DIGITAL NEWS PROJECT
JANUARY 2023
Journalism, Media, and
Technology Trends and
Predictions 2023
Nic Newman
1
Contents
About the Author 2
Acknowledgements 2
Executive Summary 3
1. Inflation Uncertainty, and Squeeze on
Spending Clouds Prospects for Journalism 7
2. Digital Subscriptions and Bundling Offer
Some Hope 10
3. Peak Internet and the Challenge of
News Avoidance 16
4. Step Change in News Media’s Coverage
of the Climate Emergency 19
5. Tech Platforms Suffer from Overreach,
Hubris, and New Competition 21
6. Format Innovation: The Shift to Audio
and Video Continues 28
7. Product Direction is Clear but
Frustration Remains Over Pace of Change 32
8. Breakthrough Year for Artificia
Intelligence and its Application
for Journalism 35
9. Conclusion 40
Survey Methodology 42
Recent RISJ Publications 44
DOI: 10.5287/bodleian:NokooZeEP
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
2
About the Author
Nic Newman is Senior Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism,
where he has been lead author of the annual Digital News Report since 2012. He is also a
consultant on digital media, working actively with news companies on product, audience, and
business strategies for digital transition. He has produced a media and journalism predictions
report for the last 13 years. This is the seventh to be published by the Reuters Institute.
Nic was a founding member of the BBC News Website, leading international coverage as
World Editor (1997–2001). As Head of Product Development (2001–10) he led digital teams,
developing websites, mobile, and interactive TV applications for all BBC Journalism sites.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank 303 news leaders from 53 countries and territories, who
responded to a survey around the key challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.
Respondents included 68 editors-in-chief, 49 CEOs or managing directors, and 44 heads of
digital or innovation and came from some of the world’s leading traditional media companies
as well as digital-born organisations (see breakdown at the end of the report).
Survey input and answers helped guide some of the themes in this report and data have been
used throughout. Some direct quotes do not carry names or organisations, at the request of
those contributors.
The author is particularly grateful to Rasmus Kleis Nielsen for his ideas and suggestions, the
research team at the Reuters Institute, and to a range of other experts and executives who
generously contributed their time in background interviews (see fuller list at the end). Thanks
also go to Alex Reid for input on the manuscript over the holiday season and keeping the
publication on track.
As with many predictions reports there is a significant element of speculation particularly
around specifics and the report should be read bearing this in ind. Having said that, any
mistakes – factual or otherwise – should be considered entirely the responsibility of the author
who can be held accountable at the same time next year.
Published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism with the support of the Google
News Initiative.
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Executive Summary
This will be a year of heightened concerns about the sustainability of some news media against
a backdrop of rampant inflation and a deep squeeze on household spending. Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine, the increasingly destructive impact of global warming, along with the after-effects
of the COVID pandemic have created fear and uncertainty for many ordinary people. In these
conditions journalism has often thrived, but the depressing and relentless nature of the news
agenda continues to turn many people away. Could this be the year when publishers rethink
their offer to address the twin challenges of news avoidance and disconnection – to offer more
hope, inspiration, and utility?
Big Tech platforms will also be under pressure this year and not just from the economic
downturn. First-generation social networks like Facebook and Twitter are struggling to retain
audiences as older people get bored and younger users migrate to new networks like TikTok.
Amid this turmoil, there is some hope that the next set of applications will put more emphasis
on connections and content that are good for society rather than those that deliver outrage and
anger. With huge audiences up for grabs, we can expect (or hope) to see the seeds of something
better in 2023 with a host of new networks and models emerging.
Meanwhile, the next wave of technical innovation is already here – and we are not talking
about the metaverse. Extraordinary advances in artificial intelligen e (AI) in 2022 have laid
bare more immediate opportunities – and challenges – for journalism. AI offers the chance for
publishers (finally) to deli er more personal information and formats, to help deal with channel
fragmentation and information overload. But these new technologies will also bring existential
and ethical questions – along with more deep fakes, deep porn, and other synthetic media.
Buckle up for the ride.
Against this backdrop, news organisations that have not yet fully embraced digital will be at a
severe disadvantage. The next few years will not be defined y how fast we adopt digital, but by
how we transform our digital content to meet rapidly changing audience expectations.
How do media leaders view the year ahead?
• Publishers are much less confident about their business prospe ts than this time last
year. Less than half (44%) of our sample of editors, CEOs, and digital leaders say they are
confident about the ear ahead, with around a fi th (19%) expressing low confiden e. The
biggest concerns relate to rising costs, lower interest from advertisers, and a softening in
subscriptions. Even those that are optimistic expect to see layoffs and other cost-cutting
measures in the next year.
• At the same time, we find vidence that most publishers (72%) are worried about
increasing news avoidance – especially around important but often depressing topics
like Ukraine and climate change – with only 12% not worried. Publishers say they plan to
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
4
counter this with explainer content (94%), Q&A formats (87%), and inspirational stories
(66%) considered important or very important this year. Producing more positive news
(48%) was a less popular response.
• More publishers are investing in subscription and membership in 2023, with the majority
of those surveyed (80%) saying this will be one of their most important revenue priorities,
ahead of both display and native advertising. Despite the squeeze on consumer spending,
over half (68%) still expect some growth in subscription and other paid content income
this year.
• Publishers say that, on average, three or four different revenue streams will be important
or very important this year. A third (33%) now expect to get significant r venue from tech
platforms for content licensing (or innovation), significantly up on last ear, refle ting the
fruits of multi-year deals negotiated in some markets with a number of big publishers,
often in the context of policies championed by those same publishers being introduced or
considered by governments.
• With more legislation planned this year to restrict ‘harmful’ content on social media,
many respondents (54%) worry that these new rules could make it harder for journalists
and news organisations to publish stories that governments don’t like. Around a third
(30%) are less worried and 14% are not worried at all.
• Publishers say they’ll be paying much less attention to Facebook (-30 net score) and
Twitter (-28) this year and will instead put much more effort into TikTok (+63), Instagram
(+50), and YouTube (+47), all networks that are popular with younger people. Increased
interest in TikTok (+19pp compared with last year) refle ts a desire to engage with under
25s, and experiment with vertical video storytelling, despite concerns about monetisation,
data security, and the wider implications of Chinese ownership.
• The potential implosion of Twitter under the stewardship of Elon Musk has focused
minds on its value to journalists. Half of our survey respondents (51%) say the potential
loss or weakening of Twitter would be bad for journalism, but 17% take a more positive
view suggesting it could reduce reliance on the views of an unrepresentative but vocal
elite. LinkedIn (42%) has emerged as the most popular alternative, followed by Mastodon
(10%), and Facebook (7%). Others struggle to see a like-for-like replacement.
• As the impact of climate change becomes more evident, the news industry has been
rethinking how it covers this complex and multi-faceted story. Around half (49%) say
they have created a specialist climate team to strengthen coverage, with a third hiring
more staff (31%). Just under half (44%) say they are integrating dimensions of the
climate debate into other coverage (e.g. business and sport) and three in ten (30%) have
developed a climate change strategy for their company.
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
• In terms of innovation, publishers say that they will be putting more resource into
podcasts and digital audio (72%) as well as email newsletters (69%), two channels that
have proved effective in increasing loyalty to news brands. Planned investment in digital
video formats (67%) is also up on last year, perhaps prompted by TikTok’s explosive
growth. By contrast just 4% say they’ll be investing in the metaverse, refle ting increased
scepticism about its potential for journalism.
• Media companies are quietly integrating AI into their products as a way of delivering
more personalised experiences. Almost three in ten (28%) say this is now a regular part of
their activities, with a further 39% saying they have been conducting experiments in this
area. New applications such as ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 also illustrate opportunities for
production efficiency and the creation of n w types of semi-automated content.
Other possible developments in 2023?
• More newspapers will stop daily print production this year due to rising print costs and
weakening of distribution networks. We may also see a further spate of venerable titles
switching to an online-only model.
• TV and broadcast news will be at the forefront of journalistic layoffs as audiences are hit
by news fatigue and competition from streamers. More TV broadcasters will talk openly
about a time when linear transmissions might be turned off. Netflix s partial switch to an
ad-based model increases the pressure further on advertising revenue.
• In last year’s report we predicted an explosion of creativity in short-form video
storytelling in youth-based social networks. This year we’ll see more publishers
embracing these techniques while videos get longer in the search of sustainable revenue.
• Expect to see a correction in the creator economy this year. While many individual
journalism businesses that have been started on Substack and other platforms continue
to thrive, the pressure of delivering to constant deadlines on your own is relentless, and
‘creator funds’ and similar monetary incentives offered by some platforms can’t be relied
on to endure. Collectives and micro-companies could be a new trend for 2023.
• It’s almost impossible to predict Elon Musk’s next move at Twitter, but there is likely to be
an enormous gap between rhetoric and delivery as the complexities of running a creative
and outspoken global community becomes clearer. Musk is likely to step down as CEO
sooner rather than later and a further change of ownership can’t be ruled out.
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
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• Meanwhile Smart glasses and VR headsets, building blocks of the metaverse, will continue
to attract attention, especially with Apple expected to join the party with its first headset
The addition of ‘legs’ to Facebook’s metaverse has taken eight years and billions of dollars
of investment. The roll out of these wholesome avatars this year won’t win round the
internal or external critics or make the concept any more relevant for journalism.
Legs are coming soon! Are you excited?
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
1. Inflation Uncertainty, and Squeeze on Spending Clouds
Prospects for Journalism
This time last year few predicted Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, an event that has
triggered an energy crisis and spiralling inflation across many countries. All this has reminded
us of the value of on-the-ground reporting, and expert analysis at times of uncertainty, but it
has also made the funding of such journalism more precarious.
