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From Crisis to Renewal: Addressing AI’s Impact on Our Information Ecosystem

Lena-Maria Böswald, Roa Powell, Tyreese Calnan

Berlin: Interface – Tech Analysis and Policy Ideas for Europe (2026), 18 pp.

"As AI summaries summarise information directly within search results, they can significantly reduce traffic to news publishers. Evidence suggests users are less likely to click through to original sources when AIOs are present on Google, threatening the financial viability of journalism. These impa ... cts from AI summaries and AIOs in particular are unlikely to be evenly distributed and will play out in different ways across the news sector across Europe, with smaller and ad-funded outlets particularly vulnerable, raising concerns about declining media plurality. At the same time, AI-generated summaries often fail to provide accurate and diverse information. Research shows that AI tools disproportionately rely on a narrow set of sources, marginalising smaller publishers. In addition, persistent issues with accuracy – including misleading or incorrect outputs – risk distorting public understanding and weakening trust in information systems. Current regulatory frameworks in both the EU and UK are struggling to address these challenges effectively. While multiple legal instruments are relevant and already in place – including competition law, platform regulation, copyright, and AI governance – none are fully equipped to respond quickly and comprehensively to the harms of monopolisation and the lack of remuneration for media outlets posed by AI summaries. We argue that competition policy offers the most effective and immediate route to intervention, with digital regulation serving as a secondary lever. The UK’s approach, based on flexible, case-specific competition rules, enables faster action through tailored conduct requirements for dominant firms like Google. In contrast, the EU’s framework is broader but slower, relying more heavily on traditional, time-intensive antitrust investigations and ongoing debates around copyright and remuneration for publishers. Both systems offer complementary strengths, and policymakers should learn from each other’s approaches. We therefore recommend a “competition-first” policy package to ensure fairer outcomes. Key measures include enforcing fair ranking and attribution practices, preventing unauthorised use of publisher content, and potentially requiring platforms to compensate news organisations. However, competition policy alone is not the key. We therefore propose additional long-term interventions, including greater transparency through “nutrition labels” for AI-generated content and increased public or democratic funding for journalism. These measures aim to strengthen the resilience and independence of the news sector, ensuring that trustworthy information remains accessible in an information ecosystem shaped by AI. more

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The Protocol Gap: Brazil

Sérgio Spagnuolo, Ester Borges, Bruno Fiaschetti, Paula Miraglia

Journalism Relay Project; Momentum; International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM) (2026), 12 pp.

"An overwhelming majority of news websites in Brazil have either no AI-scraping policy at all or a very permissive approach. As of November 2025, only 7.2% of Brazilian news websites disallow at least one AI crawler through the use of a robots.txt file, even though most news sites (75%) have a robot ... more

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AI in the Newsroom: Practices and Case Studies

Emmanuel Bahindi, Antonio Kisembo, Echeru Rodney Oluma

Kampala: AI Media Lab, Media Challenge Initiative (2026), 16 pp.

"This paper examines how AI is being used across newsroom work rather than treating adoption as a single decision. It maps applications along the news value chain, compares institutional approaches and draws lessons from international and African examples. Readers can use the cases to assess the gap ... more

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Principled caution: How AI is used in public-interest media in Asia

James Gomez

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2026), 52 pp.

