News Flash or Trash? How Journalism Lost Its Click
News Flash or Trash? How Journalism Lost Its Click
Journalism isn’t dying, it’s committing slow suicide. Traditional newsrooms whine about losing influence, yet continue chasing clicks over credibility.
Despite global crises demanding trustworthy reporting, traditional media is in free fall, losing attention to social influencers, podcasts, and TikTok.
Trump’s America illustrates this dramatically: influencer-driven platforms like Joe Rogan’s podcasts and Tucker Carlson’s YouTube videos have surpassed mainstream news outlets, especially among younger viewers who prefer watching rather than reading.
But this shift isn’t confined to the U.S. In Thailand, influencers like Pond on News are reshaping public discourse, while France’s HugoDécrypte captures young audiences with concise TikTok explanations. Meanwhile, platforms such as Elon Musk’s X are thriving with right-leaning users, pushing further polarization, and trust in traditional news stagnates at around 40%.
Three shifts drive home the urgency:
- 54% of young Americans prefer news via social/video platforms.
- Podcasts now match radio’s weekly reach among young audiences in the U.S.
- 58% globally worry about distinguishing real news from misinformation.
My upcoming work explores how we can proactively embrace digital trends without compromising integrity. How do you personally filter trustworthy news from the noise?
Read the full article on Reuters Institute.
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Staying up-to-date in a fast-changing world is vital. That is why I have launched Futurwise; a personalized AI platform that transforms information chaos into strategic clarity. With one click, users can bookmark and summarize any article, report, or video in seconds, tailored to their tone, interests, and language. Visit Futurwise.com to get started for free!
Dr. Mark van Rijmenam
Dr. Mark van Rijmenam is The Digital Speaker, a world-leading futurist and global AI keynote speaker who helps leaders decide what AI, and the technologies that follow it, mean for their business. He speaks to leadership teams at their retreats and to conference audiences worldwide, and his WAVE framework gives them a way of deciding that they keep using long after he has left the room. His Intelligence Age Scorecard measures how ready an organization is across the four WAVE pillars.
He holds a PhD from the University of Technology Sydney, is a Certified Speaking Professional and Global Speaking Fellow, and ranks among the world’s top futurists on the Global Gurus list (#1 in 2025, #3 in 2026). Salesforce named him one of its 16 leading AI voices. He has written six books, most recently Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change, writes the Synthetic Minds newsletter on Substack, and founded Futurwise. Talk to his digital twin on WhatsApp: +1 (830) 463-6967.