Advertisers are pulling back at the same time as households reduce spending and publishers
face rising costs on multiple fronts. Those that still rely heavily on print have been particularly
badly affected, with the cost of paper doubling in some cases. Towards the end of 2022, this
perfect storm led to a number of layoffs, spending freezes, and other cost-cutting measures.
In our survey, less than half (44%) of our sample of editors, CEOs, and digital leaders say they
are confident about their business prospe ts in the year ahead, with almost as many (37%)
uncertain and around a fi th (19%) expressing low confiden e.
Less than half of publishers are condent about the year ahead
Q6. To what extent are you condent about your company’s business prospects in the year ahead. N=303.
In the United States, Gannett plans to cut its news division by a further 6%, losing around 200
staff. The Washington Post is discontinuing its 60-year-old print magazine, CNN is laying off
hundreds of people, and NPR is preparing to make significant cuts as a result of a financia
black hole. It’s a similar picture in many countries around the world.
6
Our industry survey captures mixed confidence
19% 37% 44%
Business prospects in
2023
Not confident Neither nor Confident
19% say they are not confident, many more are distinctly uneasy. Even those
who say they are confident have worries about the year ahead
5
Bleak commercial outlet for the year ahead
Perfect storm: Inflation, uncertainty, squeeze on consumer spending
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
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Digital-born companies are not immune. BuzzFeed is losing another 180 employees, while
Morning Brew is axing 14% of its workforce. Falling traffic from big social plat orms like
Facebook (Meta) and Twitter, which are both heading in new directions, has compounded the
problem, especially for companies that have become dependent on social distribution.
Spending by advertisers is unpredictable. Distributed revenue is down. Traditional social
media players, which had started to restrain their unpredictability, have imploded – Meta
most impactfully, Twitter most spectacularly. The foggy picture makes it difcult to plan.
And the echoes of the pandemic – which still isn’t over – have frayed nerves.
Digital-born ad-based news organisation, United States
Elsewhere many European publishers have seen a worrying decline in print-based subscriptions
partly linked to breakdown in distribution networks and higher levels of churn overall. ‘[We see]
a post Corona-slump, inflation and troubles with print distribution, so there is less confiden e
than a year ago,’ says Philippe Remarque, Publisher and Director of Journalism at DPG in the
Netherlands. It’s a similar story in France according to a CEO of one leading publisher: ‘News
magazines are losing print and digital subscribers while the price of paper is rising’. Outside
Europe, publishers large and small face similar pressures. ‘Reader revenue continues to grow
although at a slower pace’, says Styli Charalambous, CEO of the Daily Maverick in South Africa.
‘Advertising and commercial sponsorships are expected to be tougher to grow, if at all,’ he says.
Any publication that still has a heavy dependence on print circulation or advertising revenue
is likely to run into severe difficulties this ear. Regional and local newspapers are especially
vulnerable, potentially leading to more government intervention in some countries to support
the sector.
Broadcasters also face increasing disruption with rapidly declining audiences – across all
age groups – for linear news bulletins and opinion programming. It doesn’t help that most
commercial TV and radio providers remain overly dependent on advertising or carriage
fees and generate little direct revenue from viewers or listeners. Netflix s decision to take
advertisements will add further pressure while public broadcasters face funding cuts amid
intensifying attacks by politicians and rival publishers.
What will happen this year?
Haircut for print titles
Expect more newspapers to slim down editions, stop seven day a week publication, and even
close print editions altogether. Regional and local titles seem most vulnerable (Newsquest in
the UK has recently converted fi e regional titles) along with a host of magazine titles that have
already moved to an online-only model. With fewer copies being sold, distribution networks are
also weakening and expect some to follow the example of US publishers in leveraging the public
mail
1
or even starting their own delivery businesses. Green consumerism could add further
pressure to move away from print.
1
https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2022/more-newspapers-consider-a-pivot-to-postal-delivery-to-cut-costs-and-ease-
headaches/
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Broadcasters experiment witH more digital projects
The collapse of CNN+ last year suggested there is little future for stand-alone linear news
subscriptions, but expect to see increased attempts to bundle on-demand and live news into
streaming services. CNN is integrating ‘originals’ content with the Discovery+ offering and
ITVX is putting updating news at the heart of its rebranded streaming service. Meanwhile
public broadcasters, such as the BBC, have started to hint that they may need to turn off TV and
radio transmissions over the next decade as consumers migrate to apps and websites.
2
2
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/dec/07/bbc-will-go-online-only-by-2030s-says-director-general
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
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2. Digital Subscriptions and Bundling Offer Some Hope
With ad revenue under pressure, upmarket publishers with a print background are pinning
their hopes on continued growth in digital subscriptions, memberships and donations, which
have been a bright spot for some titles. ‘We have added 70,000 subscribers in the last year,’ says
Edward Roussel, Head of Digital at The Times of London, with other publishers also reporting
strong gains. Meanwhile, at the New York Times, subscription revenues rose by more than 10%
as it heads towards a goal of 15 million subscribers by 2027. Publicly collated information by
FIPP, however, shows that subscription growth may have peaked. FIPP president James Hewes
says that, with winter approaching, we may ‘feel the chill of the approaching freeze’.
3
Despite
this, our survey respondents remain surprisingly confident with two-thirds (68%) expecting
some increase in paid content income.
Most publishers expect some growth in subscriptions this year
Q6. When it comes to your organisation’s income from digital subscription, digital membership, or donation, which of the following
scenarios seems most likely? N=288.
Consumers seek out quality sources when times are tough; even if they retain only one news
subscription, we feel they will value what we do and want to stick with us.
Global business publisher
The consensus is that this year will be more focused on the retention of existing subscribers,
rather than adding new ones. Those who have been running subscription operations for some
time have a secure base on which to build and hope they can keep some growth through special
price offers or by bundling more premium value such as newsletters and events.
Price cuts and special offers
This will be a key focus for many publishers looking to hang on to new subscribers gained
during the Ukraine war and COVID-19. Renegotiating with customer
service centres can lead to half-price deals or better, while new
subscribers are being offered eye-popping discounts. The Washington
Post had an end-of-year deal that was 75% off its premium rate plus a
bonus subscription for a friend, while the LA Times, Chicago Tribune,
and Boston Globe have six months digital access for $1.
4
Other US
publications, including the New York Times, routinely offer $1 a week
for the first ear and the Wall Street Journal is one of many that offers
3
https://www.fipp. om/news/fipp webinar-digital-subscriptions-and-the-next-phase-of-media/
4
https://www.seniordaily.com/best-deals-newspaper-subscriptions-nyt-wsj/
64
But not everyone is pessimistic …
And especially bullish on subscription and reader revenue….
18% 3% 10% 48% 20%
Don't know Down a lot Down a bit Flat Up a bit Up a lot
Q6. When it comes to your organisation’s income from digital subscription, digital membership or donation, which of the following scenarios seems
most likely? (N=284)
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
reduced cost options for students. Longer trial periods have been another tactic being deployed
by some European publishers, reducing income in the short term but hopefully leading to
more loyalty in the longer term. With exceptionally low marginal distribution costs online,
all publishers trying to grow their subscription numbers will constantly be tempted to (also)
compete on price, even as some commercial titles will continue to focus on ad-supported
models offering free news.
Publishers will talk more about their journalistic values
In tough times, messaging about price may not be enough. Expect news media to talk more
about their mission and the quality of their journalism linked to specific issues li e the war
in Ukraine and the climate emergency. In a recent study, INMA found that most (72%) news
brands have started to develop positioning that emphasises their journalistic credentials or
guiding principles. La Vanguardia in Spain has been highlighting the phrase ‘truth is the first
casualty of war’ when selling subscriptions. Vox Media emphasises its mission to empower with
information as it asks for support. The Guardian stresses its fearless, independent journalism.
Mission based messaging – a growing trend in hard times?
Bundling more value by building product extensions
An alternative approach has been to try to lock subscribers in through bundling additional
features or complementary brands. The New York Times now offers a package that combines
core news with its cooking app, games, and Wirecutter review service. Another option combines
news from the Times with in-depth sports coverage from recent acquisition The Athletic. These
packages, which have been fuelled by smart acquisition, are already at the heart of much of the
subscription growth at the Times. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien says ‘bundled subscribers’ pay
more over time and are less likely to cancel.
5
Other publishers this year will be looking to copy
this playbook
6
through (a) developing premium product extensions like games, cooking, books,
5
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-03/n-y-times-pushes-bundle-subscriptions-as-ad-sales-face-pressure
6
https://newsrnd.com/life/2022-05-11-le-figaro-launches-its- ooking-application.S1idPvKL9.html
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
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podcasts, and newsletters, (b) buying other successful subscription publishers that already own
a niche, and (c) turning existing brands into a more complementary portfolio.
The New York Times explains how news feeds its wider portfolio and vice versa
Source: New York Times Investor presentation December 2022
Le Figaro is one of many premium publishers adapting the New York Times playbook
Cooking app launched in May 2022 adding to the earlier Games app
In Norway, leading daily Aftenposten offers an all-access bundle that includes other Schibsted
national and regional newspapers such as VG and Bergens Tidende, magazines, and premium
podcasts via the PodMe application it recently bought into.
Diversified r venue remains a priority for publishers
While subscription (80%) remains the top priority in our sample, followed by display advertising
(75%), most commercial publishers continue to say that multiple different revenue streams will
be important to them this year. The Guardian, for example, combines subscriptions on its app
with a donation model, digital advertising, revenue from platforms and foundations, and events
too. The Financial Times, which is best known as a subscription publisher, also employs display
and native advertising, runs a consultancy which advises other media companies, and has
expanded its events business over the last few years, including the annual FT Weekend Festival.
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Most important revenue streams this year for publishers
* Other = selling technology, parcel distribution, funding for factchecking, content syndication (and public funding).
Q4. Which of the following digital revenue streams are likely to be important or very important for your company in 2023?
