalists. 'The chapel looks forward to fruitful negotiations with the company and on working together for Politico's continuing success.' Politico was founded in 2007 by media executive Robert Allbritton with the aim of capitalising on the rapid growth of online news. It focuses on politics and policy in the US and internationally, while it also hosts a number of live events. The website was snapped up by Axel Springer in 2021 in a deal worth more than $1bn (£743m). Politico and the NUJ have been contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Politico's UK newsroom to unionise as Trump pressures media
Journalists at online media outlet Politico are preparing to unionise as Donald Trump puts its parent company in his sights. Staff in Politico's UK newsroom have submitted a formal request for union recognition to the company, which is owned by German media giant Axel Springer. Insiders said morale at the publication had slumped, with staff unhappy about pay and benefits. It comes amid a chilling of relations between the Trump administration and Axel Springer, which is run by media tycoon Mathias Döpfner. Mr Döpfner, whose empire also includes Business Insider and newspaper titles Die Welt and Bild, has previously been sympathetic to Mr Trump's politics and arranged for Elon Musk to write an opinion piece expressing his support for Germany's far-right AfD in one of his papers. However, he has since distanced himself from Mr Trump over the US president's treatment of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Politico has found itself in the spotlight after Mr Trump repeated false claims that the outlet had received millions of dollars in funding from the US Agency for International Development. The payments were in fact subscription fees for the news outlet for US government departments. Relations soured further last month after Business Insider published a story scrutinising Donald Trump Jr's business dealings and comparing him to Hunter Biden. The story reportedly sparked anger in the White House, fuelling speculation that Mr Trump could seek to retaliate against Axel Springer through a potential federal investigation. Politico also came under scrutiny from one pro-Trump Axel Springer board member, who branded journalists 'woke' in a row over the outlet's coverage of the war in Gaza. Martin Varsavsky, a Spain-based entrepreneur, accused Politico of 'one-sided Hamas support'. He parted ways with the Axel Springer board just a week later. Unrest in US newsroom about use of AI The union plans come amid unrest in Politico's US newsroom about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver summaries of major political news stories. US staff, who are represented by the PEN Guild union, have complained that the rollout of the new technology violates an agreement that states bosses must give 60 days' notice. Increased use of AI has also stirred tensions at Business Insider, which this week sparked fury and a union backlash after it announced plans to lay off more than 20pc of staff. In the same memo bosses declared the outlet was going 'all-in' on AI. Leaders of the nascent UK union are set to survey members about their concerns ahead of negotiations over a house agreement, with guarantees around AI likely to be included. Staff have also raised concerns about a leadership vacuum in the newsroom. Politico, which publishes the popular Westminster newsletter Playbook, has been without a UK editor since Jack Blanchard relocated to Washington DC. Nevertheless, sources close to the union insisted discussions with the company had so far been amicable and that they were aiming to develop positive relations. A member of the Politico NUJ Chapel said: 'Members of the Politico UK newsroom are seeking recognition through the National Union of Journalists. 'The chapel looks forward to fruitful negotiations with the company and on working together for Politico's continuing success.' Politico was founded in 2007 by media executive Robert Allbritton with the aim of capitalising on the rapid growth of online news. It focuses on politics and policy in the US and internationally, while it also hosts a number of live events. The website was snapped up by Axel Springer in 2021 in a deal worth more than $1bn (£743m).
