MediaMorph Edition 72 - by HANA News
Reddit’s AI strategy is crushing it, and how to be an AI power-user
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If you had been asked to pick a winner in the AI game in 2023, it is unlikely Reddit would have been near the top of your list. But the once-bad-boy backwater of the internet now finds itself at the pivotal nexus of the AI information highway.
Reddit has a curious lineage - founded in 2005 by University of Virginia roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, then sold for $10m to $20m to Conde Nast, also funded by Y Combinator and Sam Altman (of course). After being spun out, Reddit had difficult teenage years with increasingly controversial posts, until founder Huffman returned to clean up its act.
Gearing up for an IPO last year, Reddit signed two super-smart licensing deals, one with Google (≈ US$60 million per year), giving Google real-time access to Reddit’s user content and a similar deal with OpenAI, reportedly worth ≈ US$70 million per year.
Reddit stock price post IPO +304%
Not only are these deals cash generative, but they have also boosted Reddit’s citations across answer engines, creating a virtuous cycle of new traffic. Between August 2024 and June 2025, Reddit was the most cited domain by Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, and the second most cited by ChatGPT. Reddit’s monthly users jumped from 132 million to 346 million between August 2023 and April 2024.
As SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) shifts to GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) there is only one game in town - Reddit optimisation. How can you engage your brand on Reddit without upsetting the residents? Answer - add value and don’t sell. New York Times Opinion, Puck, Rolling Stone, the Philadelphia Inquirer, AP and Newsweek are all opening up new accounts or reviving old ones.
Reddit is also playing defence, blocking rogue crawlers, suing Anthropic and setting up its own internal answer engine called Reddit Answers, powered by Google Gemini. It is also backing the Really Simple Licensing (RSL) initiative that aims to level the playing field for publisher compensation.
Reddit is playing a blinder here by positioning itself as a key partner for Google Overviews and OpenAI, while also serving as an essential platform for media and brands for AI visibility. Steve Huffman has found gold through gentrification and savvy deal-making. Or as my grandfather would have said, “where there is muck, there is brass”
Are you an AI power-user? In Office Hours with Prof G, Scott Galloway talks to Greg Shove, CEO of Section AI, on how to future-proof your jobs.
In short:
Be in the top 1% of power-users, be a driver, not a passenger
Learn how to eradicate hallucinations
Learn personas, reasoning and multi-step
Identify your top 5 use cases and advanced hacks (eg voice mode)
Use a second screen as your always on AI brain
Aim for 100 interactions or conversations a day
Put the ChatGPT5 app on your phone home screen and use it instead of Google
And I would add:
Learn how to use ChatGPT with NotebookLM and Perplexity - that’s when the magic happens
Try vibe coding to problem-solve or prototype
Create your own custom GPTs for large files or folders
Context is everything - Learn how to connect your knowledge files or apps to your LLM via Model Context Protocols (MCPs)
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Mark Riley, CEO Mathison AI
Available for AI keynote speaking engagements: At Melbourne Business School, speaking to senior editors on the pilot Digital News Academy, June 2025
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AI and Journalism
Reddit Is Winning the AI Game Cjr - A site has seen a remarkable boost in traffic and credibility following licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI, attracting attention from legacy media organisations. This surge highlights the growing significance of strategic partnerships in today's digital media landscape. |
FO° Talks: Is AI Now More Reliable and Trustworthy Than Today’s Journalists? Fair Observer - October 2, 2025 Peter Isackson and Yves Zieba discuss the transformative impact of AI on journalism, highlighting both its potential to enhance audience engagement through hyper-personalisation and the ethical risks it poses, such as misinformation. They emphasise the need for media organisations to adapt strategically to these changes, balancing technological innovation with human judgment and ethics. |
How Local Journalism is Evolving with Artificial Intelligence NorthPennNow - October 3, 2025 Local news organisations in Pennsylvania are leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency in journalism, from streamlining information gathering to facilitating multilingual communication, while still emphasising the irreplaceable human connection that drives impactful storytelling. As AI continues to evolve, it promises to further support local news through personalised updates and enhanced data journalism, helping communities stay informed. |
Wave of Phoney News Quotes Affects Everyone—Including EFF Electronic Frontier Foundation - September 30, 2025 The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has highlighted the growing issue of false news content, particularly in light of fabricated quotes attributed to its representatives in various articles, including those from WinBuzzer and the Arabian Post. As reliance on AI tools for journalism increases, EFF stresses the importance of accurate reporting and encourages consumers to be vigilant against misinformation in today's media landscape. |
Are AI hiring tools any good? This journalist found widespread bias and bugs GBH - October 3, 2025 In her insightful work "The Algorithm: How AI Decides Who Gets Hired," journalist Hilke Schellmann explores the challenges of AI-driven job screening, urging candidates to adapt their resumes to combat potential biases and inaccuracies in hiring processes. Through her investigative reporting and media projects, she highlights the critical need for job seekers to understand AI tools to navigate the evolving employment landscape effectively. |
In the age of AI, dedicated, accurate local journalism is more important than ever Box Elder News Journal - - October 1, 2025 Artificial intelligence is transforming media consumption by enhancing how we access information and reshaping storytelling in entertainment, from AI-driven search engines to reimagined television casts. As AI evolves, it promises to create even more engaging and accessible content for audiences and creators alike. |
