Report
Journalism and technology trends and predictions 2026
- Abstract:
- This annual Reuters Institute predictions report looks at the key trends that will impact news media in 2026. Fewer than four in ten (38%) of our sample of editors, CEOs, and digital executives say they are confident about the prospects for journalism. Stated concerns relate to perceived loss of influence for institutional media, low audience trust, verbal and legal attacks by politicians, and the growing power of AI enabled platforms. Publishers expect a significant fall in referrals from search as big tech companies integrate AI overviews and other ‘story-like’ responses to news queries. The report also shows how publishers are adopting generative AI. Beyond efficient workflows, publishers will be looking to use AI for newsgathering and to speed up product development. Publishers will also be looking to invest more in video and audio content in 2026 with a particular focus on YouTube. This is partly in response to the rise of creator-led media which is providing increasing competition for audience attention.
- Publication status:
- Published
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 4.1MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.60625/risj-ps1d-np11
Authors
- Publisher:
- Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
- Place of publication:
- Oxford, UK
- Publication date:
- 2026-01-12
- DOI:
- ISBN:
- 9781914566288
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2358800
- UUID:
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uuid_ac920693-d189-4232-89f7-e4dd49650fec
- Local pid:
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pubs:2358800
- Deposit date:
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2026-01-14
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Nic Newman
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article published under CC BY 4.0.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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