This week at Newsrewired, our own CEO Naomi took to the stage to share insights from our Next-Gen Journalism report - a project exploring how students and early-career reporters see the industry they’re entering. Partly as a result of AI, a recurring topic of discussion, one overarching theme that ran through nearly every session was that journalism is in the middle of a structural reset, and the next generation will help determine what emerges on the other side.
Throughout the day, it became clear that the hopes, frustrations, and expectations of young journalists we uncovered in our research mirror many of the biggest shifts reshaping the news ecosystem as a whole.
Here are the standout lessons from the event, and how they connect to what we heard from respondents.
Media strategist Lucy Kueng captured the reality bluntly: classic media organisations have been weakened across the entire value chain. They’re being squeezed by two accelerating forces: the creator economy and the GenAI content explosion.
As she put it,
“What got you here will not get you there.”
This perfectly reflects our survey’s central tension:
Young journalists deeply believe in journalism’s mission, but they don’t think the current industry is equipped to deliver on it. Respondents spoke openly about feeling underprepared for AI-driven workflows, uncertain about business sustainability, and sceptical of legacy models that no longer reflect how audiences consume news.
Kueng’s advice for newsrooms? Move faster. Experiment more. Be willing to overhaul workflows, not simply “sprinkle AI on top.”
Next-gen journalists want this too: They told us they’re hungry for training in digital tools, experimentation, live reporting, and entrepreneurial skills. They want to help build what comes next.
At the event kickoff, Marcela Kunova, the force behind the event and the newly rebranded JournalismUK, spoke about rebuilding a space “for journalists, by journalists”, and why ownership shapes everything from culture to coverage.
Her message and our survey surfaced the same concern: there is a disconnect between board-level industry decision-making and newsrooms, with a vital need for more transparency, diversity, and accountability from the top. Trust recovery requires rethinking who controls newsrooms, and who gets to shape what journalism looks like in 2025 and beyond.
Newsrewired made something clear: the creator economy isn’t a sideshow. It’s the centre of the new news ecosystem. Influential speakers pointed to trends including how creators eclipsed traditional media outlets in the U.S. election cycle, and how AI is supercharging the creator workflow.
Kueng warned that media companies are currently “gatecrashers at a party already happening without them.”
Young journalists in our survey feel that too. They told us they’re eager to experiment with new formats - short-form video, creator-style storytelling and AI-assisted workflows - but aren’t being trained or empowered to do so.
AI was one of the strongest recurring themes at Newsrewired, and two perspectives from Anita Zielina and Madhav Chinnappa made it clear that the industry is entering a decisive phase.
Anita argued that AI touches everything: workflows, ethics, job roles, audience expectations, and newsroom culture. That means it can’t be delegated to the tech team. Leaders need to rebuild workflows from the ground up, foster psychological safety for experimentation, provide teams with clarity on why AI is being used, and protect innovation from suffocation by legacy processes.
Madhav also emphasised that AI is not a technical problem but a strategic one, outlining how journalism is shifting from the Era of Traffic into the GenAI Era, in which traditional value exchanges with platforms no longer apply, and search declines reflect a simple truth: the AI user experience is better. He called for a kind of “NATO for News”: coordinated licensing of access to journalistic content, shared guardrails, and industry-wide collaboration to protect and strengthen legitimate reporting.
These insights mirror what our survey told us. Student and early-career reporters feel underprepared for AI and unsure of its ethical boundaries. They’re not resistant; they simply want direction, purpose, and a framework that helps them use AI responsibly.
The message across the day was clear: AI will not fix a messy strategy, but with strong leadership and thoughtful guardrails, it can strengthen journalism rather than dilute it.
CNN’s session on attracting Gen Z addressed a key challenge: younger audiences aren’t visiting news sites, and they’re not always sure what a journalist’s role even is. They consume news from creators on YouTube and TikTok, via AI summaries, and in personalised feeds.
Respondents in our survey predicted the same shifts. They want to create content that is engaging, authentic, visual and transparent. It’s not about blaming audiences for losing trust, but it is about earning it back and meeting younger demographics where they are.
A highlight of the day was the panel with the John Schofield Trust, emphasising how mentorship can shape careers. A young Reach journalist shared her own experience being mentored through the organisation’s initiative and explained how judgment-free guidance helped her navigate early decisions.
This resonates deeply with our survey’s findings: 43% of respondents said industry support, including mentorship, is one of the biggest missing pieces in their career development.
Without support, they worry that burnout, low pay, and exclusion will push diverse talent out before they’ve had a chance to grow.
For all the challenges aired at Newsrewired, it was also a deeply hopeful event. Journalists like Rebecca Hutson (The News Movement), Hannah Williams (The Londoner), and Emaan Warraich (BBC) spoke about resilience, creativity, and the real possibility of reshaping journalism from the ground up.
Hannah in particular showcased how community-powered journalism can thrive, and all agreed that, rather than seeing the current landscape as threatening, we should treat it as an opportunity to reinvent. 69% of next-gen journalists in our survey agreed that reinvention is needed.
The future of journalism won’t be defined by legacy structures, but by those willing to rethink formats, challenge assumptions, and rebuild trust from the ground up. If we want journalism to thrive in an AI-driven, creator-powered, trust-fractured world, we must invest in emerging voices, not as future talent, but as active partners in shaping what comes next. The reset is already underway. The question now is who will give the next generation the tools, support, and leadership they need to drive it forward?