Insights: Strategic priorities in media archive monetisation
Chapter 5.
Maintaining content integrity and control in an AI-driven ecosystem
As AI reshapes content discovery and distribution, media organisations face unprecedented challenges in maintaining control over their intellectual property while exploring new revenue opportunities. Our survey identified rights management as a significant concern, particularly as content becomes increasingly detached from its original context.
McKinley Muir Hyden captures this challenge succinctly: "The primary challenge lies in maintaining control before major technology companies dictate the terms. When you search online now, you often see AI-generated summaries instead of traditional search results. This highlights a critical issue for media organisations: protecting our content from unauthorised use while exploring new opportunities for monetisation."
For traditional media brands, their reputation for accuracy and reliability becomes increasingly valuable. Hyden explains: "For traditional media brands like the FT, the Economist, or the BBC, our trusted reputation becomes increasingly valuable in a low-trust environment. Our content, when licensed or used in AI applications, carries more weight because it comes from a verified, reliable source."
Stephen Thomas emphasises the importance of temporal context in maintaining content integrity: "What's often overlooked is temporal accuracy – being able to pinpoint exactly when information was published and how it relates to specific events. This becomes essential when our professional audiences are using our content to understand market events or analyse price changes."
The technical aspects present additional challenges. Thomas notes: "Maintaining archive integrity requires robust systems that prevent data loss or alteration. The more documentation exists around changes to editorial processes and content fields, both small and large, the easier it becomes to account for data anomalies and build confidence in insights."
Language capabilities introduce another layer of complexity. Meropi Kylika describes: "AI's effectiveness varies significantly across different languages. For instance, when we launched a partner channel in Mongolia, we discovered limited AI capabilities for Mongolian-English translation. Our partners had to resort to creative solutions, such as training AI systems using parallel texts of classic literature in both languages."
The relationship between media organisations and technology providers requires careful management. Thomas explains: "When working with large language models and AI systems, we focus on ensuring both temporal context and factual accuracy. Statistical inference alone isn't sufficient – each piece of information needs verification within its specific time context for reliable analysis."
This creates opportunities for media organisations to differentiate through quality and trustworthiness. Kylika notes: "Media organisations hold a unique position in the current landscape. While technology companies may have larger innovation budgets, we've built decades of trust with our users and developed deep editorial expertise. Our true value lies in understanding what matters to specific user groups and delivering verified, contextual information they can rely on."
The key to success lies in media organisations' ability to:
- Develop robust rights management frameworks for AI content use
- Maintain temporal accuracy and context in content archives
- Build systems that preserve content integrity over time
- Leverage their reputation for trustworthiness as a competitive advantage
- Create clear boundaries for content use while enabling innovation
As Thomas summarises: "The intellectual property in the information landscape is very complex. Most companies are buying data to add value and create derivative works, and in doing so create new IP. When we're redistributing our content for others to consume in new ways, like via an AI product, we need to ensure we have the actual rights to do that."
Key Insights Recap
As AI reshapes content discovery and distribution, media organisations face unprecedented challenges in maintaining control over their intellectual property. Rights management was identified as a significant concern, with traditional media brands leveraging their reputation for accuracy as a competitive advantage.
Quick Action Guide
Key Insights Recap
As AI reshapes content discovery and distribution, media organisations face unprecedented challenges in maintaining control over their intellectual property. Rights management was identified as a significant concern, with traditional media brands leveraging their reputation for accuracy as a competitive advantage.
Quick Action Guide
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