The surprising places AI helps journalists, and the places it really doesn’t.

AI in journalism can feel abstract until you talk to the people actually shipping products inside newsrooms. In this episode of The Media Copilot podcast, host Pete Pachal talks with Darla Cameron, Chief Product Officer at The Texas Tribune, about what happens when AI meets real reporting, real audiences, and real constraints.

Darla comes from a background in data journalism and visual storytelling at places like the Washington Post and now leads product at a nonprofit newsroom that has been experimenting with custom tools, data explorers, and audience-driven experiences for more than a decade. In the wide-ranging discussion, she shares how the Tribune defines product as the interface between content and audience, and how AI and automation are starting to reshape that work without replacing journalists or eroding trust.

From transcription tools and meeting analysis to tightly scoped chatbots and AI-narrated stories, Darla walks through what is actually working inside the Tribune, what quietly failed, and the principles that guide every experiment.

Why This Matters

News organizations are being squeezed from all sides. Reporters are expected to cover more with fewer resources. Audiences are drifting into AI-powered interfaces that sit between publishers and their readers. At the same time, trust in institutions is fragile and any perceived shortcut can damage a brand that took years to build.

Darla offers a grounded reality check from inside a newsroom that is embracing experimentation while drawing clear lines. The Tribune has an AI policy that explicitly says AI will not replace journalists. They do not use AI to generate news stories or images. They are very deliberate about where automation helps and where human judgment is non negotiable.

For anyone working in media, product, or audience strategy, this conversation is a practical guide to using AI as an assistive layer rather than a replacement. It is about how to adapt to new tools without losing the thing that makes your journalism worth trusting in the first place.

What We Cover

• Why “product” matters in a newsroom and how it links journalism, design, and audience engagement.

• Real-world examples: using AI to transcribe interviews or analyze podcasts for reporting.

• What The Texas Tribune’s AI policy looks like: when automation helps, and when human verification is essential.

• Why the Tribune refuses AI-generated images and prefers real photography for accountability and trust.

• Lessons from building chatbots and interactive tools — including what worked, what didn’t, and what the team learned.

• How audience feedback guides when and how to use AI, especially in a nonprofit news model.

About the Guest

Official bio: Texas Tribune – Darla Cameron The Texas Tribune 

Professional profile: LinkedIn – Darla Cameron

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For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
Edited by the Musso Media Team 

Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved. © AnyWho Media 2025

The Taboola CEO explains how USA Today’s DeeperDive changes news discovery, and why publishers might need “chat” after all.

AI is rewriting the rules of digital media and few people have had a closer view of the shift than Adam Singolda. In this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal has a candid conversation with the Taboola founder about where the open web is headed and why the next era of audience discovery may look nothing like the search driven world we grew up in.

Adam has been building Taboola since 2007 and continues to shape one of the largest advertising and recommendation platforms on the open web. He shares what publishers often miss about AI, how performance advertising is evolving, and why trusted media brands may hold more power than ever as chat based discovery becomes mainstream.

Why This Matters

Media is in a moment of rapid transition. Search traffic is shifting, conversational queries are becoming a default behavior, and publishers are being pushed to rethink how they attract and retain audiences. Adam offers rare insight from inside a global platform that sits at the center of these changes. He explains how AI is reshaping revenue models, what publishers can do right now to stay competitive, and why this new interaction layer may redefine how journalism is discovered and consumed.

What We Cover

• Adam’s journey from founding Taboola in 2007 to running a global advertising and recommendation platform
• How Taboola positions itself as the performance engine of the open web
• What the company has learned about audience behavior across thousands of publishers
• How AI is changing advertising performance, engagement, and publisher economics
• The impact of declining search traffic and the rise of chat based discovery
• The creation of Taboola’s Deeper Dive experience and how users actually interact with AI on news sites
• Why publishers need to experiment with AI quickly or risk losing ground
• How trust and brand identity give premium publishers an advantage in the AI era
• What adoption looks like when you introduce AI directly into media workflows
• The future of LLM monetization and why Adam sees a major opportunity for journalism

More…

Learn about Taboola’s mission, how it started — https://www.taboola.com.     Taboola.com+1 

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamsingolda

📩 Enjoyed this episode?

Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. 

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
Edited by the Musso Media Team 

Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved. © AnyWho Media 2025

In this episode of The Media Copilot, Pete Pachal talks with Mark Howard, Chief Operating Officer at Time, about how a century-old newsroom is adapting to a world where readers increasingly turn to AI systems for information.

Howard explains how Time approached AI not as a passing trend but as a shift in how journalism will be discovered and consumed. He walks through the decisions behind partnering with AI companies, the work required to safeguard Time’s archive, and how the Time AI Agent grew out of experiments with summaries, translations, and audio briefings.

The conversation offers a clear look at the practical choices a legacy media brand faces when it tries to stay trusted in new formats without compromising the reporting that built its reputation.

What we cover in this episode
 • How Time decided to negotiate with AI companies instead of taking an adversarial stance
 • The behind-the-scenes systems created to protect IP and track bot activity
 • The evolution from Person of the Year experiments to daily AI audio briefings to the Time AI Agent
 • Why the agent is grounded only in Time’s archive and what that means for accuracy and trust
 • How Time is approaching AI marketplaces, enterprise licensing, and the agent to agent web
 • What this shift means for the newsroom, editorial workflows, and audience relationships

Learn more
 Mark Howard on Time
 https://time.com/author/mark-howard

The Story Behind the TIME AI Agent
 https://time.com/7332572/the-story-behind-the-time-ai-agent

Mark on LinkedIn
 https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdhoward

Mark on X
 https://x.com/markdhoward 

This post was drafted with AI and then carefully edited by Media Copilot editors.

📩 Enjoyed this episode?

Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. 

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
Edited by the Musso Media Team 

Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved. © AnyWho Media 2025

Michael Rubenstein on how “brand agents” are reshaping advertising, publishing, and the Internet itself

We’ve spent decades trying to make digital advertising smarter. Cookies, pixels, and data exchanges promised personalization but delivered clutter, tracking fatigue, and declining returns. Then came AI, bringing the chance not just to improve ads, but to completely reimagine how brands and audiences interact.

In this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal sits down with Michael Rubenstein, Co CEO of Firsthand and one of the original architects of modern ad tech. After helping launch DoubleClick’s Ad Exchange (later acquired by Google), Rubenstein is now building something that feels like the opposite of programmatic advertising, a world where brand “agents” don’t just target you, they talk to you.

Instead of static banners or pre-rolls, these AI-driven brand agents act like adaptive digital representatives that engage, inform, and even create content on the fly. They’re built to live anywhere, inside a publisher’s story, across a retailer’s site, or within a chat experience, meeting consumers wherever they are and responding in real time to what they actually want.

This conversation explores how brand agents are transforming advertising into an intelligent, intent driven dialogue, and what that means for publishers, marketers, and the future of media.

What We Cover:
 • How AI driven brand agents are changing advertising and media engagement
 • Why this new model removes invasive tracking and builds real consumer trust
 • How publishers can use adaptive experiences to grow audience value
 • Why AI represents not automation but communication
 • The cultural and ethical stakes of rebuilding advertising around AI conversations

In Closing
 AI is taking down the old walls of the Internet. The question isn’t whether advertising and publishing will change, it’s whether they can adapt fast enough to stay relevant.

The future, as Rubenstein says, isn’t programmatic, it’s personal.

Connect with Michael Rubenstein:
 🔗 Firsthand.ai
💼 LinkedIn – Michael Rubenstein

X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/mrubenstein99

Listen to the full episode of The Media Copilot with host Pete Pachal and guest Michael Rubenstein on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows.
 👉 Visit mediacopilot.ai for more on our classes, insights, and upcoming episodes.

(AI-assisted)

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Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. 

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
Edited by the Musso Media Team 

Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Inside how AI is actually being used inside media companies today— and what success looks like when it’s done right.

In this episode of The Media Copilot podcast, Pete Pachal speaks with John Levitt, COO of Elvex, about how AI is actually being adopted inside newsrooms and media organizations today. Not the hype. Not the pitch deck version. The real workflows happening behind the scenes.