Choose all that apply. N=273 (excluding most publicly funded public broadcasters).
Beyond paid content, the fastest growing income stream in recent years has come from funding
from tech platforms. A third (33%) of our respondents say these payments for content licensing
or innovation are now an important revenue stream – up 4pp on last year. This refle ts behind-
closed-doors deals that have been done by Facebook and Google in various territories, mostly
as a result of government pressure, that have been criticised for favouring large legacy players.
Google now pays more than 300 publishers for content across the European Union
7
as well
as in other parts of the world like Australia and Canada and Facebook has been paying up
to $20 million to some large publishers for content it includes in its news section. On top of
this, platforms now pay large sums to fact-checking organisations and news agencies around
the world, as well for innovation schemes and research. The upshot is that the news industry
continues to be unevenly and opaquely intertwined with big platforms in terms of both reach
and revenue. Even as critical coverage of the tech industry continues, the public may wonder
about the lack of transparency and the possible confli ts of interest.
What could happen this year?
rows Between platforms and puBlisHers Hot-up
Multi-year deals struck with publishers are starting to expire and Facebook’s parent company,
Meta, has reportedly said it will not be renewing current arrangements in the United States,
leaving some publishers with a revenue shortfall of tens of millions of dollars.
8
The tech giant
is looking to make cuts in the face of weakening advertising and has a range of other priorities
including investing in the metaverse. In the face of government pressure, it has threatened
to pull out from news altogether, which would up the temperature in what has often been a
fraught relationship with leading publishers. Meanwhile, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and TikTok
are all rapidly growing their advertising businesses, competing directly with news media, and it
7
https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/05/11/google-is-paying-more-than-300-eu-publishers-in-the-eu-for-news-with-more-
on-the-horizon
8
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-to-end-payments-to-u-s-news-publishers-11659019262
Most important revenue streams this year…
11
5%
6%
15%
18%
20%
26%
33%
38%
58%
75%
80%
Other*
Micropayment
Related businesses
Support from philanthropic funds/foundations
Donations (one off or recurring consumer donations)
E-commerce
Funding from platforms (content licensing or
Events
Native advertising
Display advertising
Subscription/membership (ongoing payments)
!"#$%&'(')%**+,-'#%.$,/*/-01'23&.%*'4+)#&+56#+/,1'76,4+,-'7/&'73.#.$%.8+,-1'./,#%,#')0,4+.3#+/,'93,4'265*+.'76,4+,-:'
Q4.
Which of the following digital revenue streams are likely to be important or very important for your company in 2023? - choose all that apply.
N=269 (excluding publicly funded public broadcasters)
Was 74%
in 2020
Was 81%
in 2020
Up on last year (+4)
Was 13% in 2020
innovation projects)
Was 12% in 2020
Was 75%
in 2020
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
14
is not at all clear that relations between publishers and these platforms will be any simpler than
between publishers and the ‘duopoly’.
9
puBlisHer alliances aim to turn tHe tide
News organisations have long complained about big platforms taking much of the revenue
but now the imminent demise of support for third-party cookies is threatening to make the
situation even worse. Privacy-related changes threaten to reduce ad revenue further in the
short term but are prompting publishers to start initiatives to collect their own (firs -party) data
that could be the basis for a more sustainable future. The Swiss OneLog system
10
is now used by
leading commercial publishers in the country including Ringier and TX media brands, as well as
the public service broadcaster SRG SSR. This already accounts for around a quarter of the Swiss
population with more growth to come.
Participating publishers say that ‘together we are stronger’ and that partnership can help
them compete with platforms for attention and advertising. Portuguese publishers have been
operating the Nonio common login for a few years and a similar approach is under way in the
Czech Republic (Czech Ad ID). Unified logins or ommon identifiers can also all w participating
publishers to share information about the browsing history of users – in an anonymous and
privacy-compliant way – which helps them serve better-targeted advertisements and content,
though that is not currently the plan for OneLog.
The Swiss OneLog system now has 2 million users
premium ads and cleaner weBsites
Expect more publishers to follow the lead of Bloomberg News in abandoning all programmatic
advertising (from January 2023) and focusing on direct sales. This ‘audience firs ’ approach is
recognition that excessive ad density and poor user experience has contributed to the problems
of the news industry by confusing users and undermining trust.
11
Another indication of the
shift to premium came with the historic GE takeover of the New York Times, a multichannel and
multimedia campaign with a price tag to match.
12
9
https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-media-trends-737bb42c-5331-4dc6-9d2a-5488fbe65321.html
10
https://onelog.ch/en/
11
https://www.bloombergmedia.com/press/shifting-to-an-audience-firs -mentality/
12
https://www.axios.com/2022/12/06/ge-new-york-times-advertising-entire-paper-edition
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JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
international growtH on tHe cards
With home markets drying up, more companies are looking to expand abroad. Britain’s biggest
news publisher, Reach, is preparing to launch websites in the United States for the Mirror and
Express, recruiting around 100 new local journalists in the process. It’s also launching the Irish
Star aimed at Irish Americans. This follows the success of the US Sun, owned by News UK which
has more than doubled its traffic in the United States in the l st year, and the Daily Mail which
runs substantial newsrooms in New York and Los Angeles. This is part of a wider international
trend where publishers such as Le Monde have also looked to acquire English readers as part of
its mission to double its subscriber base by 2025.
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
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3. Peak Internet and the Challenge of News Avoidance
After decades of continuous growth, we have started to see a decline in the amount of time
we are spending online, according to data from research agency GWI.
13
Overall time with the
internet is down by 13%, after record high usage during COVID-19 lockdowns, suggesting we
may have reached peak internet. This is a highly significant change that ould be a natural
function of market saturation but the agency suggests that it may also refle t the anxiety
people feel when using online and social media.
In terms of online news, it is hard to discern a clear picture. Around four-in-ten (42%),
publishers say year-on-year traffic to their ebsites is up, with 58% reporting that traffic has
been static or falling, despite a succession of important news stories from the Ukraine invasion,
to rising energy prices, climate change, and in the UK, the death of the Queen.
Over half of industry respondents say online trafc has been flat or declining
Q2. Compared with a year ago, has trafc to your online news site/apps gone up, gone down, or stayed the same? N=303.
In thinking about the reasons for flat or declining engagement the vast majority of publishers
(72%) are concerned about a trend highlighted in the 2022 Digital News Report where more
users are actively avoiding the news. Digital News Report data show that this selective
avoidance, often involving important stories such as politics, has doubled in some countries
since 2017, because many people feel that media coverage is overly negative, repetitive, hard to
trust, and leaves people feeling powerless.
Publishers are deeply worried about selective news avoidance
Q18. There is evidence that some audiences avoid some news topics because they feel overloaded or it makes them depressed.
How worried are you about the issue of news avoidance/fatigue? N=206.
Writing in the Washington Post, journalist Amanda Ripley calls for an approach that takes
into account how humans receive the news to a much greater extent. She calls for journalism
that explains the news better, gives people hope – and points to solutions rather than just
identifying problems.
14
13
https://www.gwi.com/hubfs/CTD%202022%20-%20videos%20and%20pdfs/PDFs/Connecting%20the%20dots%202022.pdf
14
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/08/how-to-fi -news-media/
14
Online traffic is rising for some but flat or falling for others
25% 33% 42%
Online traffic
Gone down Flat Gone up
58% static or falling
12% 16% 72%
News avoidance
Not worried
Neither/Nor Worried
!"#$%!"#$#%&'%#(&)#*+#%,"-,%'./#%-0)&#*+#'%-(.&)%*#1'%,.2&+'%'0+"%-'%*-,&.*-3%2.3&,&+'4%56$-&*#%-*)%73&/-,#%+"-*8#%9#+-0'#%,"#:%;##3%.(#$3.-)#)%.$%&,%
/-6#'%,"#/%)#2$#''#)<%=.1%1.$$&#)%-$#%:.0%-9.0,%,"#%&''0#%.;%*#1'%-(.&)-*+#>;-,&80#?%@ABCD
!&$%7./2-$#)%1&,"%-%:#-$%-8.4"-'%,$-;;&+%,.%:.0$%.*3&*#%*#1'%'&,#>-22'8.*#%024%8.*#%).1*%.$%',-:#)%,"#%'-/#?@AEFB
14
Online traffic is rising for some but flat or falling for others
25% 33% 42%
Online traffic
Gone down Flat Gone up
58% static or falling
12% 16% 72%
News avoidance
Not worried
Neither/Nor Worried
!"#$%!"#$#%&'%#(&)#*+#%,"-,%'./#%-0)&#*+#'%-(.&)%*#1'%,.2&+'%'0+"%-'%*-,&.*-3%2.3&,&+'4%56$-&*#%-*)%73&/-,#%+"-*8#%9#+-0'#%,"#:%;##3%.(#$3.-)#)%.$%&,%
/-6#'%,"#/%)#2$#''#)<%=.1%1.$$&#)%-$#%:.0%-9.0,%,"#%&''0#%.;%*#1'%-(.&)-*+#>;-,&80#?%@ABCD
!&$%7./2-$#)%1&,"%-%:#-$%-8.4"-'%,$-;;&+%,.%:.0$%.*3&*#%*#1'%'&,#>-22'8.*#%024%8.*#%).1*%.$%',-:#)%,"#%'-/#?@AEFB
17
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
In our survey we find almost uni ersal enthusiasm for explanatory journalism (94%) and
Q&A formats (87%) this year, but a greater degree of scepticism around ideas like ‘solutions
journalism’ (73%) – let alone moves to increase the number of positive stories (48%). This
debate is often seen as a zero-sum game but our research suggests that audiences want
journalists to continue to cover difficult stories and that th y also want more inspiration, a
broader agenda, and more fun.
