How Will Newsrooms Respond to the Rise of AI?

For the better part of the 21st century, publishers have been playing catch-up with evolving media consumption habits. First, there was the rise of the internet, shifting news consumption from print media to news websites and other online sources. Then the smartphone came around and media companies were forced to adapt to a mobile-first future. And then, to top it all off, the rise of social media once again changed the way people interact with content. Search engine optimization made way for algorithm optimization, which favors attention-grabbing, quickly digestible content, ideally with a sprinkling of controversy to drive engagement. All these shifts in content consumption and publishers’ reactions to it may end up looking minor compared to the changes that AI will likely bring about. AI tools have already begun to change the ways in which content is consumed AND produced, with publishers facing the challenge of finding the right balance between AI-enabled efficiency gains and cost savings and figuring out what sets human-made journalism apart from what machines can do. Statista's editorial report “AI in the media industry” dives deeper into the challenges and opportunities that AI brings for the media industry.

According to a Reuters Institute survey of 264 digital media leaders from all around the world, there is a broad consensus on how publishers can most effectively compete with AI tools going forward. Simply put, it’s by doubling down on the core competencies of journalism, be it investigating, reporting on the ground, offering deeper contextual analysis, opinion or commentary. At the other end of the scale, industry leaders think newsrooms should move away from service journalism and evergreen content – things like travel guides and product review – that AI chatbots can already generate within seconds, even if based on content originally written by humans. The same is true for general news reproduction, which requires less human insight, creativity and skill and will therefor likely be automated to a large degree in the future. “The platforms we are used to are being challenged by completely new form factors like voice or chat that will be solving tasks more easily,” Stefan Ottlitz, former CEO at Der Spiegel, told the Reuters Institute. “Journalism’s best response is to double down on the things that make us valuable and unique,” Taneth Evans, Head of Digital at the Wall Street Journal, said.