"We are still at the early stages of another big shift in technology (Generative AI) which threatens to upend the news industry by offering more efficient ways of accessing and distilling information at scale. At the same time, creators and influencers (humans) are driving a shift towards personality-led news, at the expense of media institutions that can often feel less relevant, less interesting, and less authentic. In 2026 the news media are likely to be further squeezed by these two powerful forces."
"Declining engagement for traditional media combined with low trust is leading many politicians, businessmen, and celebrities to conclude that they can bypass the media entirely, giving interviews instead to sympathetic podcasters or YouTubers. This Trump 2.0 playbook - now widely copied around the world - often comes bundled with a barrage of intimidating legal threats against publishers and continuing attempts to undermine trust by branding independent media and individual journalists as 'fake news'."
Generative AI is beginning to upend the news industry by enabling more efficient access and distillation of information at scale. Creators and influencers are accelerating a shift toward personality-led news, eroding the relevance and authenticity of media institutions. In 2026 news organisations face pressure from both technological disruption and audience preference shifts, with uneven effects across countries and demographics. Declining engagement and low trust are prompting politicians and public figures to bypass traditional outlets in favor of sympathetic podcasters or YouTubers, often accompanied by legal threats and 'fake news' narratives. Search engines evolving into AI-driven answer systems threaten referral traffic and publisher business models. Many publishers plan to re-engineer operations for an AI era with more distinctive, human-centered content.
Read at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
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