Possible ways to counter news avoidance/fatigue
Proportion that say each is extremely or very important this year
Q19. The following is a list of approaches that some media companies are looking at to combat news avoidance/fatigue. How
important, if at all, does your company consider each of these initiatives to be this year? N=211.
Solutions and constructive journalism do seem to be picking up momentum with publishers. In
Germany three media companies, Deutsche Welle, RTL News, and Rheinische Post have joined
forces to create the Bonn Institute for Journalism and Constructive Dialogue with a mission
to promote more positive debates and take more notice of journalism’s social responsibility.
Meanwhile The Solutions Journalism Network has collected more than 14,000 examples of
solutions reporting from around the world. The BBC runs a portal called Uplifting Stories,
the Guardian has The Upside, but these stories rarely make front pages or become central to
editorial meetings. Optimist Daily, The Good News Network, and Positive News are just a few
examples of independent websites trying to redress the balance. Young people in particular
seem to be embracing these approaches, with independent creators such as sustainability
scientist Alaina Wood @garbagequeen attracting large audiences on TikTok for her positive
climate news round-ups.
15
Publishers deeply concerned about avoidance …
32%
48%
64%
65%
66%
73%
87%
94%
Other
Positive stories
Slow journalism
Broader agenda
Inspirational stories
Solutions/constructive journalism
Q&A formats (answering questions)
Explanatory journalism
Possible ways to counter these trends (extremely or very important this year)
Q19. The following is a list of approaches that some media companies are looking at to combat news avoidance/fatigue. How
important, if at all, does your company consider each of these initiatives to be this year? (N=211)
More scepticism
about these
approaches
Near universal
acceptance
of these
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
18
What could happen this year?
reasons to Be cHeerful
Publishers will be integrating features that allow people to see more (or less) positive
news. As part of its latest redesign, Pink News has included a mood control button as part of
personalisation options. The LGBTQ+ publisher says around 25% of readers said they would
prefer to read just uplifting news stories, in a recent survey. But for others it provides an option
to take a break from negative stories when they need it.
Uplifting news from Pink, Optimist Daily and Good Climate News from Alaina Wood
Human centred news
Elsewhere look out for initiatives that put human stories at the heart of the conversation. The
Human Journalism Network is a worldwide sharing platform for inspirational and high-impact
stories. By sharing these stories across countries and languages the founders hope to develop
more impact for less money at a time when on the ground reporting is under pressure. The
Network started in 2021 by sharing content across eight Latin American countries, but will
expand globally by early 2023, supported by the ICFJ, with content in English and Spanish.
more tools to Help audiences take control
The Cold Turkey is a cross-browser extension that can block specific eb pages, the entire
internet, or your computer for set periods of time. It can be used for any activity that causes
anxiety, not just news. Self-Control does a similar job for Mac users, while FocusMe reminds
you to take regular breaks and can also be used by parents to limit children’s gaming time or
web access. Forest turns the idea of self-control into a game with trees and plant flourishing
when you stay away from your phone. You can earn points to help plant real-world trees.
19
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
4. Step Change in News Media’s Coverage of the
Climate Emergency
The last year has seen another spate of extreme weather events across the globe, including
severe heatwaves in China, famines in Somalia and Ethiopia, wildfires in Cali ornia, and
drought across Europe – not to mention catastrophic flooding in akistan. The news media
are routinely criticised for covering these stories breathlessly, without joining up the wider
dots or following through on the lasting consequences. Others argue that the media have too
often treated climate as a discrete subject, rather than as an integral part of wider political and
economic decision-making.
Moves are afoot to change this with enhanced specialist teams, and new strategies for
sustainable journalism, according to our survey results (below). Around two-thirds of our
sample (63%) of news executives now rate their own coverage as good, even if many also admit
that engaging audiences with the often-depressing outlook for the planet can be a tough sell.
How publishers rate their own climate coverage
Q11. How would you rate how well your news organisation is currently covering climate change? N=265.
Changes that news organisations are making to improve coverage further
Q12. Which of the following, if any, have you done recently to improve your climate journalism? N=275.
Q11.
How would you rate how well your news organisation is currently covering climate change? N=243
How publishers rate climate change coverage
Two thirds think their own coverage is now good (up on last year)
11% 26% 63%
Bad
Neither nor
Good
20
What measures have you taken to improve climate coverage
17%
23%
30%
31%
33%
44%
49%
None of the above
Trained staff on climate reporting
Developed a climate strategy
Hired more staff to cover climate issues
Sustainability and carbon footprint goals
Measures to ensure climate considered by all beats
Created a climate team to raise profile
Q12. Which of the following, if any, have you done recently to improve your climate journalism? Select all that apply? (N=275)
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
20
In our survey half of respondents (49%) say that they have created a news climate team with
just under a third (31%) hiring more staff to cover different aspects of the crisis. Amongst
these are National Public Radio and the Washington Post, which announced in November 2022
that it would be tripling the size of its climate team to 30 people. Enhanced coverage includes
Climate Lab, a section that uses data and graphics to show the impact of global heating, a
climate advice columnist, and consumer guides to help consumers navigate choices about how
to live sustainable lives. There’s also a new part of the website focusing on solutions, including
potential technological breakthroughs. Many other publishers have launched podcasts and
newsletters this year.
Three in ten (30%) say they have developed a strategy to improve climate coverage. One
example comes from the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK which aims to do more than just
explain the science. It also plans to engage audiences with humour and heart and to ensure
that there is real accountability for pledges made by politicians, businesses, and environmental
organisations.
15
Meanwhile The News Movement (TNM), a start-up aimed at creating content
for younger audiences, is building content around the idea of a ‘Better Planet’, bringing
together climate, biodiversity, solutions/innovation, and the impact of food and diet. This
approach came out of detailed audience research into the subjects that interested the
target group.
A third of news executives (33%) also say they have taken steps in the last year to improve
sustainability. Schibsted, for example, has been working to reduce the carbon footprint of its
reporting and production and this is backed up by an annual sustainability report with a
dedicated unit working on these issues across the company. Around a quarter of our survey
respondents (23%) say they have embarked on training programmes to increase awareness, with
more than four in ten (44%) recognising that elements of the climate story need to be part of
wider coverage across the newsroom. In Austria, publishers recently got together to create a set
of guidelines for newsrooms including the accurate use of language, coverage of solutions as
well as problems, separation of fact and opinion, and the creation of resources and structures to
support better coverage across disciplines.
16
Cross-country communities are being developed,
including our own Oxford Climate Journalism Network (OCJN) to share best practice.
17
15
Forthcoming EU Report, Climate Journalism that Works.
16
https://www.klimajournalismus.at/neues-vom-netzwerk/ein-klima-kodex-fuer-eine-angemessene-klimaberichterstattung-in-
oesterreich/
17
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/oxford-climate-journalism-network
21
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
5. Tech Platforms Suffer from Overreach, Hubris, and
New Competition
Twitter laid off three-quarters of its workforce and alienated its biggest advertisers this
year. Meta’s stock fell by about two-thirds (66%), with some staff complaining that Mark
Zuckerberg’s obsession with the metaverse was in danger of killing the company. Few could
have imagined such seismic developments just a year ago but Big Tech has suffered a series of
reverses linked to a slowdown in digital advertising, privacy changes on Apple’s iOS platform,
and falling consumer interest in many of their products. For younger users in particular, we find
clear evidence that firs -generation social networks are losing their appeal in favour of fun-
filled apps li e TikTok (see chart below right).
Facebook share falls Jan 2022–Dec 2022 Facebook reach falls with U25s 2017–2022
Aggregate data from 46 markets.
Source: Nasdaq (accessed via Google). Q12a. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the
last week for any purpose? Base: 2017–22: 18–24s ≈
11500. Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022.
The dramatic rise of TikTok, which is owned by Chinese media giant ByteDance and has around
one billion regular users, is not just existentially worrying for Facebook, which has seen its user
base shrink and age by fi e years at the same time. Google is already seeing some of its lucrative
search traffic peel awa , with ad revenue well below market expectations.
18
Amazon also fears
TikTok’s potential as a shopping and payment platform.
Meanwhile Elon Musk has alienated journalists and many others with his unpredictable
behaviour following his $44bn takeover of Twitter. Concerns have mounted over the sacking of
staff responsible for platform integrity, the suspension of critical journalists from the platform,
and the flip-flopping ver the role of blue ticks for verified sour es. ‘It seems Elon lacks media
literacy, has taken a turn for the conspiratorial right, and – at worse – is driving Twitter into the
ground to become a backwater which advertisers are rightly scared of,’ says Tom Grundy, Editor-
in-Chief and founder of the Hong Kong Free Press.
18
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/25/alphabet-google-third-quarter-revenue-report
23
Facebook share falls Jan 2022-Dec 2022 Facebook reach falls with U25s 2017-2022
AGGREGATE DATA FROM 46 MARKETS
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
22
One research group has predicted that Twitter will lose more than 30 million users in the next
few years if the experience worsens.
19
Against this background it is not surprising to see publishers in our survey saying they will be
putting less effort into both Facebook (-30 net score) and Twitter (net score -28) and much
more effort into TikTok (+63 net score) – that represents a 19-point increase compared
with last year.
Publishers will be putting more effort into TikTok and less into Facebook and Twitter
Q9. When it comes to distribution and engagement via third-party platforms, will you be putting more or less effort into the
following platforms in the coming year. Note: Numbers shown represent those who say they will put more effort, minus those who
say they will put less effort. N=275.
These data suggest that publishers will be prioritising video platforms like TikTok and YouTube
this year amid evidence that these are good ways to engage younger users. A recent Reuters
Institute report shows that around half (49%) of top publishers across dozens of countries
are now active on TikTok, despite concerns about Chinese ownership and the security of
user data.
