WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI) released two reports detailing international surveys conducted in Fall 2024. What the Public Wants from Journalism in the Age of AI: A Four Country Survey gathers insights from over 4,000 people in Australia, Brazil, South Africa and the United States about who should be able to produce journalism, how they access the information sources they rely on and their attitudes toward journalists using technologies like AI in their work. The second report, What It Means to Do Journalism in the Age of AI: Journalist Views on Safety, Technology and Government, conducted with multiple journalism networks and member organizations, presents findings from journalists around the world, examining their views on the state of journalism, use and perception of technology, perspective on government action and experiences with cyber attacks and online abuse. 

“These global surveys reveal opportunities to address important gaps in how journalists and the public approach journalism and the process of getting informed today, alongside a growing consensus that journalism creation is no longer limited to professional newsrooms,” said CNTI Executive Director Amy Mitchell. “The journalist survey also surfaces important data on the state of government relations and journalistic security amid increasing threats to media freedoms around the world.” 

Key Findings:

• Both the public and journalists surveyed see a valuable role for journalism in society, but even as the public articulates what makes journalism distinct, journalists don’t think they are able to do so. Most people (76%+ in all countries surveyed) say “news organizations that employ reporters are a critical part of an informed society,” and between 40% and 65% say that there is a difference between news and journalism. Meanwhile, half of journalists (51%) say the public cannot tell the difference between journalism and other kinds of news and information online — and almost as many (45%) say the field is not doing a good job communicating its value.
• Seeing a value in journalism does not necessarily lead to consuming news organizations’ content. Roughly half or more of the public in each county (49-74%) say “people who are not journalists can produce journalism — in line with the 58% of journalists who say the same. Even larger percentages of the public say “everyday people” can produce journalism. And significant minorities (20-30%) of the public say they turn most to individuals to get informed, rather than news organizations; the remainders say they turn more to organizations (which may not always mean news organizations). 
• Technology is intertwined in both the public’s news consumption and journalists’ production of it. Majorities, 57-85%, of people in each country say that digital technology is very important to their ability to stay informed. And more than four-in-five journalists say digital technology is very important to communicating with sources, information gathering and reaching their audiences.
• The public and journalists largely agree that technological developments will have a positive impact on news reporting and consumption, but those in the Global North express much more pessimism when asked specifically about AI. 
  • Among the public: Majorities in Australia (58%), Brazil (85%), and South Africa (74%) think digital technology will continue to have a positive impact on their ability to get informed in the future, compared with 46% of Americans. But while about half of Brazilians (46%) and South Africans (49%) think AI will have a positive impact on their ability to get informed, only a third as many people in the U.S. or Australia (15-16%) agree.
  • Among journalists: Two-in-three journalists think that digital technology will have a positive impact on their ability to report, but only one-in-three think AI will have a positive impact on the public’s ability to get informed. In the Global South, 77% are positive about digital technology and about half — 48% — are positive about AI. In the Global North, these numbers are more muted: 54% and 16%, respectively.
• Publics are also quite positive about the perseverance of the open internet as a place to share and find news. Between 62% and 79% of the public in each country are at least somewhat confident that the internet will remain a place to get and share news. South Africans are by far the most likely to be very confident, with 60% who feel this way, about twice as many as any other country. 
• Meanwhile, 50% of journalists surveyed say they have experienced government overreach in the past year. Half of the journalists surveyed report experiencing government overreach within the last year, ranging from complaints about content to arrest or detention. Just 9% say their government offers important support for journalism, while 54% say their government seeks too much control. And at least three-in-four say it’s unacceptable for governments to define what journalism is (78%) or who journalists are (87%).
• When it comes to journalistic safety, slightly more than a third of journalists (37%) say they face serious risks at least somewhat often, with 31% who say their sources do. At the same time, only about half as many, 15%, primarily communicate with sources using encrypted apps. In liberal democracies, journalists most commonly use email to communicate with sources. Meanwhile, journalists in the other regime types had no clear favorite; instead, they were about equally likely to use many different modes of communication.

“The two studies demonstrate the value of taking a global lens to these topics and questions. Among both the public and journalists, some clear regional differences emerge that are important for researchers and others working at the intersection of journalism, technology and the information environment  to take into consideration.” – CNTI Executive Director Amy Mitchell.

These survey reports are a part of CNTI’s Defining News Initiative which explores the evolving news ecosystem and the role technology plays in it. Later this month, CNTI will release a third report in this series, that details the American public who get news from influencers and content creators. Additional exciting reports are currently in the works. 

Read the reports:

• What It Means to Do Journalism in the Age of AI: Journalist Views on Safety, Technology and Government
• What the Public Wants from Journalism in the Age of AI: A Four Country Survey

About the Center for News, Technology and Innovation: The Center for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI), an independent global policy research center, seeks to encourage independent, sustainable media, maintain an open internet and foster informed public policy conversations. CNTI’s cross-industry convenings espouse evidence-based, thoughtful but challenging conversations about the issue at hand, with an eye toward feasible steps forward. The Center for News, Technology & Innovation is a project of the Foundation for Technology, News & Public Affairs. Learn more at https://innovating.news/. 

Contact: press@innovating.news