The INMA Board of Directors gathered last week in New Delhi last week against a backdrop of accelerating change: AI reshaping discovery, audiences fragmenting, and publishers everywhere rethinking what sustainable growth actually looks like.

The meeting was not about incremental adjustments. It was about setting direction for INMA’s next decade — sharpening how the association serves members, modernising its programming, and ensuring INMA evolves in step with the realities publishers are facing on the ground. 

What emerged was a clear mandate: INMA aims to deepen its practical value, modernise how learning is delivered, and organise its work around the real priorities publishers are wrestling with — growth, trust, productivity, and direct relationships with audiences.

Just as important, Board members spoke candidly about what they are focused on inside their own companies. Those priorities now form the backbone of how INMA will shape its programming.

Here’s what stood out.

From scale to precision: A global shift in strategy

Across markets, publishers described the same pivot: away from chasing maximum reach and toward building higher-value relationships with defined audiences.

Executives from News Corp Australasia, Schibsted, Amedia, Bonnier News, The Globe and Mail, Stuff, Mediahuis, Advance Local, Sanoma, and Folha de S.Paulo all pointed to versions of the same strategy:

• Grow direct audience relationships and reduce dependence on platforms
• Build bundled subscription ecosystems rather than standalone products
• Expand into audio and video as news moves beyond text
• Use AI to improve productivity, personalisation, and speed to market
• Focus on lifetime value, not just acquisition

Several leaders noted that digital subscriptions are maturing in many markets. The next phase is not simply adding subscribers, but increasing engagement, strengthening ecosystems, and packaging journalism more effectively through bundles and premium experiences.

In Australia, News Corp is deliberately producing less content and concentrating on relevance and personalisation. In Norway, Schibsted is unifying brands into a single subscription ecosystem while pushing aggressively into audio and video. In Sweden, Bonnier is expanding its “Plus Everything” bundle and using AI to deepen engagement once users enter the ecosystem. In Canada, The Globe and Mail is doubling down on authoritative journalism while sharpening its digital platform and operational efficiency.

Different tactics, same destination: fewer intermediaries, stronger direct relationships, and more precise use of journalism, product, and data.

AI moves from experiment to infrastructure

AI was everywhere in the conversation — not as a novelty, but as a core operating layer.

Publishers described using AI to:

• Automate routine newsroom work so journalists can focus on higher-value reporting
• Personalise content and improve customer experience
• Speed production while reducing costs
• Support product development and recommendation engines
• Inform commercial performance and audience strategy

Stuff in New Zealand has set aggressive internal productivity targets tied directly to AI adoption. Amedia and Mediahuis see AI as a competitive advantage embedded across journalism and operations. Advance Local is restructuring around data and insights, building new B2B businesses on top of its information assets.

The message to INMA was consistent: Members want practical guidance — what works, what doesn’t, and what scales — as AI reshapes workflows, products, and discovery.

That expectation is already influencing INMA’s programming focus, especially in Product & Tech, Digital Platform, and Newsroom Innovation initiatives.

Younger audiences loom large — but no one has cracked it

Engaging younger audiences surfaced as one of the most unresolved challenges.

European publishers highlighted Gen Z as existential terrain. Amedia has made content free for teenagers to rebuild habits early. Mediahuis launched a Gen Z brand on TikTok and Instagram. Bonnier is running multiple experiments, while acknowledging there is no universal solution.

At the same time, some Board members cautioned against writing off older cohorts, noting that Gen X still holds significant spending power. The broader insight was that audience strategies must become more nuanced, spanning formats, generations, and consumption behaviours.

For INMA, this reinforced the need to capture experimentation globally and turn scattered learning into structured, shareable practice.

India: Strong print today, urgent digital tomorrow

Indian publishers provided a powerful counterpoint to Western markets.

Print remains profitable and often delivers 60%-90% of revenue, funding digital investment. Hyper-local distribution, community proximity, and retail advertising still drive scale. Companies like Dainik Bhaskar and Eenadu operate decentralised, village-by-village models that produce thousands of local editions and stories every night.

Yet Indian leaders echoed the same long-term concerns as their international peers:

• How to monetise massive digital reach
• How to build sustainable subscription models in language markets
• How to prepare for AI-driven discovery
• How to protect trust in a fragmented information environment

The Hindu emphasised seriousness of journalism as organisational DNA. ABP spoke about restoring credibility while cautiously building digital. The Quint outlined a “less but deeper” strategy focused on trust and engagement. Times of India highlighted execution discipline, distribution excellence, and the need to turn AI from buzzword into advantage. HT Media described balancing a still-growing print business with the realities of smartphones, video, and voice-driven consumption.

India offers runway — but not indefinitely. The shared urgency was clear: use today’s print strength to modernise organisations before platforms and habits outrun publishers.

What this means for INMA’s programming

Taken together, the Board discussions pointed to a simple truth: INMA’s value over the next decade will come from helping publishers move faster on the issues that matter most.

That means shaping programming around:

• Direct audience relationships and subscription ecosystems
• Practical AI adoption across newsrooms, product, and commercial teams
• Audio, video, and evolving content formats
• Bundling, engagement, and lifetime value
• Productivity, cost discipline, and operational redesign
• Trust, credibility, and differentiated journalism

It also means evolving INMA initiatives into active learning communities — places where members exchange real-world experience and where INMA curates frameworks, benchmarks, and playbooks that can be applied inside companies.

Publishers were clear: They don’t need more theory. They need structured, peer-driven learning that helps them execute.

A decade defined by precision, not scale

Across continents and business models, one pattern dominated: The news industry is moving from scale to precision.

Reach still matters, but loyalty matters more. Journalism remains the foundation, but success increasingly depends on product design, data, and operational discipline. Subscriptions anchor the business, while bundles, audio/video, licensing, and new revenue streams extend it.

AI is accelerating everything.

Younger audiences are the unfinished business.

And direct relationships are becoming the most valuable asset publishers own.

The New Delhi meetings gave INMA a clear mandate for the decade ahead: Organise around these realities, modernise how learning is delivered, and help members turn shared challenges into collective progress.

Different markets. Different tactics.

But a remarkably aligned global agenda.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .