The year journalism stops outsourcing its independence

"Without a fundamental shift in how newsrooms think about and build technology, journalism's independence is in jeopardy. The threats are not abstract. Link referrals to newsroom websites are declining from both search engines and social media sites because tech companies want to keep users engaged in their own platforms. Information held in the cloud can be subpoenaed, often in secret, putting sources and journalists at risk."

"Journalism needs better tools, built for their needs and values. But they also shouldn't be in the business of building it themselves. The main business of a newsroom is producing journalism; rightly, their cultures, incentives, and goals are centered around the work of telling the truth about the world. Software built inside newsrooms often fails, not because the teams aren't talented, but because the incentives, culture, and resources of journalism simply don't match the operational demands of running products sustainably."

Governments are recognizing reliance on Silicon Valley technology as a liability and are funding alternative ecosystems that prioritize privacy and oppose extractive business models. News organizations face similar vulnerabilities but have not treated technology choices as essential to their survival. Link referrals to newsroom websites are declining as platforms keep users on their sites; cloud data can be secretly subpoenaed, risking sources and journalists; and browsers and AI agents increasingly remix newsroom content without consent. Journalism needs values-aligned tools, but building them internally often fails because newsroom incentives, culture, and resources do not align with sustainable product operations. Newsrooms must collaborate with aligned organizations to adopt alternative technologies.

Read at Nieman Lab