An open letter signed by the Guardian and The Telegraph CEOs Anna Bateson and Anna Jones calls on global media leaders to support a new coalition fighting for journalism’s long-term sustainability
Spur — the ‘Standards for Publisher Usage Rights’ coalition — seeks to ‘establish shared technical standards, plus responsible licensing frameworks that ensure AI developers can access high-quality, reliable journalism in legitimate, responsible and convenient ways’.
It also seeks to guarantee that ‘publishers retain practical control of their content and receive fair value when it is used’.
The coalition — which also includes the BBC, the Financial Times and Sky News — makes it clear that while AI brings opportunities for news brands, it also raises ‘urgent questions about fairness, consent, attribution, transparency and trust’. This comes in the wake of original publisher content being used as ‘foundational training material for AI systems’.
Encouraging global media leaders to get behind Spur, the open letter states: ‘This is a global challenge, and SPUR’s ambition is to be a global coalition. Working across the industry, we can build systems that respect original reporting, uphold public trust, and enable both journalism and AI to thrive.
‘Together, we will work with tech companies to adopt responsible, rights-cleared pathways to journalistic content, and with policymakers to build a modern regulatory framework that protects publisher rights and sets clear expectations for responsible AI development.’
For the full open letter, see the Spur coalition website.
