What can we expect in the year ahead? Where should news leaders focus their attention?

I asked my Newsroom Transformation Initiative advisory council for their predictions for next year. It’s a play off of Nieman Lab’s popular annual predictions, but this focuses exclusively on the work of newsrooms.

The biggest theme: differentiating, becoming more relevant, and proving our value as AI-generated content becomes more commonplace. 

Here’s what they had to say:

1. Relevancy will drive our success

Thoughts from Katrice Hardy, executive editor at The Dallas Morning News, United States:

As journalists, we have been trained to provide readers with information that we believe they need to know. We tell ourselves that the metrics we review reflect their interests, but how often do we modify or overhaul our coverage plans to mirror the analytic trends we study?

In the new year, unrelentingly using relevancy to grow engagement, to reverse the tide of declining readership, and to ultimately build trust is the single largest tool we have toward success. That means ceasing stories, newsletters, even podcasts and videos that drive low engagement. 

What tools and strategies can we implement to make the drastic shifts that reader interests are glaringly telling us they want more of or are most frequently drawn to? We must think about ways to use AI and datasets and platforms such as newsletters to help us test these changes and then seize on them.

2. New skills and roles will be needed in the newsroom

Thoughts from Alexandra Beverfjord, executive vice-president/brands at Aller Media Nordic and CEO at Dagbladet, Norway:

AI and technological tools require not only financial investment but also a recalibration of newsroom skillsets. Data analysis will become more important than traditional journalistic instincts. 

The newsroom must become a space for continuous learning where journalists not only create content but also fully understand how it is distributed, measured, and adapted for audiences. This creates a new dynamic between technologists, analysts, and journalists. 

What newsrooms can do:

• Embed data analysts and AI experts closely within editorial teams.

• Provide training in technological tools and data insight.

• Strengthen the journalist’s role as an analyst and content curator.

3. AI will move from experimentation to tangible impact

Thoughts from Lotta Edling, editorial director at Bonnier News, Sweden:

In recent years, the adoption of AI in newsrooms has been marked by experimentation, pilot projects, and strategic discussions. By 2025, however, the narrative is set to shift dramatically.

Newsrooms themselves, along with owners, boards, and CEOs, increasingly recognise the need to move beyond innovation for its own sake and demonstrate how AI can deliver tangible, measurable benefits.  

This urges newsrooms to focus even more on embedding AI into workflows to achieve efficiency, reorganisation, and resource reallocation.

AI-powered tools will streamline tasks like content curation, automated reporting, and audience analytics, allowing journalists to focus on high-impact, investigative storytelling. At the same time, leadership will be challenged to leverage AI to reduce operational costs, optimise resource deployment, and create new revenue streams.

In this new phase, the ability to demonstrate clear ROI from AI will be critical. The organisations that succeed will be those that seamlessly integrate AI technologies into their strategies, ensuring not only editorial excellence but also business sustainability.

The future of AI in newsrooms is no longer an abstract promise — it is rapidly moving into a deliverable.

4. Journalists will gain a better understanding of writing for revenue 

Thoughts from Janis Kitzhofer, senior manager/editorial insights and development at Axel Springer, Germany: 

I’ve heard we need to monetise around the news to make our business profitable, and I fully agree with that. However, I believe we also need to carry the monetary element in the mindset of our journalists.

While informing the audience and holding power to account should always be the center of attention, there is much that can be done editorially to optimise the revenue output of each article. 

Headlines and teaser images, text layouts, newsletter widgets, infographics, interactive elements, and more all have an impact on how the user engages with the story — and that impacts its monetisation.

Creating transparency (paired with a healthy culture) could lead journalists to feel more encouraged and empowered. Our observations show engagement is closely related to revenue, so all you need to do is optimise on engagement (metrics), which should come naturally to good editors. Knowing that this will contribute to financial success can be a key motivator.

Writing for revenue can also mean tailoring the overall content strategy toward more profitability. Analysing which entities/topics are monetising best at what time of the year/week/day and dedicating a certain number of editorial resources toward it can have a significant impact on ad revenue without too much disruption of the overall content mix.

Long story short: Transparency on the correlation between engagement and monetisation can help editorial become an integral part of the mission to make digital journalism profitable.

5. Newsrooms will move from generalist to specialist with niche topics

Thoughts from Shawna VanNess, associate managing editor at Newsday Media Group, United States:

Mainstream news organisations tend to cover everything — news, sports, politics, lifestyle — but digital readers are adept at curation, cherry-picking coverage from a buffet of sources. 

At Newsday, we see sharp, strong metrics for niche topics such as restaurants and real estate, and have invested more company resources in growing those verticals. I’ve also written a bit about why newsrooms should be leaning into nostalgia coverage, which I predict will really resonate in 2025 for folks weary from a chaotic news cycle of Trump, Israel, Russia, and bird flu.

6. We’ll focus on value, value, value 

Thoughts from Jens Pettersson, head of editorial development at NTM, Sweden:

AI will continue to be an accelerator of innovation, both when it comes to speeding up product development — liquid content, personalisation, and artificial voices — but also in easing friction in the journalistic process and saving time in areas that don’t necessarily need human interactions. 

But when it comes to our actual journalism, the human touch will be the marker of value. 

We will see even more newsrooms formulating their reader promises, connecting their news reporting closer to the needs of their audience. We will see bigger ears and eyes when it comes to understanding citizens’ pain points (and hopefully also happiness triggers), and we will see even more specific and sharper KPIs — getting closer to the truth of what the target groups truly engage in. 

The simple equation: If you want a subscriber to pay you a regular amount of their hard earned pennies, they will demand one thing from you — a great value for their money. That equation demands creative editors, astonishing audience developers, and devoted reporters.

We need to do the job properly — because the value itself lies solely in the trusted journalism we choose to publish. Nothing else.

7. In an AI world, we’ll stand out with unique journalism 

Thoughts from Eduardo Lindenberg de Azevedo, director of innovation at Rede Gazeta, Brazil:

AI will keep changing the information ecosystem and value chain, but it’s not replacing journalism. It’s helping us deliver what matters most: original reporting, deep analysis, and storytelling that can’t be automated. 

Newsrooms worldwide are exploring how to combine the latest tech with business thinking and audience-focused strategies to stand out, build trust, and deliver real value.

This year, I’ve been presented with the growing need to separate general news — headlines, quick updates, and social media posts — from Journalism with a capital J. The latter offers deeply checked, carefully crafted stories that help people understand their world and live better lives. 

As AI becomes more common, this gap will widen. And it’s up to us to prove the unique value of trustworthy, meaningful journalism.

In places like Brazil, we may be slower to adapt to these changes, but the tools are here to help us leapfrog. By empowering journalists to lead the way — experimenting with AI while staying true to our core mission — we can create content that better serves our communities.

The tech shift is global, but the most valuable solutions will always be local.

What’s your prediction for 2025? I’d love to hear it: amalie.nash@inma.org. 

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