Elvex works with major media companies to build internal AI environments that support reporting, fact-checking, content repurposing, sales operations, research, and product strategy. John has a rare view into the daily shift in how teams work, collaborate, and adapt.

This conversation explores:
 • How editorial, business, and product teams are already using AI
 • Why culture and leadership framing determine whether AI succeeds
 • Where AI reduces repetitive work without replacing journalists
 • What "context engineering" means and why it matters more than prompts
 • How media companies can experiment with AI safely and responsibly
 • The next shift toward agent-to-agent workflows and personalized news experiences

If you work in media, journalism, audience growth, newsroom operations, AI product development, or leadership strategy, this episode breaks down what is actually changing and what is coming next.

GUEST: John Levitt
https://www.elvex.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmlevitt/ 

📩 Enjoyed this episode?

Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel.

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
Edited by the Musso Media Team 

Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved. © AnyWho Media 2025

What if AI could make us better writers instead of replacing us? The next chapter of the internet may do exactly that by using technology to strengthen creativity rather than erase it.

Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium, joins The Media Copilot with Pete Pachal to talk about the new reality of writing in an AI world. As algorithms reshape how stories are created and shared, Stubblebine believes we are entering a writing renaissance where technology helps writers stay focused, authentic, and connected to their readers.

They explore:

• The collapse of free-content economics and the rise of the post-Google internet

• Why Medium is betting on smaller, more human writing communities

• How AI can enhance creativity rather than erase it

• The tools that will keep writers in flow and make the act of writing joyful again

If you care about creativity, technology, and the future of storytelling, this is a conversation you should not miss.

📩 Enjoyed this episode?

Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. 

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

🎧 Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
 🎬 Edited by the Musso Media Team
© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

🎵 Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© AnyWho Media 2025

What if AI could read your book, learn from it, summarize it, and remix it, all with your permission and a paycheck? Trip Adler is working to make that possible.

Trip Adler co-founded Scribd, helped pioneer book subscriptions, and knows publishing inside and out. Now he’s back with a new mission: protect human creativity in the age of AI.

In this episode of The Media Copilot, Pete Pachal talks with Trip about his latest venture, Created by Humans, a licensing platform that helps AI companies access creative works legally, starting with books. 

They dive into:

• How AI companies are scraping content without permission

• What “AI rights” actually are and why creators need to define them now

• Why licensing for training, RAG (reference), and transformation should all be separate

• How Trip’s “Fourth Law of Robotics” could reset the power dynamic between human and machine

• What the $3,000-per-book Anthropic case tells us about future settlements

• And why this could be the next big revenue stream for authors and publishers

If you're a writer, publisher, AI builder, or just someone who wants creators to get credit and compensation in the AI era, this is the conversation to hear.

What You'll Learn

Books are emerging as the front line in the battle between human creativity and artificial intelligence and understanding why is key to navigating what comes next. You'll learn how AI rights differ from traditional copyright law and why that distinction matters for anyone working in publishing, media, or technology. It also explains what AI companies can and should be paying to use creative works and how those payments change depending on whether the content is being used for training, reference, or transformation. You will come away with a clearer understanding of why these categories are not interchangeable and why defining each one is essential. Most importantly, the conversation highlights why authors deserve transparency, control, and compensation when their work helps power an AI product.

GUEST:  Trip Adler

Co-Founder of Scribd

Founder of Created by Humans 
 🔗 createdbyhumans.ai | LinkedIn 

📩 Enjoyed this episode?

Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?  Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel. 

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

🎧 Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
 🎬 Edited by the Musso Media Team
© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

🎵 Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© AnyWho Media 2025

As AI eats the internet, publishers are fighting to keep control. Raptive’s Chief Growth Officer, Marc McCollum, says it’s not the end of the open web, it’s a chance to rebuild it on creators’ terms.

In this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal sits down with Marc McCollum, Chief Growth Officer at Raptive, to talk about the future of media in the age of AI.

Raptive powers over 6,000 creators and 200 enterprise publishers and Marc argues that the key to survival isn’t joining the platforms, it’s owning your audience.