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Politico's UK newsroom to unionise as Trump pressures media
Journalists at online media outlet Politico are preparing to unionise as Donald Trump puts its parent company in his sights. Staff in Politico's UK newsroom have submitted a formal request for union recognition to the company, which is owned by German media giant Axel Springer. Insiders said morale at the publication had slumped, with staff unhappy about pay and benefits. It comes amid a chilling of relations between the Trump administration and Axel Springer, which is run by media tycoon Mathias Döpfner. Mr Döpfner, whose empire also includes Business Insider and newspaper titles Die Welt and Bild, has previously been sympathetic to Mr Trump's politics and arranged for Elon Musk to write an opinion piece expressing his support for Germany's far-right AfD in one of his papers. However, he has since distanced himself from Mr Trump over the US president's treatment of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Politico has found itself in the spotlight after Mr Trump repeated false claims that the outlet had received millions of dollars in funding from the US Agency for International Development. The payments were in fact subscription fees for the news outlet for US government departments. Relations soured further last month after Business Insider published a story scrutinising Donald Trump Jr's business dealings and comparing him to Hunter Biden. The story reportedly sparked anger in the White House, fuelling speculation that Mr Trump could seek to retaliate against Axel Springer through a potential federal investigation. Politico also came under scrutiny from one pro-Trump Axel Springer board member, who branded journalists 'woke' in a row over the outlet's coverage of the war in Gaza. Martin Varsavsky, a Spain-based entrepreneur, accused Politico of 'one-sided Hamas support'. He parted ways with the Axel Springer board just a week later. The union plans come amid unrest in Politico's US newsroom about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver summaries of major political news stories. US staff, who are represented by the PEN Guild union, have complained that the rollout of the new technology violates an agreement that states bosses must give 60 days' notice. Increased use of AI has also stirred tensions at Business Insider, which this week sparked fury and a union backlash after it announced plans to lay off more than 20pc of staff. In the same memo bosses declared the outlet was going 'all-in' on AI. Leaders of the nascent UK union are set to survey members about their concerns ahead of negotiations over a house agreement, with guarantees around AI likely to be included. Staff have also raised concerns about a leadership vacuum in the newsroom. Politico, which publishes the popular Westminster newsletter Playbook, has been without a UK editor since Jack Blanchard relocated to Washington DC. Nevertheless, sources close to the union insisted discussions with the company had so far been amicable and that they were aiming to develop positive relations. A member of the Politico NUJ Chapel said: 'Members of the Politico UK newsroom are seeking recognition through the National Union of Journalists. 'The chapel looks forward to fruitful negotiations with the company and on working together for Politico's continuing success.' Politico was founded in 2007 by media executive Robert Allbritton with the aim of capitalising on the rapid growth of online news. It focuses on politics and policy in the US and internationally, while it also hosts a number of live events. The website was snapped up by Axel Springer in 2021 in a deal worth more than $1bn (£743m). Politico and the NUJ have been contacted for comment. Sign in to access your portfolio
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Henry Blodget On Business Insider Layoffs: 'The Market Has Changed'
Following the announcement that Business Insider would lay off 21% of its staff, a move driven largely by Google's AI-centric search changes, I reached out to one particular Substack writer in an effort to get his take on the news: Henry Blodget, whose newly launched Regenerator newsletter aims to 'analyze the most important questions in tech and innovation.' The same Henry Blodget, of course, who co-founded Business Insider in 2007. 'I was very sad to see the BI news,' Blodget, who was the outlet's CEO from its founding through 2023, told me in an email. 'They're a great team and great people, and it's really tough.' Tough is exactly how Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng described the situation facing the Axel Springer–owned business and tech news site this week in a company-wide memo, detailing the third major round of layoffs in the last few years. In it, she outlined the harsh realities facing not only her company, but digital media at large. 