‘Time to rethink role’: Newsrooms worldwide ponder future

MANILA, Philippines — With artificial intelligence, political unrest, and disinformation posing an existential threat to the practice of journalism, just about half of editors and newsroom executives around the world — including the Philippines — remain confident about the profession and its prospects in 2024, according to a new study on media industry trends and challenges.

In its latest report titled “Journalism, media and technology trends and predictions 2024,” the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) called on journalists and news organizations to “rethink their role and purpose with some urgency” amid major disruptions to journalism.

These challenges include the supercharged progress of AI; “sharp declines” in — and less reliable — traffic from social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter); and a growing demographic that’s “more comfortable with algorithmically generated news and have weaker ties to traditional media.”

The study said these all compound the already severe and persistent problems in journalism, including the culture of impunity, news avoidance, and news fatigue. And they could all have profound implications in 2024, which will see over 50 countries holding elections.

New disruption ahead

This was seen as why only about half, or 47 percent, of 300 newsroom leaders in over 50 countries are confident about journalism in the year ahead, while around 12 percent say they are not confident, according to RISJ’s survey. Forty-one percent said they are neutral or uncertain.

“Overall, the mood in our survey responses is one of strong belief in the value of journalism but great uncertainty about the year ahead, fueled by the knowledge that another huge wave of technical disruption is on the way,” RISJ said.

Many newsroom leaders are also concerned about “mounting evidence” that social media platforms have deprioritized news. In 2023, newsrooms saw a sharp decline in Facebook traffic (down 48 percent); X (down 27 percent), and Instagram (down 10 percent).

For 2024, newsrooms will likely be more concerned about their game plan to counter these rising challenges.

Among others, the majority of newsroom publishers now plan to put more effort into growing their presence on other platforms like WhatsApp (+61); TikTok (+55); Google (+49), and YouTube (+44).

The majority also plan on investing more in direct channels like websites, apps, newsletters, and podcasts (77 percent).

Cost-cutting

More alarmingly, around a fifth (22 percent) say they would be cutting costs.

Still, most newsroom leaders remain ambivalent about using AI for content creation. They believe it should largely be relegated to back-end news automation like tagging, transcription, and copyediting (56 percent).

But “if they are to survive, media companies will need to wholeheartedly embrace digital while continuing to squeeze revenue from traditional channels,” RISJ said.

This year, the world can expect more newsrooms to “attempt to engage young people with news on platforms where they are spending time, like TikTok and YouTube Shorts,” the study added.

“These initiatives will mainly be about trying to build relationships rather than making money, but in 2024, publishers will increasingly look to bring these storytelling techniques back into their own news websites and apps. From a talent perspective, short-form video storytellers will remain in great demand in 2024,” RISJ said.