"In conclusion, this research has provided a systematic understanding of AI adoption within public-interest media across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. By identifying concrete areas for strategic intervention, this research seeks to strengthen ... journalistic quality and prepare the sector for an AI-integrated future. The findings reveal that the AI adoption is currently taking place within public-interest media, but it is one of “principled caution” where adoption is careful, selective and highly varied. This evolution unfolds within a structurally precarious media environment where AI regulation is often absent or actively restrictive. While adoption remains cautious to protect journalistic credibility from risks such as hallucinations and biases, newsrooms are increasingly embracing AI as a powerful toolset to alleviate severe capacity and resource constraints. Currently, organizations primarily utilize AI for assistive, routine tasks such as translation, transcription, summarization, and early-stage content ideation and the final language editing stage rather than for broader organizational transformation. The research highlights deep capacity deficits in the governance framework, institutional training, and leadership. These gaps often prevent individual AI literacy from translating into consistent, organization-wide policy formulation and enforcement. This challenge is further exacerbated by the funding instability and resource constraints that characterize the region’s independent media, restricting the long-term investment necessary for ethical and responsible AI adoption. Despite these legal, political, technical, capacity, and operational constraints, localized and innovative AI workflows are emerging. While AI has not yet generated entirely new, revenue-generating business models, strategic investments in customized AI infrastructures, such as in-house dashboards and media monitoring systems, present a critical pathway toward long-term operational resilience. To support this trajectory, the report recommends coordinated action among media organizations, governments, technology companies, donors and media development funders to invest in long-term AI capacity, governance frameworks, and secure technological infrastructure." (Conclusion, page 39) more

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Fact-checking and Investigative Journalism’s Artificial Intelligence Revolution

Rubén Rivas-de-Roca, Lucia Mesquita, Allen Munoriyarwa, Mathias-Felipe de-Lima-Santos, Adeola Abdulateef Elega

Journalism Practice (2026), pp. 1-21

"The growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms has created new opportunities and challenges for journalism. A significant opportunity lies in the use of AI technologies for investigative journalism and fact-checking, core functions of the field. Grounded in technological appropri ... more

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Multi‐Method Analysis of Locally Built Artificial Intelligence Models Designed for Journalists in an African Country

Akintunde Babatunde Abdullateef Mohammed Adeola Abdulateef Elega

Media and Communication, volume 14 (2026), 19 pp.

"Artificial intelligence (AI) models for journalism have been built within the Global North context, hence deepening the concerns of the “AI divide” between the North and South. This has compelled organizations in various areas of the Global South to develop journalism‐focused AI models to add ... more

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Project OASIS Africa Report: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa

SembraMedia; Code for Africa (2026), 36 pp.

"Africa’s independent digital media sector is growing as a response to shifting news consumption habits, political change, advances in technology, and the enduring disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on digital communication. Audiences across the continent increasingly turn to mobil ... more

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The Local News Playbook: Creating Value for a Sustainable Future
Deep Insights

London; Miami: FT Strategies; Knight Foundation (2026), 105 pp.

"Drawing on global interviews with newsroom leaders, a cross-market survey of exemplary organisations, and FT Strategies’ work with more than 1,000 media businesses worldwide, the playbook identifies the core drivers that distinguish financially sustainable, community-rooted local news. It reframe ... more

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Platform journalism on YouTube: A democratic functions approach to analysing journalism on digital platforms

Christopher James Hall

Australian Journalism Review, volume 47, issue 1 (2025), pp. 97-115

"Independent youtubers who create content on political, social and economic issues attract very large audiences and are increasingly the object of study for journalism scholars. This article contributes to the literature by conducting a detailed analysis of the Australian YouTube channel friendlyjor ... more

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From Crisis to Renewal: Addressing AI’s Impact on Our Information Ecosystem

Lena Maria Böswald, Roa Powell, Tyreese Calnan

Berlin: Interface – Tech Analysis and Policy Ideas for Europe (2025), 18 pp.