20
Journalists remain ambivalent about Elon Musk’s Twitter
Despite their reservations about Elon Musk, many journalists find it hard to ontemplate a
future without Twitter. It remains a one-stop shop for real-time news, as well as a good way to
keep in touch with specialist sources, and to promote personal brands. Overall, the majority of
our respondents (51%) say it would be bad for journalism if Twitter were to implode. ‘Twitter
has brought many benefits to journalism in finding storie getting testimonies and accessing
information,’ points out Clara Jiménez Cruz from the fact-checking site Maldita.es. Others
19
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/13/twitter-lose-users-elon-musk-takeover-hate-speech
20
How Publishers are Learning to Create and Distribute News on TikTok, Reuters Institute, December 2022: https://reutersinstitute.
politics.ox.ac.uk/how-publishers-are-learning-create-and-distribute-news-tiktok
-30
-28
0
6
8
14
47
50
52
63
More effort in TikTok and less in Facebook/Twitter
25
TikTok
Instagram
Google other (AMP, Showcase)
Facebook
0
40
60
20
-40 -20
Net: MoreNet: Less
Twitter
Twitch
YouTube
Google Search
Apple News
Snapchat
+19
+5
-23
-22
23
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
stress its historic role in giving space to alternative sources of news: ‘In my country Twitter
is an important space of freedom to reach audiences that don’t have another source of
information,’ says Luz Mely Reyes, General Director at the independent Venezuelan outlet
Efecto Cocuyo, who runs a successful streaming show on Twitter.
By contrast, around one in fi e (17%) think it would be good for journalism, with some
respondents suggesting that far too much time is currently spent listening to unrepresentative
elites: ‘In Ecuador journalists waste too much time on Twitter,’ says Isabela Ponce, Chief Editor
at GK.City. ‘Audiences think reporting things on the platform is journalism and it is not,’
she says.
If Twitter disappeared it would leave a big hole for most journalists
Q9. If Twitter were to disappear entirely, do you think this would be good or bad for journalism? N=283.
Others feel that, while Twitter has become a key tool for journalists, it has also reduced traffic
to mainstream websites, contributed to the spread of misinformation, and polluted debates:
‘The culture of Twitter – thoughtless outrage – has spread to media, making it more shrill,’
argues Edward Roussel Head of Digital at The Times and The Sunday Times. ‘I will miss it
on a personal level, but I think it would actually strengthen serious journalism,’ says Peter
Wolodarski, Editor-in-Chief at Dagens Nyheter in Sweden.
In our survey, few respondents could see an obvious replacement. Some have migrated to
Mastodon, but most describe an empty and fragmented experience. When forced to make
a choice, four in ten (42%) selected LinkedIn, a network that has invested in more editorial
staff and new features to drive news conversation on the platform in recent years.
21
Beyond
that, respondents say they might mix different platforms for discovery and distribution but
there is no one-stop shop: ‘There is no replacement for the “old” Twitter. The idea was genius.
Mastodon is not a replacement,’ says Wolfgang Vichtl, Chief Correspondent at ARD in Germany.
This year we’re likely to see the emergence of a few Twitter alternatives. Many will be watching
Post, a network created by former Waze CEO Noam Bardin. Still in beta mode, it has pledged
to create a space for ‘civil conversations’ and is hoping to bring premium publishers onto the
platform with some kind of micropayment system.
22
21
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/linkedin-news-editors-journalists-team/
22
https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/11/post-the-latest-twitter-alternative-is-betting-big-on-micropayments-for-news/
Q9.
!"#$%&''()#%()(#'*#+&,-..(-)#(/'&)(012#+*#1*3#'4&/5#'4&,#%*30+#6(7#8#N=283
If Twitter disappeared it would leave a big hole
32% 17% 51%
Don't know Good for journalism Bad for journalism
2023 will be one of continued changes to the relationship with the
social platforms, particularly Twitter. As media, we are going to have
to decide what exactly our relationship with Elon Musk’s
Twitter should be.
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
24
Where might journalists go after Twitter?
Q10. If Twitter disappeared, which network would you be most likely to use professionally instead for accessing information,
building your prole and or distributing content? Choose one of the following .... N=288.
For many the chaos at Twitter in the last few months is an illustration that current social media
models are broken and that debate in the public sphere should not be subject to the whims of a
few billionaires in Silicon Valley. Some are even asking if the era of mass social media is over.
23
Connecting the world in one town square seemed like a good idea at the time, but people have
been drifting away for some time to private or semi-private communities where conversations
are less toxic and more meaningful. Community-building tools like Discord are part of that
trend as is Mastodon. Ethan Zuckerman, Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts
has been making the case for smaller, decentralised networks, that have the user’s interests at
heart.
24
He and his team at MIT have experimented in the past with a browser extension that
gives users more control over their feeds from multiple networks and we’re likely to see more
discussion of these ideas in the coming year.
What else could happen this year in platforms?
faceBook completes its Break-up witH news
Facebook is reorientating itself towards mobile entertainment and commerce – and even
further away from news this year – as it looks to revitalise engagement on the platform. Human
curation of Facebook News has already been pulled, Instant Articles are set to be withdrawn in
April 2023, and a number of those recently made redundant were in the Facebook Journalism
Project or in the news partnerships team. Few would be surprised to see the News tab disappear
entirely in the next few years. Facebook says that less than 3% of what people see in their
feed are posts with links to news and that it doesn’t make sense to invest in areas that don’t
align with user preferences. The cost of doing business with the news industry may be another
factor: ‘In many markets, the complexity of our partnerships is growing because of government
regulation around news,’ wrote Meta’s Campbell Brown when explaining the company’s pivot
toward digital creators and short-form video.
25
23
https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/the-internet-wants-to-be-fragmented
24
https://www.sciencespo.fr/en/news/ethan-zuckerman-at-sciences-po
25
https://www.inma.org/blogs/Digital-Platform-Initiative/post.cfm/meta-speeds-its-exit-from-news-media-partnerships
27Q10. If Twitter disappeared, which network would you be most likely to use professionally instead for accessing information, building your profile and or distributing content?
Chose one of the following .... N=288
Where would journalists go instead of Twitter?
3%
3%
4%
5%
7%
9%
10%
42%
Telegram
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
Facebook
A new network
Mastodon
LinkedIn
Emerging
networks like
Post and Hive
are mentioned
by some
25
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
a year of social searcH?
A Google executive recently revealed that 40% of young people now go to Instagram or TikTok,
rather than use their own search or maps products when they are looking for a place to eat.
26
Instagram searches are geared to help people to stay updated on trends as well as travel and
fashion, while Snapchat’s Maps are optimised for local business. This shift is also happening
in the news, as younger users turn to using social discovery features such as hashtags and
collections – as well as search itself – to find out about the latest d velopments in Ukraine.
The example below (left) shows how poorly represented mainstream media are in these results
so a key focus for publishers will be to better optimise news and explainer content for these
environments. Clearer branding may also be needed to ensure that reliable publisher content
stands out in these result sets.
tiktok starts to look more like otHer social networks
TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed, which surfaces the most entertaining (and informative) content from
across the network, has been a key differentiator during its growth phase but now it is planning
to add features that allow closer connection with friends. TikTok Now captures what you are
doing at a particular moment using your phone’s back and front camera – essentially a direct
copy of functionality of the Be Real app. TikTok is also expanding the length of its videos and
considering support for landscape aspect ratios
27
to compete with YouTube and open up more
advertising possibilities for creators.
26
https://mashable.com/article/gen-z-tiktok-search-engine-google
27
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63981657
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
26
TikTok Now is one of a number of social features that aim to drive more creativity
increased regulatory pressure on tiktok
As the network’s influen e grows, we’ll see more government and public scrutiny of its
algorithms and impact on society. Recent research by Newsguard suggests that new users
were typically exposed to misinformation about the war in Ukraine within 40 minutes of
using the platform.
28
TikTok has also struggled to deal with the volume of misleading election
content in the last year, including those in Germany, Brazil, and the Philippines.
29
Partly in
response to these critiques, TikTok has set up election hubs containing official and erified
sources, increased moderation, and labelled some news outlets as ‘state sponsored’. Beyond
misinformation, we can expect more attention on the amount of data TikTok collects and
whether Chinese authorities have access to it
30
– especially if geopolitical tensions deteriorate
further. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of media group Axel Springer, has called for all democracies to
ban the app, and several Republican politicians in the United States have made a similar case.
India has already banned TikTok for its 200 million internet users over security concerns and
the UK parliament recently shut down its account.
platform regulation Begins to Bite
The introduction of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) this year in
the European Union will put new limits around the activities of the biggest tech companies on
issues ranging from harmful content to unfair competition. Full implementation will take many
years but early test cases in the courts should set the tone and the hefty potential penalties
involved will make Elon Musk think as he contemplates pushing Twitter towards more edgy
speech. By contrast the UK has watered down proposals in its upcoming Online Safety Bill
to force tech giants to remove content that is ‘legal but harmful’ from their platforms after
campaigners and lawmakers raised concerns that the move could curtail free speech.
Elsewhere, legislation that constrains what can be said in social media is already on the statute
books in many countries, including authoritarian states and those where democracy is fragile.
In our survey over half of our respondents said they were worried about the implications,
including for journalism.
28
https://www.newsguardtech.com/misinformation-monitor/march-2022/
29
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/14/business/media/on-tiktok-election-misinformation.html
30
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/07/tiktoks-china-bytedance-data-concerns
27
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Concern that legislation could be used to stifle free speech this year
Q7. How worried, or not, are you about the possible implications for free speech from platform regulation and/or government
intervention? N=287.
All eyes this year will be on India, where new rules will give government control over the
content moderation decisions that social media companies make for the first time
31
Critics
argue that this will incentivise platforms to remove or suppress any speech unpalatable to the
government, or those exerting political pressure. Platform companies’ content moderation
policies and their practical enforcement have already led to instances where the work of
journalists have been restricted in problematic ways.
