OVERVIEW

The public is encountering news in an ever expanding array of forms, channels and voices, providing them with more ways to find out about issues and events that matter to them than ever before. As CNTI heard in a series of focus groups conducted prior to this survey, people are putting a lot of work into getting themselves up to speed on that news. At the same time, many are actively tuning news out, expressing a sense that it is overwhelming. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI)¹ has only added to the myriad of ways information is shared and consumed.

How does the public navigate these new ways of being informed? Where do they see journalism fitting in? And how can journalism do a better job of communicating its unique value? CNTI delved into these questions (and more) in this survey.

CNTI surveyed 4,037 people from four countries — Australia, Brazil, South Africa and the United States — between September 4 and October 16, 2024 to understand their perspectives on who can produce journalism, how they access the information sources they rely on and their attitudes about journalistic uses of technologies such as AI.² As with all CNTI research, this report was prepared by the research and professional staff of CNTI.

Key Findings

News organizations play a key role in meeting the information needs of the public alongside other valued providers, including everyday people. Even as most people say news organizations play an important role in society and still look more to organizations to get informed, a sizable minority (20-30%) look to individuals as their primary source. Furthermore, roughly half or more of the people surveyed in each country say that they believe journalists are not the only individuals capable of providing journalism and, indeed, that everyday people can do so. (Read this section of the report.)

Most people feel generally positive about their ability to keep informed, with digital technologies playing a major role — but trust is the biggest challenge: Across three of the four countries, strong majorities say digital technologies are very important for keeping informed (67-85%) and majorities feel positive about their ability to stay informed (59-67%). The United States was the outlier on both questions: A slim majority (57%) say digital technologies are very important for keeping informed, and while no feeling captured the majority of responses about their ability to stay informed, the plurality feel neutral (though they still express far more positivity than negativity). Despite this positivity, at least 70% of people in each country say “knowing who or what to trust” is at least somewhat of a challenge. (Read this section of the report.)

People are generally comfortable with journalists using technology for professional purposes, but views are more mixed about image editing and AI in the U.S. and Australia: Checking the accuracy of information, translating content and summarizing information from multiple sources are all deemed largely acceptable by a strong majority (71-93%) across the four countries. Differences emerge, however, when it comes to image editing. Brazilians and South Africans are nearly as comfortable with journalists using image editing technology (71-75%), while Americans and Australians are much less so (35-49%). Similarly, Brazilians and South Africans are more positive than negative about AI’s impact on journalism: 46% or more say it will largely have a positive effect on journalists’ ability to report on issues and events. On the other hand, Australians and Americans are more negative than positive: 28-41% say it will largely have a negative effect, while 15-18% say the effect will be positive. (Read this section of the report.)

More than 60% in each country are generally confident that the internet will remain a place to get and share news. Outside the U.S., 58% or more in each country are also optimistic about the impact developments in digital technology will have on their ability to stay informed. (The U.S. is not far behind, at 46%.) Pluralities in Brazil and South Africa are also positive about AI’s impact on their ability to stay informed, while pluralities in the U.S. and Australia are neutral. In each country, considerably more people are positive about technology in general than they are about AI in particular. (Read this section of the report.)

This outlook, combined with the publics’ openness to journalists using various forms of technology, presents an opportunity to producers of journalism: To make use of available technologies in ways that resonate with the public and serve their information needs, while ensuring them that the ultimate product is one they stand by. This can, in turn, increase journalists’ own capabilities in reporting, safety and, ultimately, sustainability.