News gets reshaped to match the way your brain works

"Audiences increasingly evaluate individual pieces of information and contributors rather than trusting institutional brands wholesale. They assemble their understanding of the world as a patchwork: a podcast recap, a TikTok debunk, a Reddit thread, a traditional news article. Pew finds that about one in five U.S. adults now regularly get news from influencers on social platforms, often citing helping them to understand the issues and perceived authenticity. The numbers are higher for younger generations."

"In 2026, two forces that have been reshaping media will reach critical mass: the creator-driven information ecosystem and cognitive personalization. The organizations that thrive in 2026 will be the ones that recognize that these new formats aren't competitors, but an evolution of how people make sense of their world and the news. They will help users understand how different voices and sources connect, conflict, or complement each other."

"For the most part, personalization in the news has meant, "Here are more articles like the ones you clicked." In 2026, it will mean, "Here's the version of this information that matches how your brain works." Cognitive personalization such as adapting nuances in presentation, the tone of information - never the facts - to the user's preferred mode of comprehension is now possible."

In 2026, the creator-driven information ecosystem and cognitive personalization will reach critical mass. Audiences increasingly evaluate individual pieces of information and contributors rather than trusting institutional brands wholesale. People assemble understanding from varied formats: podcast recaps, TikTok debunks, Reddit threads, and traditional articles. About one in five U.S. adults regularly get news from influencers, with higher rates among younger generations. Successful organizations will treat new formats as an evolution of sense-making and help users map how voices and sources connect or conflict. Personalization will shift from article recommendations to adapting presentation, tone, and framing to users' cognitive preferences while preserving facts.

Read at Nieman Lab