"AI-driven search-summary features, with Google's AI Overviews (AIOs) being the most promiment example, are rapidly transforming how people access news, with profound implications for our information ecosystem. While AI holds potential to improve access to information, its current deployment risks u ... ndermining the sustainability, diversity, and reliability of news. As AI summaries summarise information directly within search results, they can significantly reduce traffic to news publishers. Evidence suggests users are less likely to click through to original sources when AIOs are present on Google, threatening the financial viability of journalism. These impacts from AI summaries and AIOs in particular are unlikely to be evenly distributed and will play out in different ways across the news sector across Europe, with smaller and ad-funded outlets particularly vulnerable, raising concerns about declining media plurality. At the same time, AI-generated summaries often fail to provide accurate and diverse information. Research shows that AI tools disproportionately rely on a narrow set of sources, marginalising smaller publishers. In addition, persistent issues with accuracy – including misleading or incorrect outputs – risk distorting public understanding and weakening trust in information systems. Current regulatory frameworks in both the EU and UK are struggling to address these challenges effectively. While multiple legal instruments are relevant and already in place – including competition law, platform regulation, copyright, and AI governance – none are fully equipped to respond quickly and comprehensively to the harms of monopolisation and the lack of remuneration for media outlets posed by AI summaries. We argue that competition policy offers the most effective and immediate route to intervention, with digital regulation serving as a secondary lever. The UK’s approach, based on flexible, case-specific competition rules, enables faster action through tailored conduct requirements for dominant firms like Google. In contrast, the EU’s framework is broader but slower, relying more heavily on traditional, time-intensive antitrust investigations and ongoing debates around copyright and remuneration for publishers. Both systems offer complementary strengths, and policymakers should learn from each other’s approaches. We therefore recommend a “competition-first” policy package to ensure fairer outcomes. Key measures include enforcing fair ranking and attribution practices, preventing unauthorised use of publisher content, and potentially requiring platforms to compensate news organisations. However, competition policy alone is not the key. We therefore propose additional long-term interventions, including greater transparency through “nutrition labels” for AI-generated content and increased public or democratic funding for journalism. These measures aim to strengthen the resilience and independence of the news sector, ensuring that trustworthy information remains accessible in an information ecosystem shaped by AI." (Executive summary) more

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Fact-Checkers as New Journalistic Mediators: News Agencies’ Verification Units and Platform Dynamics

Regina Cazzamatta

Media and Communication, volume 13 (2025), 24 pp.

"This article examines how European international news agencies—Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), and EFE—engage with the emerging subgenre of external fact-checking journalism in response to (dysfunctional) hybrid media systems. Through a content analysis of 86 ... more

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Artificial Intelligence in Newsrooms: Case Study on Al-Mamlaka TV

Omar Abdallah Al-Zoubi, Normahfuzah Ahmad, Norsiah. Abdul Hamid

Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, volume 41, issue 1 (2025), pp. 35–51

"The reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms has become increasingly common worldwide. This technology is used to enhance the efficiency of news gathering, editing, and distribution. Despite the numerous benefits that can be gained from these technologies, they also create many profess ... more

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Analysis of monetization tools for media, bloggers and media personalities in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine: Overview of the financial landscape for digital content creators

Arthur Papyan, Anna Barseghyan, Oleg Khomenok

Fojo Media Institute (2025), 49 pp.

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Generative AI in African News Media: Opportunities and Challenges

Trust Matsilele, Lungile A. Tshuma

Routledge (2025), xix, 190 pp.

"Featuring diverse case studies from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Eswatini, the collection explores how African newsrooms are adopting generative AI. Contributors analyse the use of AI presenters, audience perceptions of AI-generated content, gamification strategies in newsroo ... more

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Google Scholar (323)

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The Palgrave Handbook of Global Digital Journalism

Bruce Mutsvairo, Kristin Skare Orgeret (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2025), xxi, 444 pp.

"This book responds to mounting calls to broaden the theorization of digital journalism, addressing critical questions about an emerging yet rapidly expanding area of study, and presenting multiple entry points and approaches that help us understand digital journalism better. Seeking to establish it ... more

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SpinozAI: Augmenting Journalism with Innovation and Ethics

Paris: Reporters Without Borders (2025), 15 pp.

"The Spinoza project aims to develop an open-source AI tool that ensures the integrity, traceability, and ownership of its data. It is co-designed with journalists and publishers and its first prototype focuses on climate change issues. The initial concept was launched by Reporters Without Borders ( ... more

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Where publishers are seeing AI’s real value – so far

Frankfurt am Main: WAN-IFRA (2025), ?? pp.

