Every year the Reuters Institute produces its state-of-the-industry report on global journalism and technology trends. For a long time now these reports have painted a picture of a global media industry beset by threats and facing hard choices. This one is no different.
If anything, the 2026 version is even more downbeat than some of its predecessors. Media executives are generally pessimistic about the future for the industry as a whole, although they tend to be more hopeful about their own companies’ chances of survival and success. That is only to be expected; evolutionary theory suggests leaders who think they are doomed to failure are hardly going to last long.
The numbers tell the story. Only 38 per cent of the 280 editors, CEOs and digital executives surveyed across 51 countries say they are confident about the prospects for journalism in the year ahead. That figure has plummeted by 22 percentage points in just four years. Yet when asked about their own business prospects, 53 per cent express confidence, a reminder that optimism, like charity, begins at home.
Much of the gloom comes from the threat posed by – you guessed it – artificial intelligence to traditional traffic sources and revenue streams. Respondents anticipate that referrals from search engines, already in rapid decline, will slide even farther over the next three years. Publishers expect to lose more than 40 per cent of their search traffic by 2029. There is talk of replacing the old dark arts of SEO (search engine optimisation) with new ones of AEO (answer engine optimisation) in order to snag more traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest of them. A whole cottage industry of consultancies and analytics tools is springing up to help publishers optimise their content for AI platforms.
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But there is little acknowledgment that this is very unlikely to work. AI chatbots give you the answer you want, but they do not push you towards the source of the information. The entire premise of these systems is to synthesise and summarise, not to send users clicking elsewhere.
The numbers are stark. Yes, Google referrals are tumbling, down 33 per cent globally in the past year according to Chartbeat data cited in the report, but they still dwarf those from AI chatbots. Google currently delivers 500 times as many referrals as ChatGPT. The AI platform accounts for a mere 0.02 per cent of total referral traffic to news sites. Optimising for that sliver while the Google pie shrinks looks very like rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic.
AI is also having an impact on what types of content media companies produce. Two areas in particular seem likely to suffer. Service journalism, consumer guides, how-to advice, health tips and the like will inevitably see a decline as AI steps in to answer these queries directly. Publishers surveyed gave this category a net score of minus 42 when asked what they would focus more or less on. Evergreen content, the non-newsy, more timeless material that sits outside the regular news cycle, will come under pressure due to its reliance on search referrals, scoring minus 32 with executives. If you’re a journalist working in these areas, it may be time for a career pivot.
Some respondents do see an AI upside in the shape of content licensing deals with the AI giants, but that is a minority view. Only 20 per cent expect such revenues to be significant; another 20 per cent expect nothing at all. The more widespread view is that, to survive in a world of AI slop, media companies will need to double down on original journalism and unique content. Original investigations and on-the-ground reporting scored plus 91 when executives were asked about strategic priorities; contextual analysis and explanation scored plus 82. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Maybe, or maybe not, if you are simultaneously trying to adjust to “the videofication of everything”, a key trend identified in the report. Nearly 80 per cent of respondents say they need to invest more in video, with YouTube emerging as the top platform priority. That comes hand in hand with a determination to learn from the example of influencers and independent content creators by emphasising personality and tone of voice. Three-quarters of publishers say they will be encouraging their journalists to behave more like creators this year. Wired magazine has been building its writers into “platform personalities” across TikTok and Instagram, claiming an 800 per cent increase in views. The New York Times has been putting the faces of its correspondents front and centre on its home page. Even The Economist, which for years shunned bylines in favour of institutional anonymity, has changed its approach, showcasing key talent through podcasts and newsletters.
Yet here lies a tension that the report only partially acknowledges. The same executives who want their journalists to become creator-style personalities also fret about losing talent to the creator ecosystem; 39 per cent express concern about this. Build someone’s personal brand and you may simply be training them to leave.
The overall picture that emerges is of an industry caught between contradictory imperatives: invest in distinctive human journalism while automating everything else; embrace personality-driven content while maintaining institutional credibility; optimise for AI platforms while accepting they may never deliver meaningful traffic. Perhaps the most honest conclusion is that nobody really knows what will work. The executives surveyed are not stupid; they can see the threats clearly enough. What remains elusive is a strategy that addresses them all without collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions.
