5 seismic shifts for news media in 2025

In 2025, news organisations will have to reckon with tech billionaires’ involvement in politics and the ongoing threat to journalists working in danger zones. Then, there is the rising impact of GenAI on their businesses.

As the recent AI In Journalism Futures report makes clear, outlets are facing “an entirely new information ecosystem in which AI is ubiquitous across almost all facets of information gathering, production, distribution and consumption.”

While the idea of an AI-driven news ecosystem sounds daunting, major reputable news outlets remain critical to the effective functioning of society. The World Economic Forum identified ‘misinformation and disinformation’ as one of the top risks in its 2025 Global Risk Report. Trusted news organisations are key to tackling this problem, and new ways of working can help them do it.

Here are five ways news platforms can evolve to stay relevant and retain consumer trust:

News media needs a hybrid revenue model

Changing news consumption patterns means news media are not generating as much ad revenue from social media as they used to. While young audiences don’t click through and leave social media to read news, and Meta’s algorithm continues to deprioritise news, subscription models appear to be the way forward. In entertainment, ad revenues for the likes of Netflix are growing, but in news, even major providers of free news like The Daily Mail have added a subscription tier. Reuters Digital News report says that across 20 countries, subscription payments have almost doubled since 2014 from 10% to 17%.

However, hybrid ad revenues/subscriptions must work harder if publishers want to replace lost ad revenues. With the UK having one of the lowest proportions of readers paying for news (8% compared to Norway’s 40%), there is arguably room for growth. If subscriptions don’t fit in with the editorial ethos of the news organisation in question, there is always Guardian-style voluntary membership.

Social media mindset must drive editorial strategy

Unlocking additive revenues and unsticking audiences from their social platforms is a multifaceted challenge. If subscription cash is now the goal, publishers need to ditch SEO reliance, instead considering a Reddit-style set-up with multiple online destinations

delivering a rich experience to niche communities. People will pay for news, views and interactions on specific topics not well-covered by mainstream media outlets.

Ad revenue might be rapidly diminishing, but a tabloid approach – a strong entertainment spin on news or a mix of serious and non-serious – could still have value. And don’t forget that podcasts and influencers could also have a role to play: young political influencers such as Hugo Travers are proving as impactful as news brands.

GenAI’s potential has to be hardwired into the newsroom

News organisations must embrace GenAI, but they need to use it creatively and collaboratively – avoiding the narrow POV that AI is all about efficiency. Instead of plugging GenAI in to pump out stories with the goal of replacing journalists, outlets should figure out how they can use AI to support journalists and improve workflow. AI-powered tools like Trint simplify and speed up transcription. Other ways AI can be deployed in the newsroom include writing headlines, sub-editing, combing archives and metadata tagging.

While GenAI can famously be used for disinformation and deepfakes, trusted news organisations need to flip the script, using GenAI tools to combat fake news via verification and content analysis. GenAI’s mind-bending search capabilities have a role to play here by helping establish a benchmark of journalistic truth. For example, GenAI can quickly access archives to establish the veracity of politicians’ self-promoted narratives (e.g., how have Donald Trump or Keir Starmer’s positions changed over the years?).

News providers would be most effective if they could collaborate on providing a centralised source of truth. They may be too partisan to do this, but there are interesting developments, like Steve Ballmer’s USAFacts website.

AI-enhanced journalism will evolve into local and personalised storytelling

Audiences typically connect with what a story means to them on a local or personal level. Indeed, local news is repeatedly cited as one of the most trusted form of news by consumers. Going forward, GenAI could be harnessed by news organisations to create an authentic relationship with local communities, rebuilding the trust some commentators believe has been eroded. Going further, GenAI will enable news organisations to develop personalised tools to supplement general stories (‘Best places to stay in Crete 2025’) with reader-specific information (‘Here’s a tool to plan a Crete holiday for your family of four’). It’s a tactic already out there to some extent. Still, the power of news media lies in combining factual authority with brand trust, opinion and personalised impact: something that lends itself to hybrid commercial models.

Shortform video will be as important as text in news delivery

Reuters’ 2024 Digital News Report found that short news videos are now accessed by two-thirds (66%) of news audiences weekly and longer video formats by around half (51%). Most (72%) watch on online platforms rather than publishers’ own websites. Respondents said they liked the diversity of opinions, and believed the unfiltered nature of video – sometimes users’ own footage, such as from Gaza and Ukraine for example – seems more trustworthy and authentic than traditional media. Leading organisations like Times Media have already pivoted towards a multimedia reporting model, with digital dominating the newsgathering agenda during the day. This paves the way for increased emphasis on short videos.

Final Thought: changing the engine in mid-flight…

The challenges facing traditional news organisations are immense – and not helped by the fact that newsrooms are dynamic 24/7 environments. How do you introduce major technological changes when workflow never stops? There is no easy solution, but the transition to a social media-literate, AI-powered model cannot be ignored. The future of well-informed democracies depends on solving this conundrum.

Originally published on European Business Magazine.