The media and communications landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by shifting audience behaviours, evolving platform dynamics, and the integration of artificial intelligence tools into newsrooms and digital interfaces. Against this backdrop, CARMA’s Insights Consultant, Jennifer, recently collaborated with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to deliver their first knowledge-sharing session of the year. Drawing from the latest Reuters Institute Journalism, Media & Technology Trends & Predictions 2025 report, the session explored how these developments are reshaping the industry, and what they mean for communications professionals worldwide.
Beyond identifying trends, the session examined their impact on PR, communications, and media evaluation. With an engaged audience of 80 OECD professionals, the discussion covered AI’s role in journalism, shifting news consumption habits, and evolving media business models.
Key Insights: The Changing Media Landscape
Key takeaways from the session highlighted critical industry shifts, presenting both risks and opportunities for media and communications professionals.
🔹 AI in journalism: trust remains a challenge. Newsrooms have moved beyond AI experimentation, with many now implementing AI guidelines and hiring specialist roles. The focus is on efficiency, as AI streamlines workflows and automates tasks. Personalisation is another key area, helping to recommend content and engage audiences. AI-driven content creation is expanding, supporting summaries, translations, and automated reporting. Beyond editorial, AI is transforming business models, from coding to new revenue opportunities. For comms professionals, the key question is: How do we adapt media strategies in an AI-driven landscape?
🔹 Fragile trust in news. While mainstream media brands are experiencing a resurgence in trust from some audiences, younger demographics remain disengaged. This gap highlights the need for PR teams to rethink how they engage audiences, meeting them on platforms they trust and in formats they prefer.
🔹 The diminishing role of traditional social media networks. Facebook’s decline as a news platform continues, while TikTok, WhatsApp, and YouTube gain prominence, especially among younger consumers. This shift compels communications teams to rethink their content strategies, adapting to the rise of short-form, visually engaging storytelling.
🔹 Evolving media business models. As advertising revenue declines, news outlets are increasingly reliant on subscriptions and diversified income streams. This selectivity makes it harder for organisations to secure media coverage, reinforcing the need for PR teams to craft stories that add genuine value.
🔹 Redefining media impact measurement. Traditional metrics such as impressions and reach no longer suffice in an increasingly fragmented digital ecosystem. PR and media evaluation professionals must pivot toward engagement, trust, and influence measures, moving beyond surface-level analytics to measure real impact.
Read the full Reuters Institute report here.
