As the news media industry continues facing unprecedented changes and challenges, the Reuters Institute’s 2025 Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions Report looks at what to expect in the coming year.

During Lessons for Asia from the 2025 Reuters Institute Report, INMA members heard from Nic Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, about some of those challenges and opportunities.

The report, based on a survey of 326 senior media executives across 51 countries, provides a snapshot of the industry and its concerns.

Declining trust and the rise of alternative media

One of the most significant findings in the report is the dramatic loss of confidence in journalism, which Newman said “has dropped significantly from 60% a couple of years ago to 40% now.”

This decline is driven by multiple factors, he said, including attacks on journalism from populist politicians, the rise of alternative media, funding challenges, and fears of AI disruption. Together, these factors have affected the optimism toward journalism’s future.

One of the most visible examples of this shift is the way politicians are bypassing traditional media.

In the United States, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris chose to sit down with podcasters and YouTube influencers rather than mainstream journalists.

“This was really significant in the sense that institutional journalism, legacy journalism, was being ignored by the two main candidates,” Newman said. “This contributes to this idea that the media influence in the public is deteriorating rapidly. I think to some extent the U.S. is a special case, but I think we also see similar trends in India and many other countries as well.”

The growing creator economy

A fundamental shift in journalism is the emergence of the creator economy, where independent journalists, commentators, and influencers cultivate large followings without traditional newsroom affiliations.

This new ecosystem includes four key elements, he said:

1. Political commentary on digital platforms: Former TV commentators like Ravish Kumar in India and Tucker Carlson in the United States have built massive audiences on YouTube and alternative platforms. Newman said influencers are driven, in part, by the desire to have more editorial freedom “and not be constrained by the policies of a particular company.”
2. Infotainment-driven news: Figures like Alex Cooper in the United States combine lifestyle content with political interviews, attracting a younger demographic that rarely consumes traditional news.
3. Young news creators: A new wave of TikTok and YouTube journalists, such as India’s Dhruv Rathee, are reshaping storytelling, making news more accessible for younger audiences. “Some of this is partisan, some of it’s not,” Newman said.
4. Journalists leaving legacy media: Well-known reporters like The Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz have exited traditional outlets to establish independent news brands.

“A lot of those people in the alternative media ecosystem set themselves up in opposition to the mainstream media. They are saying, we are not mainstream media, we are different. But of course many of them came from that background,” he said.

These independent creators leverage video, podcasts, and community-driven engagement to build loyal followings, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for legacy media. Some traditional outlets see the chance to collaborate with these new influencers and reach a larger audience, while others worry about it “squeezing out objective news.”

“The challenge for publishers is not just about competition for eyeballs with this alternative media sector; it’s also the competition for talent and how you keep the best, most engaged journalists in your organisation,” Newman said.

The demise of referral traffic

Another significant disruption within the industry is the collapse of referral traffic from social media.

Data from Chartbeat, which tracks engagement across 2,000 news Web sites, shows a 67% decline in Facebook referrals and a 50% drop from X over the last two years. This shift reflects a broader platform reset, where news outlets can no longer rely on social media for audience growth.

“That obviously has had a huge effect on businesses, but it’s a sign that media companies can’t rely on these platforms in the way that they used to,” Newman said. “The model is now different.”

Now, companies must create content native to each platform, such as vertical video for TikTok and YouTube Shorts, rather than relying on click-throughs to external sites.

While the traffic has been declining over the last couple of years, Newman said the concern over that is compounded by worries over what effect generative AI search will have: “Two-thirds of our respondents fear that what’s happened to social media is going to happen to search traffic, and that referral will also dry up in some way.”

AI overviews reduce direct visits to news Web sites by summarising content without requiring users to click links, and ChatGPT introduced a live news search in December, he said. Perplexity has offered a similar product for a while.

“Of course, that disruption is only beginning,” Newman said. “But I do think we have a sense of what it’s going to look like now.”

One of the biggest concerns for news media companies is how they will get compensated for content in a world “where people can access these aggregations so much more easily and with so much less friction,” Newman said.

Reuters Institute found that most publishers favour a collective deal where everyone in the industry benefits. But at the moment, local media is not getting paid whilst large media companies have struck licensing deals with AI firms.

That creates “concern about equity and fairness and how this works, and the lack of transparency as well as how these deals are being done,” Newman said. “It’s very hard to know how this is all going to pan out, but I think we’re definitely going to see more deals this year as both the AI companies and the media companies try to work out where the value is.”

Of course, in addition to the threats and questions surrounding AI, there are plenty of opportunities for the news media industry. Applications used in the industry include the automation of newsroom workflows, AI-generated content, and personalised user experiences with such things as tailored news digests and chatbots.

The evolving business model

One of the questions the Reuters Institute asks publishers every year, Newman said, is “What are the most important revenue streams for your business?” For 2025, subscriptions top the list, followed by display advertising/sponsorship and native advertising.

However, companies are also anticipating more funding from platforms, partly because of AI, as well as philanthropic donations.

“For most publishers now, it’s about having three or four different revenue streams and sort of building a more robust business where you’re not dependent on advertising or just on subscription,” Newman said.

They’re also wondering where the growth will come from, and Newman suggested they may need to develop new products and services or partner with companies that provide them.

These could include new audio or video products, international versions, educational games, and more.

“So the idea is you are building a bundle of a value, which means that the news is only one part of it, but it’s much harder to unsubscribe as a result,” Newman said. “Bundling, I think, is going to be one of the big stories of the year.”

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