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Category: Digital publishing

  • PPA appoints first Head of Digital and Chair of The Digital Collective and AI taskforce

    PPA appoints first Head of Digital and Chair of The Digital Collective and AI taskforce

    The PPA announces the appointment of Mel McVeigh as its first Head of Digital to support members digital growth strategies. McVeigh is an experienced product and technology leader, multi-disciplinary visual artist and arts trustee at Photoworks UK. 

    Working in collaboration with Sajeeda Merali, PPA CEO, McVeigh will be responsible for shaping, creating and implementing the PPA’s member focused digital strategy and keeping abreast of digital innovation and legislation as the industry continues its evolution to multi-platform and digital first.

    McVeigh has worked for several global publishers including Telegraph Media Group, Which?, TimeOut and Lonely Planet. She was previously VP Digital Product – Brands & Commerce, Condé Nast. It was here that she led the digital product portfolio across nine brands in ten markets.

    She also spearheaded several transformative digital product launches. This included establishing the first dedicated commerce product teams which resulted in digital e-Commerce products and platforms across Retail Media, Storefront and Affiliate. On the consumer product side McVeigh reimagined the digital experience of the Met Gala and Vogue World as global multi language digital livestream experiences, launched Vogue’sStorefront, Architectural Digest Designer Directory and Condé Nast Travelers redesign and affiliate booking integration. 

    Additionally, she will work alongside the newly appointed Chair of the PPA Digital Collective and AI taskforce, John Barnes.

    Barnes is currently Chief Digital Officer at William Reed and will chair the group of digital product strategy leaders from across member businesses who come together to discuss industry challenges and opportunities around technology and digital innovation. 

    He has over 30 years experience in B2B media. Previously, John was Managing Director of VNU, Chief Digital Officer at Infopro Digital and Incisive Media. He was Chairman of the AOP from 2011 to 2016.

    Sajeeda Merali, CEO, PPA comments: “Today’s publisher is multi platform and multi revenue, and this appointment is another reflection of the future forward strategy that the PPA is focused on delivering. With a fast-evolving digital landscape and new emerging technologies, it’s important that we have a dedicated resource focused on members’ digital agendas. With Mel’s experience and understanding of our industry, and a skill set that combines high level creativity and adopting cutting edge technology alongside continuous commercial growth, she’ll be a great addition to our team and resource for PPA members.”

    Mel McVeigh, Head of Digital, PPA comments: “With the light speed change and impact of technologies to publishers’ organisations, I am excited to help shape the PPA’s future digital strategy. It’s important the PPA supports members as they evolve their digital growth strategies across multiple lines of business as well as helping them stay true to what makes publishing and media so unique, editorial voice and curation.”

    John Barnes, Chair of the PPA Digital Collective and AI taskforce comments: “The PPA Digital Collective is an influential platform for the industry to foster debate and address the challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies and the evolving digital landscape.  We have ambitious plans for the Collective, and we’re looking forward to welcoming and tapping into Mel’s experience as we continue to confront conventional thinking and help members transform their digital media businesses.     

  • Landmark EU AI act

    Landmark EU AI act

    The Act sets out to ensure organisations and developers are utilising and deploying their AI systems safely and ethically. It adopts a risk-based approach to AI regulation, the greater the potential risk to users, the greater the compliance obligations.

    Under the Act, generative AI models are an example of general-purpose AI (GPAI). These providers must comply with the Copyright Directive and publish a summary of the content used for training. Companies must also label AI-generated content. Companies that will be under this provision include the likes of OpenAI (the owners of ChatGPT) and Microsoft’s Copilot.

    The PPA is pleased to see generative AI being addressed and regulated, and has been involved in numerous lobbying efforts to bring this issue to the attention of the right stakeholders in the UK.

    With the proximity of a general election, it is unlikely that any AI-related legislation will be proposed at this stage. But given the current Government has expressed a commitment to innovation rather than legislation, there may be a rush to follow in the footsteps of our European counterparts.

    In relation to Rishi Sunak’s comment on not rushing to regulate AI, Peter Kyle MP, Shadow Secretary of Science, Innovation and Technology said: “to secure these benefits [of AI] we must get on top of the risks and build public trust. It is not good enough for our ‘inaction man’, Prime Minister, to say he will not rush to take action, having told the public that there are national security risks which could end our way of life.”

    If you would like to read the full act, see here. For an interactive version, see here.

    The PPA will monitor the situation and keep members updated. If you’d like to discuss this further, please speak to our Public Affairs team at Eilidh.wilson@ppa.co.uk or natasha.anku@ppa.co.uk.

  • Nursing Times launches AI tool for subscribers

    Nursing Times launches AI tool for subscribers

    Subscribers can search for information on a variety of topics, such as clinical procedures and conditions, government policy, pay levels, and career advice.

    Answers are provided from the Nursing Times website, which includes more than 6,000 double-blind peer-reviewed articles, as well as news, features, and opinion pieces. A summary in response to the question is generated with references and suggested further reading.

    Steve Ford, Editor, Nursing Times commented: “We know that nursing staff need lots of information and quickly, Ask Nursing Times is an exciting new resource that we believe will help provide this.

    “Using some of the latest AI technology, our tool can offer an answer to almost any question about the profession, using Nursing Times as its trusted source.”

  • Report on generative AI and large language models published

    Report on generative AI and large language models published

    The inquiry addresses what must happen for the UK to take full advantage of the opportunities and manage the risks associated with generative AI.

    Having submitted evidence to the inquiry the PPA was keen to understand if the report would fairly reflect the interests of its members.

    The report narrowed its findings down to five key areas on LLMs, which included giving “copyright holders a fairer deal”, and the committee said that tech firms engaging in the use of copyrighted data to train models exhibit unfair behaviour. Furthermore, they expressed concern that existing laws are inadequate in guaranteeing compensation for creators when their work is used.

    The PPA is glad to see the committee prioritising IP and copyright in their bid to get the Government to recognise the imminent need for regulating AI before issues escalate, and that the PPA’s concerns are reflected in the committee’s recommendations to the Government, who have two months to respond to this report.

    You can read the committee’s full report, here. (Interactive version, here).

    If you have any questions or would like to find out more, contact our Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Eilidh.wilson@ppa.co.uk