As each new year begins, so do forecasts across all kinds of industries. In this article, we review a report published by Reuters editors Nic Newman and Federica Cherubini on the predictions and trends for journalism, media and technology in 2025. The report shows the results obtained after surveying 326 industry leaders, in a strategic sample that includes 51 countries and territories (UK among them).
A majority of respondents view the outlook for journalism this year with pessimism or lack of confidence and they may well have reasons for it. Political polarization, the increase in attacks on the press, and the co-optation of media outlets are identified by Reuters as the factors behind this sentiment.
Unlike in previous years, there has been a rise in the percentage of people who see good economic prospects for their outlets. Several explanations can be found in the potential news surrounding Trump during his second term, the growth in digital memberships and new forms of monetizing certain content, or the return of audiences to mainstream media thanks to the proliferation of low-quality AI-generated pieces.
AI takes center stage
Editors continue to adopt generative AI this year and nearly 90% of surveyed managers say their newsrooms are being completely or partially transformed. In line with this, they will use more AI to personalize formats, such as converting text into audio (75%), providing automated story summaries (70%) and doing translations (65%).
A key aim for many of these media leaders or conglomerates is to build relationships or strike deals with an AI company. At the same time, most editors express concern about a significant drop in referrals from search engines as the big tech companies integrate AI-generated summaries and other “story-like” responses to news queries. As a result, most media leaders will prioritize building relationships with major AI platforms this year.
Along these lines, 36% of respondents believe there will be a significant increase in revenues from licensing agreements with tech and AI companies, although the big debate lies in how those deals should be reached. Nearly three quarters of respondents prefer collective agreements that benefit everyone rather than individual deals—a scenario that is currently unfolding in some cases, such as PRISA’s agreement with OpenAI.
Where media will focus their attention in 2025
One of the most interesting points is: “On which platforms do media outlets plan to invest more resources (and on which ones less) in 2025?” They will devote more efforts to AI (with 56 net points) and to audiovisual formats that are attracting large audiences, including YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Bluesky makes its way onto the list amid the conflict between media outlets and Twitter over Elon Musk’s policies, and WhatsApp, LinkedIn also appear. Google Discover and Google Search round out the group.
By contrast, the clear losers in this area are X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, both of which have significantly reduced the number of visitors they send to media outlets. As a result, publishers are seeking other ways to capture the attention of potential users—especially younger audiences.
Trends according to CMS MAG
A few weeks ago, this publication highlighted potential trends for 2025, many of which coincide with the Reuters findings, though some differ. You can check them out in the following video:
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