Publisher pessimism

After predictions for 2026 dropped around the turn of the year, the LinkedIn warriors have caught up with their own, not-at-all-self-interested looks into a crystal ball.

Those in comms and PR have been keen to remind everyone of the importance of their existence (us included, hi). Earned media, after all, is enjoying a renaissance as the harbinger of truth in a world of misinformation and as fuel for the insatiable AI beast.

Alas, this optimism is not shared by everyone.

The Reuters Institute at Oxford University released this year’s edition of the pithily-titled Journalism and Technology Trends and Predictions Report, in which it surveyed 280 news executives across 51 countries. 

Just 38% of respondents said they were confident about the prospects for journalism in the year ahead, plummeting from 60% just three years earlier. The loss of visibility through search engines and social media, and the increasing tendency for politicians to bypass and undermine journalism were pointed to as key reasons.

Most interestingly, however, was the third reason for such pessimism, with author Nic Newman stating news organisations are “losing touch with sections of society, including younger people and those less interested in news”.

The bid to combat this is on, and may well define journalism in 2026 and beyond. 

Niemen Labs asked dozens of digital media experts for their predictions, and while the outcomes are inevitably diverse, the prevailing mood seems to be a recognition of opportunity, if the right action is taken.

We’ve been here before, of course. News organisations have faced challenges to their models  relatively recently and…well, we all know how that went.

Can legacy media adapt to an attention economy built on shifting sands? If not, will the growth in indie media continue to accelerate? Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers. There’ll be a LinkedIn hot take to tell you soon enough.