Breaking the News? Journalism in the age of AI
As generative AI changes the way people access information, global thought leaders are looking for ways to secure information integrity in a world grappling with unregulated tech giants, targeted disinformation and algorithms with a disdain for nuance.
“Journalism is a keystone species in an information ecosystem,” said Courtney Radsch of the Open Market Institute. “Journalists cannot be replaced and if they disappear, the entire ecosystem will collapse.”
Between hope and despair
Much of the discussions focused on the strain that products like AI assistants have put on media houses, which have drastically decreased both website traffic and revenue streams.
Yet there are signs of hope. Phathutshedzo Manenzhe, senior analyst of the Competition Commission of South Africa, spoke of successful negotiations with Google, in which the tech company agreed to pay €40 million over five years to support local and national media to compensate for unfair practices on their search engine.
When it comes to working with tech companies directly, many attendees feel uncomfortable about some individual deals that media companies have made with large tech organizations. One example is the New York Times, which is both suing OpenAI and recently signed a content deal with Amazon, showing the complex and often contradictory nature of the media’s relationship with tech companies. It became clear in the workshops that journalism should not only be treated as a public good, but also should be financed like one.
Representatives from the tech industry also attended the conference at the invitation of DW Akademie, including Guido Brinkel of OpenAI. Brinkel stated that the company was willing to listen to media and discuss the future of the industries together.
Differing opinions
While many of the problems were easily agreed upon, the approaches to solutions were varied. Omar Rajarathnam of Factum in Sri Lanka had an adversarial approach to Big Tech.
“The time for consultations with Big Tech is over,” Rajarathnam said. “It’s time for consequences.”
Some experts are calling for stronger regulations and penalties - namely, that tech companies obey their own rules of conduct. Others pointed out that regulation needs to be approached very carefully as it may be misused by authoritarian rulers and would-be authoritarians to suppress media freedom.
Madhav Chinnappa, a former director at Google, has a slightly different approach.
“We need better dialogue with Big Tech,” he said. “Demonizing them will not solve the problem.”.
At the same time, he added, the asymmetrical power structure that media houses face when negotiating with tech companies are worth trillions. Chinnappa calls for media and media advocates to develop a clear understanding of the levers, incentives and business models that govern the tech industry. This will help media companies work with them for a better future.
The next steps
The conference was the final in the “Next Chapter” series that stretched across continents, with events in Chiang Mai, Mexico City, Amman and Chisinau. The series’ culmination, supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), resulted in an actionable approach for media and media development to move forward.
During the final discussion, DW Akademie’s managing director Carsten von Nahmen laid out what the next steps will be from the organization’s perspective.
- Take the dialogue between media, civil society and tech companies to Brussels to involve EU policymakers.
- Together with its partners, DW Akademie will refine a roadmap to a healthy future for journalism, while ensuring perspectives from the Global South are heard.
- Include these discussions and update the roadmap to further develop the strategy of DW Freedom, DW Akademie’s think tank.
Yet DW Akademie’s strategy is only part of the complex approach that stakeholders – civil society, editorial offices, legal experts, tech companies and policymakers – need to secure the future of journalism and information integrity in the AI era.
