… and just like that, the last employee left. A human.
Is this our future? Bright. Efficient. Automated. Without noise. Without doubt. Without responsibility?
I believe it is not.
Happy May 1st. The Labour Day in a time when work is moving away from people and closer to data.
Press Clipping has been run with Boštjan since 1994. We are owners and directors. Three decades of data, analysis, and understanding of the media space. And three decades of people. Different. Demanding. Critical. The kind who create a whole. The difference lies precisely in people.
For ten years now, we have had no domestic competition in ownership structure. It has been replaced by foreign systems – centralized, optimized, price-aggressive. When they enter the Slovenian market as newly established companies, they are usually competitors of competitors in markets where decision-makers also decide about our region.
The model is clear: take over the market, lower the price, standardize the service.
And the data? Always the data. That is why the question is no longer who is cheaper. The question is: whom do you entrust with your information system?
Clipping has long ceased to be a simple article cutout. It is insight. It is the structure of an organization’s thinking. It is a map of risks, opportunities, and responses. It is a mirror of your actions. In other words: you are buying – yourself.
Some time ago, I was surprised by a client who described their experience with one of the sales-attractive, widely recognized PR platforms in Europe. Every day, they received more than 40,000 pieces of content – mostly unusable. From that moment on, all the burden was on their side: analysis, insights, interpretation, sentiment. It took nearly a year before they could even cancel the service. And the question that remains: was there anyone on that “sales-attractive” side who even heard them? No. And more importantly – is there today even a space where they could share that experience? Also no.
What happens when data becomes a target? That is not an abstract question.
In the past year, we have witnessed concrete attempts to access our databases, particularly the Slovenian media space, which at this moment (important, because it changes daily!) includes more than 2,420 websites, 567 print media outlets, 404 podcasts, 804 radio shows, 212 television programs, as well as content on FB, IG, and X. We have also witnessed pressure. “Collaborations” that are not really collaborations.
The question is simple: could a Slovenian company afford to behave the same way in Prague, Budapest, or Sofia? Hardly. Because there, they understand the value of their own knowledge, their own data, and their own space.
At Press Clipping, we understand this differently. We are not collectors of data. We are its custodians. Our database is not a collection of publications. It is an archive of the Slovenian media space. Structured. Lawful. With clearly regulated copyrights. We build it consciously – for today and for tomorrow. For clients and for future generations. We do not share it. We do not export it. We protect it. Because we believe that every space has the right to its own memory.
Our responsibility does not end there. We give knowledge back. Through the Infohub Institute, Digiakademija, and the Cyberkid project, we work with young people. With children, students, future decision-makers. We teach them how to understand information. How to verify sources. How to shape their own opinions. How to remain free in a world of data. This is not an addition to our activity. It is its foundation. Because without understanding information, even the best analytics has no value.
At the same time, we look ahead. We are upgrading a platform that continuously returns power to where it belongs – to the client. Not to generic algorithms. Not to foreign models. To the client. A platform that reflects the knowledge of Slovenian users. Their standards. Their understanding. Their reality. Because information is not universal. It is always context. Always a relationship.
We use artificial intelligence. But not as a replacement, rather as a tool. Our methodology is based on trust: traceability of sources, multi-layer validation, and the combination of automation and human judgment. The agent assists. The human decides. Always.
That is why I am an optimist. Because the future will not belong to those who have the most data, but to those who understand and respect it. To those who know that information is not just content – it is responsibility. Toward the client. Toward the space. Toward people. Toward the future.
So one more question: when you choose a clipping service – are you choosing a supplier? Or are you choosing the guardian of your information world? So do not choose just a supplier. Choose a partner who understands you, protects you – and stays here.
And I sincerely wish you that in these holiday days you take time to rest.
The real kind, the one that allows us to return with clarity – and move forward.