32
31
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/28/in-india-govt-now-has-power-over-social-media-content-moderation
32
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/how-respond-disinformation-while-protecting-free-speech
RISJ Digital News Report 2018 30
2% 14% 30% 54%
Don't know Not at all Not so much Worried (a lot or somewhat)
Q7
. How worried, or not, are you about the possible implications for free speech from platform regulation and/or government
intervention? N=287
How worried are you about regulation and free speech
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
28
6. Format Innovation: The Shift to Audio and
Video Continues
One of the underlying megatrends in digital has been the explosion of formats and channels
that publishers can use to reach consumers. Owned and operated websites are now only one of
many ways of engaging audiences. Better data connections have opened up possibilities beyond
just text and pictures and smartphone adoption has accelerated the use of visual journalism,
vertical video, and podcasts.
In our survey, the majority of publishers say that they will be focusing on podcasts and other
digital audio (72%), email newsletters (69%), and digital video (67%) this year. Interest in
short-form video production has grown (+4pp) partly in response to the changing social media
strategies detailed in the previous section. By contrast there is less interest in developing
applications for the metaverse or for voice assistants, where journalism ‘use cases’ have proved
hard to identify.
Where publishers will be putting more resources this year
Q14. Thinking beyond traditional websites, in which of the following, if any, are you planning to invest more resources in 2023?
Select all that apply. N=286.
Amid the unpredictability of social media, most publishers see investing in podcasts and
newsletters as the best way to build a deeper connection with audiences and to encourage
them to come back more frequently. With an overload of general news content, publishers are
increasingly looking to develop more unique or specialist content that can be bundled with
existing subscriptions (as we found earlier) or can be charged for separately. In both cases we
are starting to see a more strategic ‘portfolio approach’ emerging with a focus on personality
hosts, intelligent curation, and a lighter tone. Examples include the Due Diligence Newsletter
from the Financial Times which looks at the latest dealmaking, and the HotPod newsletter from
Vox Media which looks at the business of podcasting. Other publishers are looking to build
cross-platform franchises such as Tortoise Media’s Sensemaker, which is available in both
Where will publishers be putting more resource this year?
32
2%
5%
7%
52%
67%
69%
72%
None of the above/Don't know
Applications for the metaverse (AR/VR)
Applications for voice platforms (Alexa, Google
Assistant, Siri etc)
Visual journalism (data viz etc)
Digital video (live, short form, longer
documentaries)
Email newsletters
Podcasts and other digital audio
!"#$%%&'"(# )'*+#*+%#,-./,*.#-01%2*'3%45#&-62/4*4#/"6#-*+%7#/86'-#4%%"#/4#3%7.#'9&-7*/"*#/,-"(#)'*+#
%9/',##/"6#6'('*/,#3'6%-#*--
Q14. Thinking beyond traditional websites, which of the following, if any, are you planning to invest more resource on in 2022?
Select all that apply N=286
+4
-8
-7
-3
29
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
newsletter and podcast formats. Publishers like Tortoise Media have pivoted to a newsletter
and audio focus and say that these have helped them bring in significant numbers of
new members.
33
What else might happen this year in digital audio?
‘reporter reads’ get a Human voice But is it tHe real tHing?
The New York Times is due to launch its new audio product early in 2023 and this will include
a significant upgrade on the idea of ‘reporter reads’. Each story starts with a personal intro
from the reporter themselves with some biographical material and then a lightly illustrated
treatment that may include some sound design or illustrated clips. This human approach
doesn’t scale easily, but is a response to disappointing results from stories read by synthetic
voices on many publisher sites and across many non-English languages.
But artificial intelligen e (AI) voices are getting smarter and it is now possible to clone a
journalist’s voice with extraordinary accuracy. Aftenposten, one of Norway’s largest news
publications, recently cloned the voice of its podcast host using AI technology while News24
in South Africa has also trained its systems with the voice of a popular actor for its news and
feature stories.
34
Human approach from NYT audio Cloned voice from News24 Read articles sold as a
subscription benet
Subscription publishers consistently tell us that those that consume audio are amongst their
most loyal customers and spend more time with their products.
will advertisements spoil tHe podcast experience?
We may have reached saturation point in terms of the number of podcasts, but not in terms of
revenue. Ad revenues in the US are set to double to $4bn by 2024, according to the Interactive
33
https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/weve-debunked-the-myth-that-younger-people-arent-prepared-to-pay-for-news-content-
how-tortoise-is-using-podcast-subscriptions-to-attract-new-audiences/
34
https://beyondwords.io/voices/
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
30
Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
35
This is mostly related to better ad tech
rather than higher listening figures Most ads in the US are now dynamically inserted and can
be targeted at different ages, genders, and locations as well as content types. In the UK some of
the biggest news podcasts, such as The News Agents with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, and The
Rest is Politics with Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell, should also be able to capitalise on
these trends but there is a danger that growing ad density and a less personal approach could
damage the podcast experience. Expect to see premium ‘ad-free’ options becoming a standard
part of podcast offers this year.
What else might happen this year in newsletters?
local newsletters Boon
Newsletters don’t require constant updates and off-the-shelf tools such as Substack can help
entrepreneurs to create content and make money with a few clicks. These low-cost models have
provided a blueprint for how local media could develop in the future. In the United States, 6AM
City and Axios Local have pioneered this approach, with 6AM City reaching around 1 million
subscribers across more than 20 cities, with expected revenue of more than $10m in 2022.
36
In
the UK, independent local news outlets the Manchester Mill, Liverpool Post, and Shefeld Tribune
have all reported encouraging growth in the number of paying email newsletter subscribers.
Traditional outlets are getting in on the act too, with regional publisher Reach setting up an
Email Innovation Lab with the help of Google funding. This will experiment with passion-
based newsletters centred on communities of interest around Bristol and new borough-based
newsletters in parts of London.
6AM City now reaches 1 million subscribers in more than 20 cities
35
https://www.iab.com/insights/u-s-podcast-advertising-revenue-report-fy-2021-results-2022-2024-growth-projections/
36
https://voices.media/theres-hope-again-for-local-news-as-innovative-start-ups-find-thei -feet/
31
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
platform newsletter cHoices narrow
Twitter has discontinued its newsletter product Revue and Facebook is also shutting Bulletin,
but one alternative gaining traction is LinkedIn. The platform makes it easy to sign up brand
loyalists and integrates comments and other useful features. The BBC’s Worklife 101 brand is an
obvious fit and has almost 1.8m subscribers along with business- ocused publications such as
Forbes. The French daily L’Opinion has also been experimenting with daily news headlines.
37
LinkedIn Newsletters connect with professional users
37
https://www.twipemobile.com/peak-newsletter-is-a-false-alarm-82-of-publishers-to-launch-extra-newsletters
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
32
7. Product Direction is Clear but Frustration Remains Over
Pace of Change
A few years ago, we detected in this report significant tension bet een editorial, business,
and product functions, as well as a lack of understanding about the role of product in a news
organisation. But things are starting to change, with more confiden e that the right products
are being developed (54% agree), a clear process for improving and optimising existing products
(54%), and a culture of learning from mistakes (52%).
But there is less satisfaction that products and features are being developed quickly enough –
just 41% feel their company does a good job in this respect. Even fewer (23%) feel news
organisations are good at shutting down old products that have less value, which tends to slow
down progress elsewhere. This is in sharp contrast with tech companies like Meta and Twitter
that ruthlessly kill features that aren’t working, as we saw in the previous section.
How good are news organisations at different product tasks?
Q15. When it comes to product development, how good or bad is your news organisation at the following ...? N=286.
The Financial Times is one organisation that is trying to speed up the product development
process. FT Edit, a curated selection of some of the best features, is the first n w product that
the title has launched in a decade and represents the start of a more experimental phase where
new ideas will be launched and tested with real users much more often.
38
Another example of a product that has been spun up using agile techniques is the Washington
Post’s Newsprint, a personalised review of the journalism consumed in the previous year.
Inspired by Spotify’s highly successful Wrapped feature, which fills timelines at the end of
each year, the product team pivoted the idea towards providing insights on the reader’s
personality after initial feedback showed they were less interested in looking back at what
they’d already read.
39
38
https://pressgazette.co.uk/news/financial-times-launches-99p-app- t-edit-to-show-off-a-little-bit-more-to-non-core-
audiences/
39
https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/11/the-washington-post-launches-a-year-in-news-a-la-spotify-wrapped/
How good are news organisations at different
product tasks …
RISJ Digital News Report 2018 35
16%
23%
41%
52%
54%
54%
None of the above
Killing old products that have less value
Developing new products or features quickly
Learning from product mistakes
Improving and iterating existing products
Developing the right products
Q15.
When it comes to product development, How good or bad is your news organisation at the following. N=286
33
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Examples of iterative product development from the Washington Post and FT
For some, the biggest barrier to achieving more speed is retaining technical and product staff,
given the competitive nature of the sector. But overall, we detect a much more audience-
focused approach to product development this year. Instructions from senior managers to
‘just build it’ have been replaced by processes that identify ‘the problem this solves, and for
whom’, according to one senior product director at a leading UK publisher. Even so, these more
evidence-based approaches can often add time and continue to create tension: ‘There’s still
a divide between editorial and product staff which is our greatest barrier to achieving
more speed and working together on tough priorities,’ says a digital leader from a
European public broadcaster.
‘Audience needs’ models help focus development
Another key trend is the way in which product and editorial teams have been embracing ‘user
needs’ models and ‘jobs to be done’ methodologies to help identify opportunities. These
processes ask searching questions about what role publisher products can play in a world of
abundant media choices. They drill down, for example, into specific problems that audien es
have and think about different ways these could be solved. When introduced at the BBC a few
years ago,
40
the resulting audience models led to commissioning of more content that explained
complex events and inspired people and less news that just kept people up to date. These
approaches are in some way a response to the challenges around news avoidance we discussed
in Section 3, which is one of the reasons that they are resonating with publishers such as the
New York Times on both the content and product side. Brought to life in this unofficial user
needs map by consultant Dmitry Shishkin,
41
it is easy to see how recent acquisitions like
Wordle and The Athletic have been shaped by this type of thinking.
