The Reuters Institute's 'Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions' report puts tech talent on a premium, as news leaders look to harness the best of AI, social video and subscription bundles
Confidence is low in the news industry as it marches into 2025, according to the Reuters Institute's annual report, Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2025, published today (9 January 2025). This is based on a survey of 326 digital leaders from 51 countries and territories.
In a week where Meta abandoned its responsibilities on fact-checking, Louise Pettersson, editor-in-chief at Sjællandske Medier, seems to have already been right on the money: "They want to profit from our unique content but refuse to acknowledge us for it, either through traffic or payment. Meta, in particular, is deeply problematic."
Matthias Streitz, head of editorial Innovation at Der Spiegel, was also not far off: "While some platforms have stopped caring about factually correct information altogether (X), others stay put, and new interesting opportunities (some AI platforms) arise."
New leaders lament the many challenges in the year ahead; technology that will make falsehoods more convincing, politicians that are cracking down on the press, talent that is harder to secure, revenue that is drying up, reporting that is harder to surface against louder creators without the same values.
But Streitz and report authors Nic Newman and Federica Cherubini also see silver linings: " Times of change also throw up new opportunities. A big part of the task for news leaders in the year ahead will be to redefine the role and value of journalistic institutions in an age of polarisation, misinformation, and super-abundant content in a way that resonates with both staff and audiences."
So what are the positives and opportunities for your newsroom amid the chaos?
Three quarters (74 per cent) of news leaders are bracing themselves for a drop in referral search traffic to their websites, an exodus not unlike that on Meta-owned platforms Facebook (67 per cent) and X (50 per cent) over the last two years. Even though the data from Chartbeat does not support these concerns towards search traffic, the arrival of ChatGPT search and Google's AI overviews could entrench inequalities between large and small news companies.
The report acknowledges that most of its respondents are from news organisations without AI deals (and/or unlikely to secure them). About three quarters (72 per cent) feel the only answer is to find collective agreements that benefit the whole news ecosystem which have started to emerge.
Legacy platforms X and Facebook have all but severed ties with the news industry and publishers will respond in kind. They will be more present on social video platforms like YouTube (52 per cent), TikTok (48 per cent) and Meta-owned Instagram (43 per cent), hoping to win over the young crowd and earn some money in the process.
Screenshot via Reuters Institute
AI companies like Perplexity and OpenAI (56 per cent) are the only players commanding greater interest amongst news leaders.
It is not hard to understand why: 87 per cent of respondents think their newsrooms are being transformed by gen AI companies. Voice technology is developing fast, giving publishers ever-reliable options in text-to-audio and audio-to-text (75 per cent), topping the list of audience-facing AI applications. The prime example from 2024 was Time Magazine's Person of the Year, featuring Donald Trump.
A space to watch is Intelligent Agents which have the potential to execute a range of tasks on a user's behalf like researching, booking slots ect. These are likely to get over the barrier that voice devices have found with the quality of their responses. One in five news leaders think these are the next big thing, and one in ten think it will be a flash in the pan.
The other reason for prioritising AI companies is that leaders smell money on the horizon. A third (36 per cent) think funding from platforms will be the prime source of revenue next year, anticipating lucrative AI deals.
Digital subscriptions will hold, most thinking they will grow "a bit" (45 per cent). Expect more bundling which provide convenience and cost-saving benefits, following the success of the New York Times' model. Leaders who have not already added news adjacent products are planning or thinking about adding games (29 per cent), education (26 per cent), reviews (14 per cent), sports (14 per cent) and food (13 per cent). Donations, while small, is the only other revenue source growing in importance (19 per cent).
Three quarters (73 per cent) are eyeing up youth products this year as a way to capture the elusive Gen Z crowd. This cohort is increasingly won over by online personalities who 'speak their language' and should not be underestimated in their influence. This is a mixed bag of journalists who have found ways to fuse news reporting and modern formats, and creators who amplify conspiracy theories.
The jury is out on whether young audiences' attraction towards influencers is good or bad for journalism. Neither option removes another way to move forward: find ways to work with content creators who have secured the trust of the Gen Z crowd.
A good example comes from the Romanian news website PressOne which has partnered with influencers for the last three years. Social media manager Mălina Gîndu said there was a mutual benefit on both sides: the news organisation discovered a younger crowd on Instagram, while the influencers gained a bit of credibility.
It is not just young people that benefit from taking a more measured approach. Audiences of all ages are feeling the exhaustion and negativity of a world constantly gripped by war, natural disasters and murders.
Simplifying the news into manageable bites seems to be the direction of travel. Daily explainers, podcasts and photography are some of the key ways news leaders are aiming to reach audiences with just the essential news.
Screenshot via The Guardian
All of these trends - generative AI, social video strategy, and product development - are constantly requiring new skills to enter the newsroom putting talent at a premium (and retention as an imperative).
While news leaders are confident of securing general (85 per cent) and star editorial talent. (81 per cent), they are significantly less confident with product and design (59 per cent), data science and AI (41 per cent) and software engineers (38 per cent).
This means journalists would do well to skill up on the tech side to improve their career prospects.
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