From the impact of AI Overviews on search traffic to the rise of Google Discover as a quiet growth engine, they break down what’s really happening behind the analytics. Marc also calls out Big Tech’s “free-content” problem, explains why licensing and pay-per-crawl models could reshape revenue, and shares why recipe sites might just be the unsung heroes of the AI era.

If you care about the open web, creator independence, or where AI-powered media goes next—this conversation is essential.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• Why AI summaries are crushing clicks—and what to do about it
• How creators can stay profitable when SEO and affiliate models fall short
• Why owning your site and email list is still your best move
• What Raptive’s data reveals about traffic winners and losers in 2025
• The quiet power of Google Discover and how to make it work for you

   GUEST:  Marc McCollum, Chief Growth Officer, Raptive
   🔗 raptive.com | LinkedIn
  
  

📩 Enjoyed this episode?
Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube?
Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel 🔔

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

🎧 Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
 🎬 Edited by the Musso Media Team
© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

🎵 Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© AnyWho Media 2025

 Local news without politics, crime, or chaos? Meet the startup making it happen.

In this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal talks with Ryan Heafy, co-founder of 6AM City, about how his team is flipping the script on community journalism—using AI to scale responsibly while keeping human editorial judgment at the center.

Discover how they’ve expanded from a few test cities to 410+ local markets with a “Seed-to-Profit” model, how their anti-scraping strategy builds trust from the ground up, and why they just acquired controversial AI startup Good Daily—not for the headlines, but for the infrastructure.

Whether you're in media, tech, marketing, or just want smarter news in your inbox, this one's for you.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• How 6AM City uses AI to launch, test, and scale new markets

• Why newsletters are the future of local media—and why most will fail

• How 6AM avoids outrage bait and click-driven news

• What they really got from acquiring Good Daily

• How to build content that survives Gmail filters, TikTok scrolls, and voice assistants

• Why their inbox model might outlast traditional journalism

👥 GUEST:
 Ryan Heafy — Co-Founder & Chief Local Officer, 6AM City
 🔗 LinkedIn | 🌐 6amcity.com

📩 Enjoyed this episode?
Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. On YouTube? Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel 🔔

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

🎧 Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
 🎬 Edited by the Musso Media Team
© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

🎵 Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© AnyWho Media 2025

Social feeds turned news into a rage machine. Cory Ondrejka says it’s time for a reset! Use AI to cut the noise, respect your time, and deliver journalism that actually matters.

For years, the way we consume news has been warped by engagement algorithms that reward outrage and overwhelm. With attention hijacked and trust eroding, millions have simply tuned out. But what if AI could help fix what it broke?

On this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal talks with Cory Ondrejka, former Facebook and Google exec (and co-creator of Second Life), now at SmartNews, where he leads the development of NewsArc; an AI-powered app that curates the best single article on each major news event. No doomscrolling, no junk summaries, and no ragebait. Just clarity, curation, and a front page you can trust.

Why this matters now:

News avoidance is at record highs, and trust in media is cratering. NewsArc offers an alternative: a shared, AI-assisted “Daily Dozen” that highlights the most informative reads, respects journalistic integrity, and compensates publishers fairly. With LLMs used for claim-checking, not content theft, the app delivers a smarter, calmer news experience for readers who want to be informed, not inflamed.

Key Topics:

🔹 Why social feeds broke the news
🔹 How NewsArc uses AI to elevate not replace journalism
🔹 The problem with summaries and the power of “claim-level” analysis
🔹 Why a shared front page matters in a polarized world
🔹 How SmartNews compensates publishers in the LLM era

🎙 Guest:
 Cory Ondrejka | EVP, SmartNews / Creator of NewsArc
LinkedIn | smartnews.com 

📩 Enjoyed this episode?
Subscribe to The Media Copilot on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app.
On YouTube? Tap the Like button and Subscribe to the channel 🔔

For more AI tools and resources built for media professionals, visit MediaCopilot.ai.

🎧 Produced by Pete Pachal and Executive Producer Michele Musso
 🎬 Edited by the Musso Media Team
© 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

🎵 Music: “Favorite” by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under CC BY 4.0

© AnyWho Media 2025