The McClatchy Layoffs, Facebook's Ad Math, and Why OpenAI Isn't Rushing to Wall Street

MCCLATCHY'S AI PIVOT

Chain Cuts 90 Journalists, Hires AI Content Strategists Instead

The Rundown: McClatchy laid off over 90 journalists across 17 papers this week, then announced they're hiring people to produce AI-generated lifestyle content about nugget ice and saunas.

The details:

• Miami Herald lost a third of its editorial staff, including the city hall reporter; El Nuevo Herald lost every reporter
• The NewsGuild says the cuts represent 40% of McClatchy's unionized workers
• Subscriber revenue has fallen 41% over five years despite the company's stated commitment to local news investment
• New 'content strategist' positions pay up to $90,000/year to produce AI-generated lifestyle articles
• CEO Tony Hunter said the company has 'a company-wide effort to agentify the entire enterprise'

Why it matters for us: This is the case study that answers 'what happens when you replace beat reporters with AI lifestyle content.' Subscriber revenue kept falling, because the AI content isn't what differentiated McClatchy from Facebook. For independent publishers, the lesson is concrete: AI should help your city hall reporter write faster, not replace the person who shows up at city hall.

Read at san.com →

FACEBOOK'S OWN RESEARCH

Platform's Study Found Its Ad Metrics Overstate Results by 3x

The Rundown: A 2019 Facebook study, replicated in 2023, found that standard ad measurement methods routinely overestimate conversions by 300% or more compared to actual randomized experiments.

The details:

• The study used 15 large-scale experiments with 500 million user observations and 1.6 billion ad impressions
• Standard observational methods (exact matching, propensity scoring, regression) missed experimental benchmarks widely with no predictable pattern
• Privacy changes have increased reliance on modeled conversions, meaning even 'experimental' results may use partly synthetic data
• Platform dashboards blend genuine randomized experiments with modeled attribution, and both are presented the same way

Why it matters for us: If you're running Facebook ads for subscription drives, demand actual randomized lift studies, not the default dashboard numbers. For a 15,000-circ weekly spending $500/month on digital ads, a 3x overstatement means you might be paying for 300 conversions while actually getting 100.

Read at karandhir.substack.com →

OPENAI'S IPO DELAY

Altman Says Going Public Now Would Be 'Ill-Advised'

The Rundown: OpenAI filed confidentially for an IPO but won't go public in 2026. Sam Altman cited safety concerns and said they'll wait until 'the moment is right in society.'

The details:

• OpenAI had targeted Q3 or Q4 2026 but is now leaning toward 2027
• Altman specifically cited 'everything happening with safety' as reason for the delay
• Tech stock volatility and OpenAI's own financial challenges are contributing factors
• Comments came during fallout from the OpenAI-Hugging Face hack

Why it matters for us: The AI gold rush is cooling. When OpenAI delays its IPO, the 'move fast or get left behind' pressure on publications eases. You have more time to evaluate what actually works, and more influence when AI vendors come knocking with contract terms.

Read at techcrunch.com →

THE DESIGN JOB DATA

UK Design Employment Up 15% Despite AI Tool Adoption

The Rundown: The UK Design Council reports the sector grew 40% between 2019-2023, with employment up 15% through 2025, even as AI design tools became standard.

The details:

• Design sector grew 40% between 2019-2023, outpacing the UK economy's 23% average
• Employment reached 2.27 million design jobs, up 15% from 2020 through end of 2024
• 57% of UK public believes AI will cause widespread unemployment, per King's Institute research
• Design Council CEO cited declining design GCSE entries (down 68% over a decade) as bigger threat than AI

Why it matters for us: When your arts reporter pitches the standard 'AI killing creative jobs' angle, this is the counter-data. Employment numbers through end of 2024 show design jobs still growing despite widespread AI adoption. The story isn't 'AI replaces designers.' It's 'designers who use AI are doing more work.'

Read at theguardian.com →

ADOBE VS. FIGMA

Adobe Testing Brand-Aware AI Design Tool Aimed at Figma Users

The Rundown: Adobe is inviting Figma users to test Project Oasis, a web-based design tool with AI that understands brand identity, under NDA before public launch.

The details:

• Adobe's AI annualized recurring revenue exceeded $500 million, more than tripling year-over-year
• Figma's Q2 revenue grew 48% to $370.1 million with 136% net dollar retention
• Project Oasis targets brand-identity and marketing workflows specifically
• Adobe reported fiscal Q2 revenue of $6.62 billion, up 13%

Why it matters for us: If AI design tools make brand-consistent social graphics faster to produce, a two-person ad sales team could turn around more spec ads without waiting on a designer. For a free paper with 40 local retail accounts, that's potentially closing more small-ticket business on Tuesday instead of waiting until Thursday.

Read at finance.yahoo.com →

THE UPDATE

Quick Hits From the Week

The Rundown: Smaller items that shipped, leaked, or surfaced this week.

The details:

• Pew Research found 66% of respondents are concerned AI would provide inaccurate news information, useful framing when explaining your AI disclosure policy to readers.
• McClatchy now factors reporters' AI usage into performance reviews, per internal communications, a policy worth watching as chains standardize AI expectations.
• Figma's gross margin fell from 89% to 84% amid rapid AI-driven growth, suggesting AI features are expensive to deliver even when customers pay for them.

Why it matters for us: None of these is a full story yet. Together they say the AI conversation is moving from 'should we' to 'how, and at what cost,' and that is the stage where a clear, written policy at your publication starts to pay off.

What is?

Figma

What it is: Figma is a design program that runs in your web browser, the way Google Docs does for writing. You open a link, and you, your ad rep, and the client can all be in the same layout at the same time, watching each other's cursors move. It started as a tool for designing apps and websites, and it has grown into the place where a lot of marketing teams build social graphics, presentations, and brand kits. There is a free plan, it runs on a Chromebook, and nothing has to be installed. Adobe tried to buy it for $20 billion and walked away in 2023 after regulators objected, which tells you how seriously the big players take it.

Why publishers care: Figma is in the news this week because Adobe is quietly inviting Figma users to test Project Oasis, a browser-based design tool with AI that is supposed to understand a brand's look. That is Adobe going after Figma's home turf, and it is happening while Figma is growing fast: revenue up 48 percent to $370 million last quarter. For a publication, the practical read is this. The tools your ad department and your designer use to build spec ads and social graphics are about to get an AI layer that knows the client's logo, colors, and fonts. Whether you land on Figma, Adobe, or Canva, the question to ask now is simple: how fast can a two-person ad team turn around a clean, on-brand ad without waiting on the designer?

Visit figma.com →