A WAN-IFRA Marseille participant’s insights reveal a watershed moment for global journalism, as publishers unite against AI’s brazen theft of content and a free press in freefall worldwide.
By Imran Malik | Media & Technology Desk | MediaBites.com.pk
The 77th World News Media Congress in Marseille did not feel like a typical media conference to those who attended. It felt like a turning point.
That is the striking assessment from Selma Stern, a media business adviser and participant at the WAN-IFRA gathering, who returned from the French port city with a set of observations that cut to the heart of the crisis facing global journalism — and the fightback now underway.
Sulzberger’s Speech: A Rallying Cry for the Ages
The standout moment of the congress, by multiple accounts, was the address by AG Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times. Stern described it plainly as “one for the ages.”
Sulzberger called on global media leaders to confront what he termed journalism’s “Napster moment” — a direct comparison to the era when the music industry’s failure to respond collectively to digital piracy nearly destroyed it. He went further, calling the use of AI platforms’ publisher content without compensation “brazen theft” of intellectual property.
The words landed hard in a room full of publishers who have watched their content feed AI systems that generate billions in revenue while offering nothing in return.
Five Numbers That Define the Crisis
Stern distilled the congress into five data points that every journalist, editor, and media leader should absorb:
Under 1% of the world’s population lives in countries with a fully free press. Two decades ago, that figure was 20%. As Stern noted, history has repeatedly shown where that kind of slide ends.
Press freedom and happiness are directly correlated. The United Nations’ happiness rankings and Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index move in lockstep. Free societies are measurably happier ones. Unfree ones are not.
US newspaper newsrooms have lost roughly half their journalists since 2008, and the trend has not reversed. The hollowing out of local journalism is not a future threat. It is a present reality.
At least 25% of the data feeding AI models comes from news publishers. AI companies pay for talent, computing power, and energy. Yet they continue to argue, with remarkable audacity, that the original journalism feeding their systems should be free.
Collaboration is journalism’s structural advantage. Media companies globally share the same business models while operating in separate national markets. That unique combination, Stern argued, naturally incentivizes publishers to share knowledge and coordinate strategy in ways that companies in other industries simply cannot.
The Political Shift in Marseille
What made this congress different from previous gatherings, in Stern’s telling, was its tone. “This one felt more political than any I can remember,” she wrote. “Finally, I might add.”
For years, global media conferences have been dominated by product innovation, audience metrics, and digital transformation case studies. Marseille added something different: genuine collective anger, political urgency, and a sense that the industry has reached the limit of what polite engagement with AI platforms can achieve.
The expansion of the SPUR Coalition to 30 new members, with WAN-IFRA joining as a strategic partner, was the tangible outcome of that political energy. Publishers from across Europe, North America, and beyond are no longer waiting for AI companies to offer fair terms voluntarily. They are organizing to demand them.
The Path Forward — Excellence and Collaboration
Stern’s conclusion was both honest and galvanizing. The best management and smartest editorial strategy will not be sufficient if publishers do not fight for their rights together. Individual excellence matters. Collective action matters more.
“We will win the next decade if we do what we do best,” she wrote. “Excellent journalism and collaboration. We just need to get considerably more organized around our shared business and policy objectives.”
The organized, coordinated response being built in Marseille is a model worth studying closely, and urgently, by every media market that cannot afford to lose what remains of its free and independent journalism.
** The news lead and photos are courtesy of Selma Stern’s LinkedIn page.
