The big question last year coming out of Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and its annual digital news report was whether the public was ready for AI in the newsroom.
This year’s Digital News Report 2025 seems to echo the sentiment everyone in publishing is feeling.
Ready or not, AI is here.
“As the largest tech platforms integrate AI summaries and other news-related features, publishers worry that these could further reduce traffic flows to websites and apps,” writes Nic Newman in the report’s summary. “But we also show that in a world increasingly populated by synthetic content and misinformation, all generations still prize trusted brands with a track record for accuracy, even if they don’t use them as often as they once did.”
AI chatbots, for instance, were found to be used by 7% as a news source each week, well below those using news sites, print, TV, and social media, which emerged as the now-leading source of news in the United States for the first time. “The numbers are still relatively small overall,” Newman writes of those using AI for their news, “but much higher with under-25s (15%).”
In looking more closely at AI, Reuters focused on the personalization efforts of news content. 70% of publishers are using or making plans for article summarization, while 56% are planning on implementing AI chatbots.
(Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism)
“We find mixed views from audiences, some of whom worry about missing out on important stories,” Newman writes of audience’s personalization concerns. “At the same time there is some enthusiasm for making the news more accessible or relevant, including summarization (27%), translating stories into different languages (24%), better story recommendations (21%), and using chatbots to ask questions about news (18%).”
The report’s look at digital subscriptions found the percentage of those across richer countries paying for online news “remains stable” at 18%, including 20% in the United States.
“Over the last ten years ongoing subscription levels across our basket of 20 countries have more than doubled but they now look to have hit a ceiling,” the report says of publishers who’ve already signed up those prepared to pay. “ In most countries, we continue to see a ‘winner takes most’ market, with upmarket national newspapers scooping up a big proportion of users. In the United States, for example, the New York Times has extended its lead over the Washington Post partly off the back of its highly successful all-access subscription that includes games, recipes, audio sport, and product reviews.”
Search summaries, personalized chatbots, digital bonuses — they’re probably not what first drew publishers to the business. But as growing with the times has continuously shown, it takes more than an inkwell to survive and thrive.
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