The Value of News in the War on Truth

Lou Paskalis, Chief Strategy Officer of Ad Fontes Media, CEO and founder of AJL Advisory, former president and chief operating officer of MMA Global on the business opportunity that the return to News represents for marketers and how that has the added benefit of bolstering our society. He argues that in the unfounded fears of becoming collateral damage in the culture wars has sidelined many advertisers and deprived news publishers of a valuable source of advertising revenue at a time when they are actively combating disinformation and misinformation in a growing war on truth. News audiences represent the single most attractive cohort for marketers when it comes to household income, cultural influence and the ability to purchase products and build their respective businesses and advertisers are leaving significant money on the table by avoiding news.  "As AI becomes mainstream, the proliferation of misinformation it could create will exacerbate what we are already seeing today. Some bad actors will introduce "deep-fakes" that will be harder for consumers to discern and technology to detect. These ultimately threaten everything from the way business gets done to our society and indeed, democracy itself. At the same time, AI will help news publishers hone the appeal of their core product by helping them easily and efficiently tailor their offerings to disparate audiences. There are big opportunities for savvy marketers to partner with news publishers by investing in news advertising and enabling new technologies to bring both news and their messages forward to grow their business and thus protect it from the same threats that these same technologies represent to their businesses."