More than a decade ago, the press began to suffer the onslaught of disruption, and a painful change began to take shape. However, for those who understood it for what it was, it also boosted innovation. In recent years, newspapers and digital native media have pioneered experimentation on the Internet — the former pushed by the pressure generated by changes in their business model and in consumer habits, the latter by the very nature of their DNA.
Along the way, television was left behind. Until now. 2018 will be the year we witness how television becomes a leading player in the battle to discover formats, to find audiences in new ways, to compete on the Internet. News shows on Instagram Stories, original YouTube content with renowned journalists, interactive infographics adapted to television or new programming that is linked to mobile notifications. Television will finally become more digital, while the rest of the media will want to be more like television. To the question of who is doing a good job on the digital transformation of television, there are few answers and examples. Up to now, the elites of the digital world have been the likes of The New York Times and BuzzFeed.
I’m a newspaper journalist, having spent most of my career in print and digital media. I’ve gone through this transition before, from separated newsrooms to integration to no borders. When I landed in television more than three years ago, it felt like I had traveled back in time. I feel like I am seeing history repeating. We are living a second great digital transition, which will end up putting us all, regardless of our origin, on the same competitive plane. Television reaches this critical stage with a lot of experience and lessons that have been learned by others, with heavy pockets, and two clear strengths: a very strong footprint on social networks, both from its brands and its individual talents, and a unique sensitivity for video storytelling that is higher than that of all its competitors.
In 2018, we will witness how digital profiles will take additional ownership of the legacy side of TV companies, both in content and in business; those same traditional newsrooms will begin to create original digital content in a consistent manner; and we will see an important leap in innovation under the pressure of changes in consumer habits and variations in the business model of television. Just as happened in print media, some will lag behind. For these projections to materialize successfully, in addition to a predisposition to innovation and unique content, three factors will be necessary: leadership that rises up to the challenge, a deep understanding of the importance of technology, and high-quality execution.
Borja Echevarría is digital editor-in-chief of Univision News.
Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Dan Shanoff You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
AX Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Richard Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Raju Narisetti Mirror, mirror on the wall
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Amy Webb Listen to weak signals
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Monique Judge Letting black women tell their own stories
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Emily Goligoski Looking beyond news for inspiration
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news