"It's tempting to panic, like we have before. To race straight to the bottom. To push for faster, shorter, click-baitier, and more frequent news hits, to increase the churn in hopes of juicing the stats. But all of that just feeds the machines that will never love us back. Every exclusive, every scoop, is hoovered by Gemini the same day, paraphrased and spat back out for news searchers who are increasingly not clicking through to read the news from its actual gatherers."
"If we want to win the trust of our readers back, and their clicks along with it, we have to lean instead into what AI cannot be: human. That means providing readers not just with news they know is real and sourced, but with unique storytelling, experience, community, and connection. The human hands behind news will need to be more obvious. Writing that's original and fun without being GPT-sycophantic to keep reader interest."
Traffic metrics are collapsing as tech giants and AI systems increasingly absorb headlines and republish scoops, reducing direct reader clicks to news publishers. Producing faster, shorter, clickbait content increases churn but ultimately empowers AI aggregators rather than human journalism. Exclusive reporting is often paraphrased and redistributed the same day, preventing audience return to original sources. Restoring reader trust requires emphasizing human qualities that AI cannot replicate: deeply reported, original storytelling; visible bylines; narrative features with strong characters; photo essays and artist-made illustrations; moderated communities and comment spaces; and transparent glimpses behind reporting. Readers seeking only headlines are unlikely to return, but many readers will engage with distinctive human-driven journalism.
Read at Nieman Lab
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