'The media industry,' she notes at one point, 'is at a crossroads. Business models are under pressure, distribution is unstable, and competition for attention is fiercer than ever.' Seventy percent of Business Insider's output, the memo continues, 'has some degree of traffic sensitivity. We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility.' The company's union laid the blame for what happened at the feet of 'strategic failures' on the part of management, which is currently grappling (as are news companies pretty much across the board) with a turn of events that media writer Dylan Byers has described as a potential 'meteorite-level euthanizing event' for the industry: Essentially, Business Insider anchored its distribution strategy in large part around search and social. But now, as Big Tech pulls up the drawbridge on outbound traffic, news publishers that once relied on that steady stream of monetizable visitors are scrambling to rewrite their entire playbook. Google, in particular, has begun presenting AI-generated summaries directly on the search results page, allowing users to get information without ever leaving Google. It's a shift that, for publishers, threatens the very clicks that once sustained their business. Some observers see in Google's latest moves nothing short of an existential threat to the open web — and, by extension, to digital journalism. But Blodget, who led Business Insider when it was still a scrappy, voice-y upstart during the Web 2.0 era, isn't ready to concede that point just yet. 'Journalism is not screwed,' he stressed to me. 'People will always want to know what's happening and what it means — and we will always need great (human) journalists and publications to provide that. But the market has changed radically in the last five years. After 30 years of growth, digital media is now mature. Within it, distribution is getting disrupted — yes, Google, but also Facebook, Twitter, and others. And advertising is shifting to platforms.' So, what should news companies be betting on? 'Direct distribution and subscriptions. That model will support thousands of excellent publications, big and small. And audio and video are still growing as we move from TV/radio to digital.' In other words, he's imagining a media landscape populated by smaller, more focused, and often subscription-driven outlets — the kind built to serve a loyal following rather than chase clicks from the drive-by crowd. A vision that, in many ways, reflects the polar opposite of what Business Insider was in its early days, when it was aggregation-heavy, engineered for virality, and almost entirely free to read. As an aside: I actually caught a glimpse of the company back then first-hand, albeit very briefly. It was when Business Insider still operated out of the Gramercy Park building in Manhattan, and I met up with an editor there the day before Facebook went public in 2012 (my byline is also on a few freelanced posts from that period). When I stepped off the elevator and made my way into the newsroom, the first sound I heard was the telltale clop-clop of a ping-pong game. The newsroom itself reminded me of a financial trading floor, with a low hum of chatter emanating from writers who sat shoulder-to-shoulder behind rows of computers. I caught a glimpse of a very animated Blodget in what looked like a conference room, giving off the appearance of some sort of hyper-caffeinated analyst who's convinced he's spotted a market bubble. Three years after my visit, Axel Springer would pay $343 million to acquire most of Business Insider. For context, that's more than the mere quarter of a billion dollars that Jeff Bezos forked over for control of The Washington Post in 2013. To a wide-eyed visitor like myself, there was something that felt both rebellious and inevitable about Blodget's operation. Sort of like how some people today feel there's no stopping LLMs from making a generation of journalists obsolete. Blodget, for his part, isn't one of them — nor is Steven Zeitchik, a veteran of The Washington Post and LA Times who now writes the Substack-based Mind and Iron newsletter. You can argue that, to a certain extent, they're correct. Notwithstanding the retrenchment under way at publishers like Business Insider, there are still some journalistic tasks that machines can't do well — the workflows being too messy and unpredictable. 'As AI gobbles up from the bottom like some kind of Stephen King monster,' Zeitchik wrote on Friday, 'journalists can avoid its hungry teeth in two ways: by getting so good at the writing part an LLM can't touch you (but do you really want to get into a footrace with AI?) or hopping off that vine onto one it's not even climbing, like in-person or real-time reporting." In other words, maybe journalism can win its race against the machines by running in the opposite direction — back to the basics. Or, as one Redditor put it in a thread about the Business Insider layoffs: '…the real punk move today is rejecting the internet entirely. Ditching the algorithm, stepping off social media, and reclaiming reality. Because at this point, nothing's more radical than being human on purpose.'
