SXSW returned this week, with an impressive line-up from Stacey Abrams to Lucid Motors, Demi Lovato to Pete Buttigieg. The conference which brings together innovators across digital industries including culture/entertainment, technology and media. For the first time, the event was fully online, streaming sessions live on a bespoke app and website. Here’s what you need to know from this year’s event in terms of digital journalism:
AI meets HR
It’s no surprise that artificial intelligence was centre-stage again this year. There were multiple sessions tackling the issues of inclusion, diversity and bias in AI. The focus wasn’t just on tools but who is building them and how machine learning needs to avoid reinforcing bias. Deloitte’s Friday panel highlighted a lack of women in the workforces of AI technology and supply chain businesses. As so much journalism innovation is AI-dependent, it is urgent that the media industry addresses these challenges too. Emily Bell, Director of Tow Center for Digital Journalism Columbia University held a panel called ‘AI Will Not Solve Your Nazi Problem’. Another session, which looked at social media and algorithms, was blunt with its audience – social media is a screaming toddler.
Virtual events are here to stay
Digital audience strategy is an enabler of good journalism. It’s also indispensable in the post-Covid world as many events and trade shows which are crucial to B2B and business-heavy journalism outlets remain online. To get traction at a virtual event, brands need to curate their own experiences which add something to the overall event experience as Visible’s Head of Experiential told Digiday. Marketers have themselves had to navigate SXSW Online, to find expert sessions on how to run virtual events too!
News needs innovative storytelling – local news needs everything
A panel of journalists discussed the struggle news publishers are facing given the forced consumption changes in local news as a result of the pandemic. There was an echo to Stacey Abrams’ opening keynote speech on the need for authentic storytelling in delivering democracy. At a local level, delivering an accessible, understandable narrative about issues which directly impact communities is essential. In Abrams’ case, this meant she instructed her campaigners to frame the reader in the centre of the story – how it impacted them, why they need to take action, where they live. This was echoed in the journalism panel. Somewhat ironically for non-US audiences, most of the speakers on the local news panels at the start of the week were from media organisations which were so big, they’d be considered giants in Europe or Latin America.
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