What will be left of Picture, the flagship daily of the conservative media group Axel Springer? Germany’s most widely read tabloid (1.09 million copies sold at the start of 2023), long a press organ with enormous political power, has embarked on a severe slimming cure. About a third of the 600 jobs should disappear, announced the group, certain functions having to be replaced by applications… of artificial intelligence (IA), in which the group wants to invest.
“The functions of editor, layout artist, proofreader, editor and photo editor will no longer exist in the future as we know them today”explained the editorial staff of the group in an email sent to employees on June 19.
Without specifying when these AI applications will actually be able to replace these functions, or when the robots will be able to do the job efficiently, the newspaper has already announced the closure of regional editorial offices, going from eighteen to twelve offices, small sites, or reducing the number of editors.
Savings of 100 million euros by 2025
Axel Springer’s plan is part of a broad program of cost reduction and digitization within the group’s two flagship titles in Germany: the tabloid Picture and the more serious everyday life Die Welt will have to save 100 million euros by 2025, Axel Springer director Mathias Döpfner announced in February.
This announcement sounds like a questioning of the development strategy of the two titles carried out in recent years. Mr. Döpfner had bet on a growth of Picture And Die Welt, imagined digital, conservative and, above all, profitable. At the cost of major investments, the group’s two historic dailies had developed a multi-channel offer. The result apparently did not live up to expectations. Picturewhich was selling 2.4 million copies a day at the end of 2014, failed to stem the decline, despite the sharp rise in paid subscriptions online over the same period (650,000 at the end of 2022).
The new director of the tabloid, Marion Horn, is therefore trying to restore profitability by reducing costs and betting on automation. The group clarifies that artificial intelligence will only ” sustain “ the work of journalists. “We see great potential in generative AI to offer our readers and users even more attractive products adapted to their needs”Samir Fadlallah, head of artificial intelligence development at Axel Springer, told Reuters on June 22.
You have 32.53% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.