40
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/user-needs-content-publishing-slide-started-all-fi e-years-shishkin/
41
Interpreted by Dmitry Shishkin from New York Times investment deck slides 83 and 84. https://nytco-assets.nytimes.
com/2022/06/NYT-Investor-Day-2022-Presentation-mC05z.pdf
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
34
Unofcial user needs model of the New York Times
Similar experiments have been developed by other publishers including Conde Nast, Vox, The
Atlantic, and Globo in Brazil, with content often tagged in CMS systems to allow continuous
measurement of how different content types are performing.
42
This year we can expect
more examples of user needs models driving new product development, not just
content commissioning.
42
https://wan-ifra.org/2022/08/3-key-questions-about-news-needs-your-content-strategy-and-value-proposition/
35
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
8. Breakthrough Year for Artificial Intelligen e and its
Application for Journalism
AI chatbots have been widely and justifiably moc ed in recent years,
43
but the arrival of
ChatGPT, from OpenAI, has transformed the debate. Its speed and capabilities are awe-
inspiring and frightening at the same time. While the underlying models have been around for
some time, ChatGPT has turned these into an accessible prototype that gives a real sense of
where AI may be heading. It can tell jokes (but has been trained not to tell racist or sexist ones),
come up with plots for a film or book write computer code, and even summarise the challenges
facing local journalism in a few sentences (below).
Some view ChatGPT as one of the biggest technological advances since the invention of the
internet and is part of a wider trend called ‘generative AI’ that enables computers to create not
just words but also pictures, videos, and even virtual worlds from just a few text prompts.
Here is an image of a journalist, in the style of a Raymond Chandler novel, filing a sto y from a
Pacific Beach using a la top – created in seconds using the AI tool MidJourney.
Journalist les a story from the beach with a cocktail: Rendered by MidJourney
43
https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
36
The key point is that generative AI enables computers not just to make existing processes more
efficient but use a range of existing assets to create something new. For the journalist in
that Raymond Chandler novel, this raises existential questions but also opens up a range of
new possibilities.
This year we’ll start to see more of these tools being opened up to creators, journalists, and
others, allowing us to create new versions of ourselves, of others, and the world around us.
Lensa is an app that allows you to magic avatars of yourself and remove unwanted objects from
any picture with ‘no skills required’. These apps have already been criticised for stealing from
artists, using predatory data-sharing practices, and promoting sexualised stereotypes, but that
won’t stop them taking over social media timelines this year.
Magic avatars will take over social media timelines this year
Left: The author in different guises (Lensa), Right: Example images from another AI Art app (Facetune)
The implications for journalism are not entirely clear but tools like MidJourney and DALL-E
are already being used to create illustrative art for articles and blog posts. More ambitiously,
Semafor, the recently launched US start-up, has created several videos under a Witness
strand where personal testimonies from Ukraine are powerfully illustrated by AI animations
in the absence of real footage. But similar deep learning models can also be used to create
propaganda, notably a ‘deep fake’ of President Zelensky telling Ukrainian citizens to lay down
their arms soon after the Russian Invasion (below right).
Semafor has used AI to animate the Ukraine war, but similar tech can be used for deep fakes
All this is likely to lead to an explosion of automated or semi-automated media in the next few
years – for good or ill (the research firm Gartner estimates it will a count for 25% of all internet
data). It will be easier than ever to create ‘good looking’ and highly plausible multimedia
content, but it will also be harder than ever to separate what is real from what is fake,
misleading, or doctored.
37
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Other ways in which AI is being used in news organisations
In our survey, news executives talk about different ways in which they are using AI technologies
such as Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to make existing
production processes more efficient: ‘Summaries, text to speech, and image recognition leading
to automated tagging and subtitles’, are some of the examples mentioned by Mathieu Halkes,
Head of Product at Schibsted. ‘[There are] more and more use cases we see and apply every day’,
he says.
AI transcription tools are now routine in newsrooms, with Danish digital-born outlet Zetland
developing a speech to text transcription service aimed specifically at journalists and designed
to work with smaller languages that big corporate products have failed to support. Good Tape
is built on top of OpenAI technology and is currently free to use. Meanwhile, in Finland, the
public broadcaster Yle has been able to start a service for Ukrainian refugees with news being
automatically translated by machine before being checked by a native speaker.
44
During the
pandemic, Yle was also able to provide information in Somali, Arabic, Kurdish, and Persian.
Others hope that AI can help deliver better personalisation and improve content
recommendations to help increase engagement. The Sophi tool was developed by the Globe
and Mail in Canada, where it has automated the vast majority of its web homepages, allowing
editors’ time to be used more productively and driving a 17% increase in click-through rates.
The product is now being offered to other publishers. AI-driven tools like Sophi are also used to
manage social distribution tasks such as headline optimisation and the best time to post.
When it comes to recommendations, around a quarter (23%) of our respondents say they are
now using AI regularly, with 5% of early adopters making it a big part of what they do.
Most publishers are experimenting with articial intelligence for recommendation
Q16. To what extent are you currently using AI (Articial intelligence) to drive story selection/recommendations on your website
and app? N=285.
Sophi automates homepages, Yle in new languages, and Zetland offers transcription
44
https://yle.fi/aihe/a/20-1000275
Q16.
Do what extent are you currently using AI (Articial intelligence) to drive story selection/recommendations on your website and
app? N=285
How are people using AI for recommendations
5% 27% 39% 23% 5%
!" #!" $!" %!" &!" '!" (!" )!" *!" +!" #!!"
Don't know Not using right now Just a few experiments Use it quite a bit Big part of what we do
67% are using AI to some extent for recommendations
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
38
The Newsroom is a start-up (still in beta) which uses AI to automatically identify and write
summaries of the top news stories of the day, as well as summarising background context and
providing links to related stories that are clustered by political perspectives. Although AI does
the heavy lifting, all copy is checked and if necessary modified y a journalist.
The Newsroom – stories written by AI but checked by humans with automated context
The debates over automation in journalism are not straightforward. Many welcome the
capability to make non-journalistic tasks more efficient but at the same time worry that
cheaply produced synthetic media and semi-automated content could further commoditise
news and undermine trust. One respondent from a leading quality news company argues that in
these circumstances human curation becomes an even more important differentiator. ‘We want
to apply AI fundamentally to enhance manual curation not to replace it. All our work in this
area is rooted in an understanding of the value manual curation brings to our readers and how
it differentiates us from platforms with a host of problems around automation and curation.’
What else might happen this year in AI and journalism?
Broadcast companies emBrace virtual presenters
Deep Brain AI, a technology company based in South Korea, creates digital copies – or digital
twins – of popular TV news anchors and these now make regular appearances on mainstream
channels in Asia. MBN and Arirang in Korea and BTV and CCTV in China are using the
technology to help save costs and enhance the presence of the most popular presenters. The
company is now looking for customers in the United States where TV companies are under
pressure to do more with less. One likely ‘use case’ is for on-demand weather, where an AI
model can be created of a popular forecaster including their favourite phrases and expressions,
and then updated videos can be created for any location whenever the underlying data change.
These models can also be combined with ChatGPT functionality to create a virtual chat bot
answering questions about an election, for example, by a political correspondent’s digital twin.
39
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Virtual anchors coming to a screen near you?
Pictures: Deep Brain AI
deBate over regulation of ai Hots up
As these opportunities become more real, so do the ethical and regulatory dilemmas. Deep
fakes have already been used to create non-consensual pornography, commit fraud, and fuel
disinformation campaigns. Discussion about regulation is ongoing, and the EU is proposing
an AI Act that would ban ‘unacceptable’ uses of applications that violate people’s fundamental
rights and safety – even if in practice these will be hard to identify and enforce. In the
meantime, journalism could take the lead in making its use of AI more transparent. We can
expect more publishers to publish ethical guidelines covering the key areas which range from
photo-improvement or manipulation to transparency and copyright. Open AI is working on
digital watermarking responses and better labelling that could also help build trust in positive
uses of these technologies.
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
40
9. Conclusion
The prevailing mood in the news industry is one of uncertainty and some concern about what
the next year might have in store. The economic indicators do not look good, with rapidly rising
costs and a squeeze on household spending expected to continue for some time. Issues such
as news avoidance and news fatigue are widespread at the same time as some social platforms
seem to be imploding or turning away from news, and emerging platforms seem largely
uninterested in it – making it even harder to attract new customers.
Companies that have already completed their digital transition and have a robust subscription
businesses or diversified r venue remain in the best position to ride out the storm, but those
that are over-reliant on print or advertising have a tough few years ahead. In many parts of the
world, this economic weakness will make some news organisations even more dependent on
government advertising or well-connected proprietors, undermining their ability to hold the
rich and powerful to account. Elsewhere we can expect extensive layoffs as well as a spate of
mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships as industry tries to cut costs and bundle value in new
ways. Industry consolidation sometimes creates more problems than it solves, but at its most
effective, we’ll find ompanies looking to run portfolios of distinctive and complementary
brands with a greater focus on specific audien e needs and segments.
These shocks may also open up more radical thinking about the way news can be created and
what a digital news organisation should look like. Lower cost models are emerging centred
around distributed newsrooms and tools, helping to fill in gaps in local n ws provision for
example. Some entrepreneurial journalists and news creators are pivoting to newsletters and
podcasts, which enable deeper connection with specific audien es without the overheads that
weigh down many traditional news organisations, but these are largely additional services that
benefit those already interested in n ws.
