INTERESTING to read the Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2026, an annual report published today by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
Based on a survey of 280 media leaders, it’s predictably dominated by the growth of Artifical Intelligence and the impact it’s having on journalism worldwide.
Key findings:
* Referrals from search engines are set to decrease by 43pc over the next three years amid the growth of AI.
* In response, publishers are pledging to focus on more investigations, breaking news, and “on the ground” reporting.
* Greater use of video is also planned.
* Reliable news, expert analysis, and points of view remain important both to individuals and to society, particularly in uncertain times.
* “Great storytelling – and a human touch – is going to be hard for AI to replicate.”
It may be the future but, in many ways, it seems AI is having the effect of pushing news publishers back to basics.
A drive towards more investigations is to be welcomed, of course, but it’s what news organisations should be doing anyway. And anyone who’s ever been involved in investigative journalism knows that it takes time and resource to be done properly. Will that be provided beyond the survey reponses?
Breaking news? Again, isn’t that already a basic reason for being a publisher? Getting there first – telling us what we don’t already know. Remember that most stories break first locally – often to be followed-up nationally without due credit to the regional media.
“On the ground” reporting is an interesting description. Perhaps it means more reporters going out of the office instead of relying so heavily on harvesting social media.
Reliable news, analysis, and opinion – also part of the staple diet in the industry for as long as I can remember. Nothing new there, though I’d argue it’s more important than ever in an uncertain world where trust is being eroded.
Thank goodness no-one’s admitting to an even greater focus on unreliable news, eh?
And then there’s that final bullet-point. “Great story-telling and a human touch.” While the robots are doing their thing, let the humans get back to prioritising compelling, well-crafted stories about humans – people who inspire, and evoke emotion: make us laugh, make us cry, make us proud, make us take action of some kind.
It’s what we’ve done historically anyway, isn’t it? Back to the future we go…