How artificial intelligence is, and isn’t, used in local newsrooms As AI technologies increasingly integrate into newsrooms across New Hampshire and beyond, they promise to enhance operations by automating tasks and personalising audience engagement. However, this shift also raises important ethical concerns regarding job displacement and the preservation of journalistic integrity. |
At J-Day, student enthusiasm overwhelms challenges facing industry CMDI Now - October 3, 2025 At J-Day, nearly 1,300 student journalists convened to explore the evolving landscape of journalism, with keynote speaker Marshall Zelinger emphasising adaptability and the pursuit of objective truth in a polarised world. Amid discussions on the role of artificial intelligence, students were inspired to tackle challenging stories and leverage technology thoughtfully to enhance their work. |
Scenes from a hacker house Nieman Storyboard - October 3, 2025 The San Francisco AI gold rush is transforming the tech landscape as startups and investors flock to capitalise on advancements in artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the Kari Howard Fund for Narrative Journalism is dedicated to empowering journalists to create compelling narratives, while Justin Heckert shares reflections on missed opportunities in his writing career, highlighting the unpredictable nature of creativity. |
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AI and Academic Publishing
How to spot predatory journals: 4 tips and 2 checklists The Journalist's Resource - September 30, 2025 Predatory journals exploit the academic publishing system by charging authors fees while lacking proper peer review and editorial integrity, leading to the proliferation of deceptive publications that can undermine research credibility. To navigate this challenging landscape, researchers and journalists are advised to utilize checklists, collaborate with experts, and scrutinize publication histories to avoid relying on flawed studies. |
Weekend reads: Science publishing a ‘hot mess’; AI microscopy ‘indistinguishable’ from real; social media as a bellwether for retractions Retraction Watch - October 4, 2025 This week at Retraction Watch, we spotlight the retraction of eight Duke papers due to image manipulation and a former student linked to a paper mill facing 11 retractions, alongside discussions on AI-generated data in research and persistent issues like plagiarism and predatory journals. The Retraction Watch Database now tracks over 60,000 retractions, reflecting ongoing concerns about research integrity and academic publishing challenges. |
Fraud, AI slop and huge profits: is science publishing broken? – podcast The Guardian - October 2, 2025 The integrity of scientific research is increasingly questioned as the publishing industry prioritizes profit over quality, leading to a surge in low-quality studies. In response, innovative AI tools are being developed to assess and improve the credibility of published papers, raising important questions about the sustainability of the current scientific publishing model. |
AI Detection as a Weapon Against “Paper Mills” THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect - September 30, 2025 The rise of AI-generated content in academic publishing, including the troubling emergence of paper mills producing falsified research, underscores the urgent need for robust AI detection methods to uphold publication integrity. A recent study revealed that combining AI detection with metadata analysis can help publishers identify suspicious articles and enhance their credibility amidst evolving challenges in scholarly communication. |
Research Workflow Automation Cure AI is a cutting-edge platform that streamlines the research process for scientists by utilizing advanced algorithms to efficiently gather, analyze, and interpret data. By enhancing collaboration and enabling quicker insights, it empowers researchers to focus on critical analysis, ultimately accelerating discovery across various fields. |
All academics should be scientific sleuths, says scholar At the recent Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Lonni Besançon and a panel of experts underscored the urgent need to combat academic fraud, highlighting challenges like paper mills and AI-generated content. They emphasized that maintaining research integrity is essential for all researchers, who must evaluate work quality beyond publication metrics amidst rising ethical dilemmas in academia. |
PagePeek: AI Evaluation and Academic Assessment of Interdisciplinary Papers Prweb - September 30, 2025 PagePeek is an innovative academic assessment engine that offers tailored feedback on research papers across various disciplines, enhancing clarity and rigor in scholarly communication. With its AI Professor feature, it provides detailed evaluations and actionable insights, making it a valuable tool for students, educators, and researchers alike. |
How AI Like ChatGPT is Reshaping Publishing and Adaptation Tips WebProNews - October 1, 2025 The rise of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini is transforming how users access information, prompting publishers to enhance content quality and adapt strategies in an AI-driven landscape. As research shows increasing reliance on AI for tasks like literature reviews, the need for transparency and ethical considerations grows, highlighting the importance of unique, human-centric narratives in content creation. |
Butler professors co-author book about generative AI and education The Butler Collegian - October 1, 2025 Butler professors Ankur Gupta and James McGrath have released a new book, “Real Intelligence: Teaching in the Era of Generative AI,” which explores the intersection of humanities and computer science in education. The book provides insights on effectively integrating generative AI into research processes while highlighting its limitations and encouraging critical engagement from students. |
Students Who Lack Academic Confidence More Likely to Use AI Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs - September 30, 2025 A recent study from the University of Southern California reveals that while many college students frequently use generative AI tools for quick answers, this reliance may hinder their critical thinking and engagement. The research highlights the need for improved support systems and clear policies on AI usage to enhance learning experiences and foster a sense of belonging in classrooms. |
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