Younger audience behaviours such as social search and vertical video are also helping to
upset the old order in Silicon Valley. Together with the unpredictability of Elon Musk, this has
reminded us that it would be a mistake to take these platforms for granted. Tech companies
remain focused on how they can respond to TikTok and the creativity it has unleashed along
with the threat to their business models. Long-standing platform companies including Amazon,
Apple, and Microsoft are all focused on growing their advertising business. Concerns about the
news industry are likely to take a low priority.
At the same time, we are on the cusp of a new wave of disruption as artificial intelligen e
technologies start to impact on the real world, driving greater efficiency and automation on the
one hand, but also enabling content to be remixed in surprising and unpredictable ways. This
will help media companies do more with less, as well as open up opportunities in the creation
and distribution of smarter content. But it will also bring new dilemmas about how these
powerful technologies can be used in an ethical and transparent way.
41
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Some media companies are still on a journey to become more digital, but that increasingly
feels like yesterday’s debate. The next few years will be defined more y how we can transform
our digital content into something that feels more relevant and more useful to different
groups. In this process new technologies can be our ally in tailoring content more precisely to
different audience needs. But at the same time, journalism will need to emphasise its human
qualities and its track record of delivering trusted content if it is to stand out from the flood of
automated and synthetic media that threatens to overwhelm internet audiences.
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
42
Survey Methodology
303 people completed a closed survey in November and December 2022. Participants, drawn
from 53 countries and territories, were invited because they held senior positions (editorial,
commercial, or product) in traditional or digital-born publishing companies and were
responsible for aspects of digital or wider media strategy. The results refle t this strategic
sample of select industry leaders, not a representative sample. Typical job titles included
Editor-in-Chief/Executive Editor, CEO, Managing Director, Head of Digital, Director of Product,
and Head of Innovation. Over half of participants were from organisations with a print
background (53%), around a quarter (24%) represented digital-born media, a fi th (20%) came
from commercial or public service broadcasters, and a further 3% came from B2B companies or
news agencies. These proportions are similar to previous surveys.
Survey Country Mix (%) Survey Job Titles (No.)
Base = 303 Digital Leaders surveyed, 53 countries and territories, 24 November – 16 December 2022
The 53 countries and territories represented in the survey included Australia, New Zealand,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa,
Zimbabwe, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Uruguay Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and
Russia, but the majority came from the UK, US, or European countries such Germany, Spain,
France, Austria, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands as well as Poland, Hungary,
Slovakia, Latvia, and Ukraine amongst others.
Participants filled out an online su vey with specific questions around strategic and digital
intent in 2023. Over 90% answered most questions although response rates vary. The majority
contributed comments and ideas in open questions and some of these are quoted with
permission in this document.
19
13
8
6
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
25
Survey Country Mix (%)
UK
Germany
France
Spain
USA
Switzerland
Australia
Netherlands
Sweden
Austria
Finland
Norway
Denmark
South Africa
Italy
Other
3
4
4
6
7
9
10
13
13
25
26
31
35
49
68
Other
Head of Multimedia/Visuals/Audio
Head of Business Transformation
Founder/Director
Head of Marketing/Business Development
Strategy/Policy
Head Audience Engagement
Managing Editor
Head of Innovation/Development
CTO/Director of Product/Product Leader
Deputy or Senior Editor
Head of Digital/Chief Digital Officer
Managing Director/Publisher/CCO
CEO/COO
Editor-in-Chief/Executive Editor
Survey Job Titles (No.)
Base = 304 Digital Leaders surveyed, 53 countries, 29 November – 16 December 2022
303 participants, 53 countries
43
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
The author is grateful for the input from a number of publishers, academics, and industry
experts when preparing this report via background conversions and emails. These included
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism; Damian
Radcliffe, University of Oregon; Alexandra Borchardt, Consultant and Senior Research
Associate at the Reuters Institute; David Caswell, Executive Product Manager at the BBC;
Douglas McCabe, Enders Analysis; Troels Jørgensen, Digital Director at Politiken; David Tvrdon
writer and podcaster from Slovakia; consultant Dmitry Shishkin; and social media expert
Matt Navarra.
THE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
44
RISJ PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED BOOKS
Hearts and Minds: Harnessing Leadership, Culture,
and Talent to Really Go Digital
Lucy Kueng
Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures Around
the Globe
Thomas Hanitzsch, Folker Hanusch, Jyotika
Ramaprasad, and Arnold S. de Beer (eds)
(published with Columbia University Press)
NGOs as Newsmakers: The Changing Landscape of
International News
Matthew Powers (published with Columbia
University Press)
Global Teamwork: The Rise of Collaboration in
Investigative Journalism
Richard Sambrook (ed)
Journalism and the NSA Revelations: Privacy,
Security and the Press
Risto Kunelius, Heikki Heikkilä, Adrienne Russell
and Dmitry Yagodin (eds) (published with
I.B.Tauris)
Something Old, Something New: Digital Media and
the Coverage of Climate Change
James Painter et al.
Journalism in an Age of Terror
John Lloyd (published with I.B.Tauris)
The Right to Be Forgotten: Privacy and the Media in
the Digital Age
George Brock (published with I.B.Tauris)
The Kidnapping of Journalists: Reporting from
High-Risk Conict Zones
Robert G. Picard and Hannah Storm (published
with I.B.Tauris)
Innovators in Digital News
Lucy Kueng (published with I.B.Tauris)
Local Journalism: The Decline of Newspapers and
the Rise of Digital Media
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (ed) (published with
I.B.Tauris)
Journalism and PR: News Media and Public
Relations in the Digital Age
John Lloyd and Laura Toogood (published with
I.B.Tauris)
Reporting the EU: News, Media and the European
Institutions
John Lloyd and Cristina Marconi (published with
I.B.Tauris)
SELECTED RISJ REPORTS AND FACTSHEETS
How Publishers are Learning to Create and
Distribute News on TikTok
Nic Newman
How We Follow Climate Change: Climate News Use
and Attitudes in Eight Countries
Waqas Ejaz, Mitali Mukherjee, Richard Fletcher,
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Changing Newsrooms 2022: Media Leaders Embrace
Hybrid Work Despite Challenges
Federica Cherubini
Born in the Fire: What We Can Learn from How
Digital Publishers in the Global South Approach
Platforms
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and Federica Cherubini
The Trust Gap: How and Why News on Digital
Platforms Is Viewed More Sceptically Versus
News in General
Camila Mont’Alverne, Sumitra Badrinathan, Amy
Ross Arguedas, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher,
and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022
Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Craig T. Robertson,
Kirsten Eddy, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Race and Leadership in the News Media 2022:
Evidence from Five Markets
Kirsten Eddy, Meera Selva, and Rasmus Kleis
Nielsen (Factsheet)
45
JOURNALISM, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS 2023
Women and Leadership in the News Media 2022:
Evidence from Twelve Markets
Kirsten Eddy, Meera Selva, and Rasmus Kleis
Nielsen (Factsheet)
Snap Judgements: How Audiences Who Lack Trust in
News Navigate Information on Digital Platforms
Amy Ross Arguedas, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila
Mont’Alverne, Benjamin Toff, Richard Fletcher,
and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Echo Chambers, Filter Bubbles, and Polarisation:
A Literature Review
Amy Ross Arguedas, Craig T. Robertson,
Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and
Predictions 2022
Nic Newman
Depth and Breadth: How News Organisations
Navigate Trade-Offs Around Building Trust in News
Benjamin Toff, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila
Mont’Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas, Richard
Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Overcoming Indifference: What Attitudes Towards
News Across the Global North and South Tell Us
About Building Trust
Benjamin Toff, Sumitra Badrinathan,
Camila Mont’Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas,
Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
An Ongoing Infodemic: How People in Eight
Countries Access and Rate News and Information
About Coronavirus a Year into the Pandemic
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Anne Schulz, and
Richard Fletcher
Listening to What Trust in News Means to Users:
Qualitative Evidence from Four Countries
Benjamin Toff, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila
Mont’Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas, Richard
Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Women and News: An Overview of Audience
Behaviour in 11 Countries
Meera Selva and Simge Andı
What We Think We Know and What We Want
to Know: Perspectives on Trust in News in a
Changing World
Benjamin Toff, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila
Mont’Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas, Richard
Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Daily News Podcasts: Building New Habits in
the Shadow of Coronavirus
Nic Newman and Nathan Gallo
Few Winners, Many Losers: The COVID-19
Pandemic’s Dramatic and Unequal Impact on
Independent News Media
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Federica Cherubini,
and Simge Andı
Changing Newsrooms 2020: Addressing
Diversity and Nurturing Talent at a Time
of Unprecedented Change
Federica Cherubini, Nic Newman, and
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Communications in the Coronavirus Crisis:
Lessons for the Second Wave
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Richard Fletcher,
Antonis Kalogeropoulos, and Felix M. Simon
Information Inequality in the UK Coronavirus
Communications Crisis
Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos,
Felix M. Simon, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Publish Less, but Publish Better: Pivoting to
Paid in Local News
Joy Jenkins
Volume and Patterns of Toxicity in Social Media
Conversations during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sílvia Majó-Vázquez, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen,
Joan Verdú, Nandan Rao, Manlio de Domenico,
and Omiros Papaspiliopoulos (Factsheet)
Are News Outlets Viewed in the Same Way by
Experts and the Public? A Comparison across
23 European Countries
Anne Schulz, Richard Fletcher, and Marina
Popescu (Factsheet)
Types, Sources, and Claims of COVID-19
Misinformation
J. Scott Brennen, Felix M. Simon, Philip N. Howard,
and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Factsheet)
Industry, Expert, or Industry Experts? Academic
Sourcing in News Coverage of AI
J. Scott Brennen, Anne Schulz, Philip N. Howard,
and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Factsheet)
Old, Educated, and Politically Diverse: The
Audience of Public Service News
Anne Schulz, David A. L. Levy, and
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