"Based on a Q2 2025 survey of more than 100 media leaders and 10 detailed case studies, the report explores how publishers are applying AI to workflows, products and audience engagement – and where its value is proving hardest to measure. Our findings show that AI’s impact is strongest behind th ... e scenes. While only 9 percent of publishers can point to direct revenue gains, 75 percent report efficiency improvements, 64 percent better content production, 55 percent faster publishing times, and 44 percent improved resource allocation. In other words, AI is already changing how news is produced and delivered, even if the financial payoffs are still emerging. “Revenue generation gets all the attention, but it’s often the wrong metric for AI in media. Cost reduction, quality improvements, speed gains, and better resource allocation deliver value faster and more measurably,” noted Ezra Eeman, Director of Strategy & Innovation at NPO, and Strategic Advisor for WAN-IFRA’s AI Initiatives. Here is a summary of the case studies in the report: The Hindu, India, Hard ROI: AI-driven recommendations for content, push notifications, and newsletters boosted CTRs, session durations, ad impressions and subscriptions. Schibsted, Norway, Hard ROI: A machine learning model for real-time personalisation lifted front-page subscription sales by 75 percent, while scaling across multiple newsrooms. United Daily News, Taiwan, Hard ROI: AI optimisation of ads, curation, and recommendations, drove 200 percent growth in ad performance, subscription conversions, and engagement. Financial Times, UK, Soft ROI: FT’s Storyfinding team applies AI to surface patterns in large datasets, streamlining investigative workflows and supporting scalable newsroom tools. NTM, Sweden, Hard and Soft ROI: Toppnyheter, an AI-powered audio news service, delivers real-time summaries while extending editorial oversight and audience reach. La Nación, Argentina, Soft ROI: A custom AI pipeline analysed President Javier Milei’s speeches, structuring 739,961 words to track rhetorical patterns. Legit.ng, Nigeria, Hard and Soft ROI: AI halved translation times, expanded Hausa-language coverage, boosted output, and improved fact-checking and distribution. “For us, AI is not about replacing journalists – it’s about giving them more time to do real journalism,” noted Rahaman Abiola, Editor-in-Chief. Gannett, USA, Hard and Soft ROI: Gannett, the parent company of USA Today, is transforming its 200-plus publications into an AI-ready organisation by embedding the technology across workflows, training and tools. “The real risk isn’t AI replacing you. It’s someone using AI replacing you,” remarked Jessica Davis, Vice President of News Automation and AI Product at Gannett. AsiaOne, Singapore, Hard ROI: An AI classification model improved ad targeting, boosted revenue by 20 percent, cut sales staff by 40 percent, and freed resources for higher-level strategy, while also providing shared insights across editorial, analytics and business teams. South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, Hard ROI: AI summarisation, editing, translation, and investigative tools save 300+ hours monthly while enhancing accuracy and reach." (https://wan-ifra.org) more

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Impacto de programas de apoyo de grandes plataformas digitales a medios de comunicación en América Latina: Los casos Google News Initiative y Meta for Media

Santiago Marino, Agustín Espada

Montevideo: Observacom (2025), 43 pp.

"1. Los apoyos, herramientas y recursos económicos analizados no son ni cercanamente suficientes para reducir los daños que su capacidad de control genera en los medios ni en la actividad periodística. 2. El impacto cuantitativo es relativamente menor; esto sucede tanto en lo económico como en ... more

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Handbook of Digital Journalism: Perspectives from South Asia

Surbhi Dahiya, Kulveen Trehan (eds.)

Singapore: Springer (2024), lxv, 589 pp.

"Handbook of Digital Journalism: Perspectives from South Asia is a descriptive, exploratory book on digital journalism practices and policies followed in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. It brings in-depth perspectives on content, communication, and community between communication th ... more

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Behind the Screen: How Successful Multi-Platform Journalist Jacque Manabat Uses TikTok to Reach a New Audience

Jacque Manabat, Vanessa Buchmann

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), September 24 (2024)

"[...] TikTok is much more than just a social network. Increasingly, it serves as a search engine, connecting its users with trends, music, and news—the latter in a significant way. Various studies indicate that TikTok has now become the primary news source for Gen Z, with this trend on the rise. ... more

The Local News Playbook: Creating Value for a Sustainable Future Deep Insights

The Local News Playbook: Creating Value for a Sustainable Future
Deep Insights