As the media industry continues to evolve, 2024 became a pivotal year with the rise of AI integration, growing demands for media transparency and the development of new revenue strategies.
AAM is proud to collaborate with many industry associations. Looking ahead to 2025, we asked leaders from nine industry associations to share challenges and opportunities facing media in the new year including what issues will impact businesses and how the industry can reinforce trust in media.
Here is who we interviewed:
- Danielle Coffey, President & CEO, News/Media Alliance
- Katie Gavitt, Manager of Operations and Events, Green Sports Alliance
- John Osborn, USA-Director, Ad Net Zero
- Manuel Sala, President, International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Certification (IFABC)
- Tony Silber, Managing Director, SIIA Media
- Dean Ridings, CEO, America’s Newspapers
- Rebecca Rosenblum, Membership and Communications Manager, Magazines Canada
- Fran Wills, CEO, Local Media Consortium (LMC)
- Mike Zaneis, CEO, Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG)
This is the second of two articles featuring insights from leaders from nine industry associations and their predictions for 2025. You can also read part one.
What challenges will impact businesses in 2025?
Danielle Coffey, News/Media Alliance: The vast majority of Americans have expressed concerns with tech running away with itself, and we must rein it in. Incentives to invest in any tax reform package should be explored, and our industry is best positioned to adjust, innovate and find new ways to communicate with our readers. It is also important to protect our right to freedom of speech that feeds a healthy democracy.
Dean Ridings, America’s Newspapers: Local newspapers will continue to grapple with acquiring paying customers and increasing audience revenue as competition for attention intensifies. However, there is a significant opportunity to deepen audience relationships by leveraging trusted, local content. Investments in expanding digital offerings, introducing targeted print products and creating community-relevant content will position newspapers to grow their reach and revenue.
Rebecca Rosenblum, Magazines Canada: Tariffs, the postal strike might still be happening, other labor concerns, ongoing issues with social media sites. The environment for magazines has been tough for a long time now, but I think those working in the space are tough and ready for new challenges.
Manuel Sala, IFABC: We’ll continue to see challenges around accurate cross-media measurement for ad campaigns and campaign optimization using AI tools. We’ll also see continuing sustainability concerns for digital advertising and carbon footprint reduction.
Tony Silber, SIIA: Expanding our skill sets from research to data science to an increasingly complicated tech stack, as well as new skills required in sales, content and marketing — all of which to some extent are outside the current realm of traditional publishing. Media operators also will continue to evolve their relationships with dominant search and social platforms.
Fran Wills, LMC: As consumer preferences and revenue streams continue to fragment, local media will need to diversify their distribution and revenue channels. According to a recent LMC local media survey, respondents’ top priorities for 2025 are audience growth (83%) and advertising monetization (78%). Cross-platform content distribution is crucial to engaging and monetizing consumers where they spend the most time. Striking the right balance between consumer revenue and advertising will be key for local media to optimize their overall share of digital revenue.
Mike Zaneis, TAG: 2025 will be a year of accelerating change across all areas of our businesses, from technology to public policy. The integration of AI and other new technologies will present complicated challenges, and the state and federal policy landscape is likely to undergo significant shifts. These intertwined and fast-evolving issues will require industry leaders to communicate seamlessly, gather accurate information quickly and move their businesses confidently in the right direction.
What steps will reinforce trust in media next year?
Dean Ridings, America’s Newspapers: Local newspapers are uniquely positioned as a unifying, reliable source for essential news and community-driven storytelling. Editors face the challenge of balancing critical reporting with engaging, audience-focused content, but this also presents an opportunity to deepen local connections and solidify their role in daily life.
John Osborn, Ad Net Zero: Leadership. The power sits among us all to act around measurement, which should be a core requirement of any go-to-market plan in 2025. That doesn't mean measuring everything out of the gate; it means getting started, creating pilot programs, identifying partnerships that will help accelerate knowledge, and understanding and acting toward reducing carbon emissions. Those doing so will likely reap the co-benefits that come from taking a stronger hold of their business practices.
Rebecca Rosenblum, Magazines Canada: High-quality original stories will never go out of fashion. When readers are struggling with complex questions, in-depth stories from magazines are often where they turn. I also think many magazines will inspire trust in AI through usage statements: how they use it, or don't, and the standards they hold their journalists and partners to. AI is a useful tool, but transparency with readers is key.
Tony Silber, SIIA: Transparency. Audiences expect implicit trust in the information they're consuming across all platforms. There will always be pressure to synergize marketer objectives with audience needs. The two can coexist well, but the audience needs to know the origins of content. Similarly, marketers will want verifiable transparency in understanding a media brand's audience across multiple platforms, including events, web, podcasts, print and email newsletters.
Fran Wills, LMC: Local news reporters have always been involved in their communities – they work, shop and dine in the towns they report on. Next year, local media will need to expand their community involvement, increase their standing as a trusted information source and enhance their presence where their audience increasingly consumes their news like video, social media, podcasts and beyond. Equally important will be for local media to reinforce trust and transparency with advertisers and continue its work to build NewsPassID local news ad network and taxonomy.
Mike Zaneis, TAG: With rapid change and increasing uncertainty, building and maintaining trust across the supply chain is critical. That’s why TAG programs are designed to raise standards and improve trust among counterparties that ad transactions are brand safe, low-fraud, malware-free, and transparent. Equally important, TAG brings together industry leaders through its working groups, industry events, and threat intelligence-sharing forums like the TAG Threat Exchange, so they can learn from one another and quickly address new and emerging threats.
This is the second of two articles featuring leaders from nine industry associations and their predictions for 2025. If you missed the first article, you can read it here.
