More people are now using mobile messaging apps like Telegram, Whatsapp, WeChat and Kakao Talk than social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Weibo. One of the biggest problems that traditional newspapers have is that they are missing out on young audiences. Whether it’s current newspaper subscribers or potential subscribers in the future, a lot of new users on WeChat are young people.Hao Junshi, director of new media, Global TimesNews outlets have cottoned on to the trend and are messaging headlines directly to your phone.But there’s more to look out for: rumours, propaganda and even some political discussions that you cannot have as easily on the web.As amateur and rumour-mill applications work alongside ’official’ news products and add-ons, concerns now manifest within the possibility for conversations, sharing and news creation that were never possible online due to the power of censorship. As stifled voices in places like China and Iran finally find an outlet for their views, we look at how this surge in messaging the news can affect government choices.The Listening Post’s Will Yong reports on three mobile messaging apps and what messaging means for the news business.

Advertising has always been a core part of the news business, and its importance to the industry has only grown with the advent of the internet. We don’t opt in – online ads just happen.

Publications need advertising to make money. Other methods have been shown to not work, so it is just driving publications away from the open internet on to platforms where they can sort of guarantee their life cycle.

When ad blockers started appearing a few years ago, no one was paying much attention – the user base was limited to a tech-savvy audience.

But that user number now exceeds 200 million, whoch poses an existential threat to online news outlets and their economic viability.

The Listening Post’s Paolo Ganino reports on the rise of ad blockers and what they mean to the news business.