While media owners seem upbeat, it might be the moment to note the ongoing pressure on journalism as AI takes charge.

Along, perhaps, with grammar, spelling, punctuation and sub-editing skills.

In a series of predictions for publishers, Reuters Institute’s Nic Newman also has a cluster of words and phrases we need to grasp, in addition to ‘AI slop’, ‘agentic AI’ and ‘brain rot’ forecast last year. Welcome ‘vibe coding’ (getting AI to create code, websites and apps for you), ‘digital provenance’, ‘AEO’ (an acronym for ‘answer engine optimisation’, which is all about visibility) and the fluidity of ‘liquid content’, driven by a viewer’s context and preferences.

Newman says generative AI threatens to “upend the news industry by offering more efficient ways of accessing and distilling information at scale”. He also points to the shift towards personality-led news, “at the expense of media institutions that can often feel less relevant, less interesting, and less authentic”.

He says news media are likely to be further squeezed by these two powerful forces.

“Understanding the impact of these trends, and working out how to combat them, will be high up the ‘to do list’ of media executives this year, despite the unevenly distributed pace of change across countries and demographics.”

He also points to “existential challenges” such as the growth of politicians and others who seek to bypass journalism altogether, the “Trump 2.0 playbook now widely copied around the world”.

However, Newman reports that many traditional news organisations remain optimistic about their own businesses, though they are likely to be kept busy re-engineering for the AI age.

“It’s a delicate balancing act but one that – if they can pull it off – holds out the promise of greater efficiency and more relevant and engaging journalism,” he writes.

The report presents main findings from the Reuters survey of 280 digital leaders from 51 countries and territories. Among them, Justin Stevens, director of news at Australia’s ABC, ventures that it’s “an incredible time to be in news and journalism” with audiences seeking trustworthy sources.

Peter Coleman

Pictured: Reuters presents this picture of news influencer Vitus ‘V’ Spehar (and his dog) preparing a video for their millions of followers