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Summer concert season has officially begun
Happy Saturday! How would you feel if you were invited to a wedding on a Thursday? While some guests were pretty angry, this writer thinks it's pretty smart. Find out why! On the agenda: The most common sign of colon cancer is one that can be hard to talk about. The "Taylor's Version" era is officially over. A cosmetic surgeon says she has to steer some clients away from " ab etching." Sex work was supposed to be a fast track to financial freedom. Not anymore. But first: Summer sing-alongs. This week's dispatchThe great outdoor jam session Beyoncé kicked off my live-music summer earlier this week, turning New Jersey's MetLife Stadium into a proper rodeo when she brought her tour, Cowboy Carter, to town. Even though it's nearly June, it sure didn't feel like it last Thursday. In fact, Beyoncé performed in the pouring rain. (Thank God for ponchos.) Still, a little bad weather wouldn't stop me from having a good time. I'm a die-hard concert lover. And I'm not alone. According to EMARKETER, a market research company owned by Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, Gen Z and millennials are more likely to attend a live event this summer than other generations. In fact, nearly three-quarters of people age 18 to 29 and 59% of consumers who are 30 to 44 are expected to attend at least one concert this summer. If you want to grab a ticket, there's no shortage of acts to see perform this summer, no matter what type of music you're into. From Kendrick Lamar and SZA to Mumford & Sons, Lady Gaga, and Oasis, you're in for a treat. Let's just hope the weather is better for you than it was for me and Bey. An embarrassing sign of colon cancer Colon cancer diagnoses are on the rise among young people, and stigma is one reason it can be hard to catch. Symptoms like rectal bleeding and changes in bowel movements are early signs of colon cancer, but some people don't know how to talk about it with their doctors. Fortunately, there's a movement to destigmatize words like "poop" and "stool." The push to make poop talk less taboo. All the versions are Taylor's After a record-setting tour and plenty of NFL game appearances, Taylor Swift noticeably disappeared from the public spotlight this year. The superstar's vacation even seemed to frustrate some fans, who had grown accustomed to seeing her in public for the past year-plus. But on Friday, Swift showed them what had kept her so busy: acquiring her original music catalogue. The deal ended the musician's long fight to own and control her art. It won't be a cruel summer for Taylor. Not even Taylor Swift can take a vacation without backlash The rise of "ab etching" More men are requesting cosmetic procedures, and their abs aren't off limits. "Ab etching" is a type of targeted liposuction that makes abdominal muscles more pronounced. This kind of fat removal can be painful and requires an ab-defining lifestyle to maintain. BI spoke with cosmetic surgeon Dr. Giselle Prado-Wright about who may be the right fit for this procedure. Some should steer clear, though. The one filler this cosmetic surgeon is begging you not to get Stuck in sex work Ayesha Kazim for BI Faced with a brutal job market, some Gen Zers turned to sex work to make ends meet. For many of them, it was the quickest way to achieve financial freedom. Because of the economic downturn of the past few years, many strippers, escorts, and camgirls have had to slash rates to compete for clients. What was supposed to be a backup plan or temporary gig now looks like a job they can't quit. " It's a lot quieter in the club." What we're watching this weekend "Mountainhead": Steve Carell and Ramy Youssef play billionaires in an elite friend group in a new satirical comedy on HBO Max. "The Handmaid's Tale": After six seasons, the Hulu original starring Elisabeth Moss has concluded this week. "And Just Like That…": Sarah Jessica Parker returns as Carrie Bradshaw in season three of the "Sex and The City" reboot streaming on HBO Max. What to shop Essential summer shorts: After giving them a shot, we've loved Patagonia's Baggies for everything from hiking to lounging. Our style editor recommends them for their comfort, quick-dry material, and timeless style, making them a go-to pick for summer. Retro sneakers for modern feet: We've tried dozens of styles to find the best retro sneakers that blend old-school vibes with modern comfort. Check out our list if you're looking to add timeless, stylish sneakers to your wardrobe. Air fryers worth the hype: You've got a lot of choices when it comes to air fryers. We've tested over 60 options to find the best models on the market, so whether you're cooking for one or a whole family, you can trust these picks with your meals. More of this week's top reads: Stimulating your vagus nerve could help you live longer. A top scientist shares three easy things he does to activate his. The "Lilo & Stitch" box office numbers show Disney learned a major lesson after the "Snow White" debacle. Gen Z and millennials are thirsty for luxury bag dupes. Here are the brands they're after most. Four things you should never order in front of your boss or coworkers, according to an etiquette expert. Royal Caribbean and Carnival are racing to grow their private islands and resorts. Here's how their new cruise destinations compare. The New York City apartment from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is on the market for $15 million. It features a Tiffany-blue door. Victoria Beckham says she stopped her fashion brand from bleeding cash through two big changes. Good men are harder than ever to find, which is good news for good men. The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York City. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.
