{"id":5614,"date":"2026-05-07T21:15:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarasoteras.com\/?p=5614"},"modified":"2026-05-07T21:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:15:47","slug":"the-audience-clubs-ny-2026-first-event-how-ai-search-creators-reshaping-news-beyond-click","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarasoteras.com\/en\/blog\/the-audience-clubs-ny-2026-first-event-how-ai-search-creators-reshaping-news-beyond-click\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside The Audience Club\u2019s First NY Event: How AI, Search & Creators Are Reshaping News Beyond the Click"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a digital landscape shaped by volatile algorithms and the rise of AI-powered search, news publishers are making a fundamental shift away from the traditional chase for pageviews. <\/strong>The focus is now on building reader loyalty, strengthening authority, and diversifying traffic sources<\/strong> beyond an increasingly unpredictable Google ecosystem. With this in mind, I created The Audience Club, a community for media professionals to share knowledge, discuss emerging trends, and explore the future of publishing together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This vision came to life at The Audience Club<\/a>\u2019s first event in New York<\/strong>, which brought together publishers, SEO experts, journalists, and creators for an evening of conversations around AI, search, creator-led journalism, and the future of news. A special thank you to Wix<\/a> for hosting the event and to Marfeel<\/a> for sponsoring it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event featured insightful discussions with leading industry professionals, open networking with attendees<\/strong>, and key conversations on how media companies can adapt to a rapidly changing search and audience landscape. During the event, I also had the opportunity to present my latest book, SEO Playbook for News Publishers<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, adapted specifically for the US market. Here are some of the key ideas and insights shared by the speakers across the two panels (and all the photos at the end of this article!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A huge thank you to all the incredible speakers who made The Audience Club\u2019s first New York event possible by sharing their expertise, insights, and vision for the future of media: Claudio Cabrera<\/strong> (The Athletic), Navah Maynard<\/strong> (Daily Mail US), Nicole Hern\u00e1ndez <\/strong>(Associated Press), Edward Hyatt<\/strong> (The Wall Street Journal), Teresa Mondr\u00eda<\/strong> (NPR), Jeremy Caplan<\/strong> (CUNY), Michael Henry<\/strong> (Marfeel), MJ Cach\u00f3n<\/strong> (Laika), Olga de Andr\u00e9s<\/strong> (Growth Boutique), Micah Gelman<\/strong> (LNI Media \/ formerly The Washington Post), Carla Nudel<\/strong> (The New Republic), and Kiera Carter <\/strong>(Wix Studio).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The next The Audience Club event will take place in London this June,<\/strong> continuing the conversation around AI, search, audience strategies, and the future of news publishing. More information, speakers, and details will be shared soon.)<\/p>\n\n\n

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From Pageviews to People: The New Focus on Engagement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The consensus among experts is a decisive move away from chasing fleeting pageviews towards building loyal, engaged communities. This shift is driven by the realization that time and attention are finite, invaluable resources. As Nicole Hern\u00e1ndez (AP) noted, pageviews are “the worst metric that you can try to build your business on.” <\/strong>Publishers are now prioritizing a suite of “health-focused” KPIs, including engagement time, pages per session, on-site registrations, and subscriber conversions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claudio Cabrera (The Athletic) emphasized the growing importance of on-site engagement to counter the rise of community platforms like Reddit in search results. <\/strong>“Really having a strategy that’s really focused on bringing people to the website in a way that they can actually stick on the website, versus coming in and out, I think is going to be extremely important,” he stated. Michael Henry (Marfeel), who works with numerous publishers, confirmed a significant shift over the last 18 months towards a deeper concern for loyalty and recirculation<\/strong>, breaking down internal silos to feed conversion data back into content production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI Overviews and Discover: Navigating Threats and Opportunities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The introduction of AI Overviews by Google has sent ripples through the industry, particularly for publishers reliant on “evergreen” content. Research presented by independent analyst MJ Cachon (Laika) indicated that AI Overviews capture the vast majority of user attention.<\/strong> While sectors like cooking have seen a “big dip” in traffic, the impact on breaking news has been less sever<\/strong>e. The strategy is not to abandon evergreen content, but to reposition it as a tool to showcase expertise and build trust. “That’s leaving out an opportunity to showcase to someone, ‘Hey, we have expertise, and we can break these topics down for you,’<\/strong>” argued Nicole Hern\u00e1ndez of the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Google Discover presents a powerful yet unpredictable source of traffic. Navah Maynard (Daily Mail US) emphasized that Discover must be “the extra, the cream on top,” not a primary reliance. <\/strong>The goal is to leverage the platform strategically<\/strong>, such as by adapting headlines for a broader audience, without compromising core journalistic values or “bending to Discover.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Power of Authority and Originality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In an age of information overload and AI-generated summaries, established brands are doubling down on what makes them unique: expertise and original reporting. Edward Hyatt, The Wall Street Journal’s Director of Newsroom SEO, explained their focus on “attentional search audiences”<\/strong> \u2014users with deep intent who are more likely to become paying subscribers. By focusing on scoops and expert-driven content, the Journal’s traffic has remained resilient. “If you think about how you stand out amongst things like AI and robots… just being really original with our own [reporting],”<\/strong> Maynard said. “You’re going to be the only one, at least for a short while, that’s reported on that story.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This extends to individual journalists. Hyatt detailed a collaborative effort to elevate reporters’ public profiles, ensuring they are recognized as experts across the web.<\/strong> “When we’re thinking about expertise, authority, and trust, our reporters also need the same level of investment as our brand,” he stated. This investment is seen as a crucial defense against AI, positioning reporters as trusted sources worth seeking out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Video Vanguard and New Metrics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A recurring theme is the undeniable rise of video, especially vertical formats for mobile consumption. “Video is extremely key just because it’s entering Discover much more,” Claudio Cabrera noted. This is pushing newsrooms to train and equip their field reporters to become multi-format “creators,”<\/strong> shooting short, timely videos that provide a powerful new entry point for audiences. Hyatt highlighted YouTube as a massive opportunity, urging newsrooms to optimize their video output.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This multi-platform reality demands more sophisticated analytics. Publishers are seeking unified dashboards that integrate on-site data with metrics from platforms like YouTube, Reddit, and WhatsApp. <\/strong>The Wall Street Journal has created custom metrics like “publisher reach,” <\/strong>which assigns a weighted value to clicks from different sources. “Not every click is the same,”<\/strong> Hyatt affirmed, recognizing that a click from an intentional search is more valuable than a fleeting social media interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AI in the Newsroom: From Threat to Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The conversation around AI in journalism has moved from a futuristic hypothetical to a present-day reality. Panelists from organizations like NPR, The New Republic, and former members of The New York Times’ AI initiative team painted a picture of an industry in a state of “product discovery.” “Every newsroom is currently figuring out how to best use AI depending on their corporate strategy, their editorial strategy, the needs of their journalists,” said Teresa Mondr\u00eda,<\/strong> senior product manager AI Labs at NPR, who was previously on the AI initiative team at The New York Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consensus is that AI’s most immediate value lies not in replacing journalists but in augmenting their work. Examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n