We wrote it for students, journalists, educators, and anyone trying to make sense of this moment. Much more to share in the weeks ahead — stay tuned!

We explore questions of creativity and authorship, platform power and infrastructural capture, public knowledge and democratic accountability, the fate of education and the future of personal empowerment — issues that extend well beyond the newsroom.

This is a book about journalism in the age of artificial intelligence—but that's only part of the story. It's also a book about a much larger phenomenon: the rapidly expanding scope and influence of AI, which is transforming how people around the world create, access, and make sense of information.

In the book, we examine what happens when AI doesn't just do journalism's work but erodes the capacity to do it well, what "Google Zero" means for the future of news, and why the biggest threat may not be AI replacing reporters — but AI making everyone's work sound the same.

The question isn't whether AI will change journalism. It's whether journalism will use this disruption to reimagine itself, or simply run faster on the same wheel.

Our argument: this is a constitutive moment for journalism — a critical juncture that unsettles how the profession understands its roles, routines, and reasons for being.

@rodzam.bsky.social, @tomasdodds.bsky.social, and I spent two years writing "Journalism in the Age of AI: From Acceleration to Reimagination," coming later this year and in time for fall classes from @politybooks.bsky.social — fully open access.

Provisional book cover for new book "Journalism in the Age of AI," by Seth C. Lewis, Rodrigo Zamith, and Tomás Dodds, being published open access by Polity in 2026.

🚨 New book announcement!

For two decades, journalists have been running on a hamster wheel — producing more, faster, with less. AI is speeding that wheel up.

But it doesn't have to.

(1/x)

AI breaks the hamster wheel of journalism "The breaking of the hamster wheel's fundamental premise — that humans must run it — creates space for reimagining what journalism <em>could be</em> if not organized around acceleration as its governi...

What's ahead for journalism in 2026? Based on my ongoing research (and forthcoming book!) on AI and journalism with Rodrigo Zamith and @tomasdodds.bsky.social, I explain why AI is a critical fork-in-the-road moment for journalism's future:

www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/ai-b...

What actually makes for a "good" news experience?

There isn't a clear normative standard in journalism research for assessing that question, so in this new paper we bring together an approach ("honeycomb model") that bridges journalism studies with UX design:

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GX54P...

Foundation-funded professorship brings national leader in AI and journalism to UVA Seth Lewis appointed Elcan Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Media Studies

Word is out already, but here's a write-up about my exciting next chapter coming August 2026: I will join the University of Virginia as a distinguished professor of AI and Media Studies, and I'm honored to be named a Jefferson Scholars Foundation professor.

www.jeffersonscholars.org/news/foundat...

Thanks so much, Alison! That's tremendous to hear about the lively AI culture — can't wait to be part of all that UVA has to offer. And, yes, I just heard Matt is joining as well! Exciting times. Look forward to meeting you in Charlottesville soon!

ChatGPT, Generative AI, and an Epistemic Opportunity for Journalistic Authority Journalists have long been concerned about the boundaries of their craft, wary that their work might be replicated by actors who do not adhere to the profession’s normative values. Early artificial...

ONLINE FIRST! This article by @acadianjprof.bsky.social, @sethclewis.bsky.social, & Maxwell Ely examines—through interviews and by analyzing metajournalistic discourse surrounding #ChatGPT & related tools—how journalists interpret and respond to AI in journalism.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Thanks so much, Mike!

Thanks so much, Kirsten! Hope to see you soon, in the DMV area or at an upcoming conference!

ChatGPT, Generative AI, and an Epistemic Opportunity for Journalistic Authority Journalists have long been concerned about the boundaries of their craft, wary that their work might be replicated by actors who do not adhere to the profession’s normative values. Early artificial...

🚨NEW PUBLICATION🚨In this @digitaljournalism.bsky.social piece with brilliant co-authors @sethclewis.bsky.social and @maxwellely.bsky.social, we offer a nuanced, multi-step methodology to explore how journalists reacted to the “threat” of #genai, in particular #ChatGPT. (1/3) #commsky

Happy to share some big news: I have accepted an offer to join the… | Seth Lewis Happy to share some big news: I have accepted an offer to join the University of Virginia as the Elcan Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Media Studie...

Exciting news to share!

In 2026, I am joining the University of Virginia as the Elcan Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Media Studies.

I'm so grateful for this — and happy to have one more year at Oregon.

Details: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Communication, Digital Conversation, and Media Technologies: a minitrack of HICSS Call for papers for this minitrack of HICSS-59, held January 2026 on the island of Maui

Just 10 days left! 🚨 We're excited to invite your full-paper submissions to our Communication, Digital Conversation, and Media Technologies minitrack at HICSS-59.

📍 Where: Hyatt Regency Maui
📅 When: Jan. 6–9, 2026
⏰ Deadline: June 15, 11:59pm HST

See the full CfP: communicationhicss.wordpress.com

"Autocratic Attacks on Free Speech and Free Science" / Symposium, Münster University
📅 Wednesday, 28 May
🕕 6 p.m. CET / Noon EDT
🌐 Online – Free & open to all (please pre-register to receive the Zoom link)

terminplaner6.dfn.de/en/b/fa8c864...

For our MIT Press book "Why We Distrust," Jacob Nelson and I have done 70 of our 100 interviews with a cross-section of Americans. I'll talk about some of our preliminary findings about people's feelings about media, medicine, and higher education as part of this panel Wednesday (register below).

The AI turn in journalism: Disruption, adaptation, and democratic futures - Tomás Dodds, Rodrigo Zamith, Seth C Lewis, 2025 In this essay, we argue that, unlike previous changes in digital media technologies over the past few decades, this AI “turn” in journalism forces us to rethink...

📣 We have a new publication outlining the “AI turn” in journalism — one that forces a rethink about the role, identity, and audience dynamics of news amid the distinctive nature of AI tech.

🔗 Read (and please share) the full piece (it's free with open access 🔓): journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

SPECIAL ISSUE CfP! Submit abstracts to our Special Issue on "Institutionalizing Open-Source Investigations in Journalism", edited by @sethclewis.bsky.social, @tomasdodds.bsky.social, Alexa Koenig, @rodzam.bsky.social & @davidcheruiyot.bsky.social
🗓️Sep 1, 2025
➡️Info: drive.google.com/file/d/1R9T8...

The second location of Lookout Local launches in Eugene, Oregon One month in, the new local newsroom has more than 900 paid members.

I was in Eugene right as Lookout launched there and stopped by their downtown newsroom.

They had a monster first month and local news industry veterans seem genuinely excited about what they've built. Three more local newsrooms will launch by end of 2026. www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/the-...

Prof. Dr. Seth Lewis appointed new Fellow at the IfK The new fellow at the Centre for Research on Digital Public Spheres has come to Münsterland from the United States: Prof. Dr. Seth Lewis from the University of Oregon (USA) is currently visiting the I...

Welcome @sethclewis.bsky.social as the latest fellow of the Münster institute of comm studies! Looking forward to an exciting guest lecture and a very important online event - as well as personal talks, discussing research projects and sharing ideas.

www.uni-muenster.de/Kowi/en/mitt...

[THREAD] NEW ISSUE ALERT! #DigitalJournalism Vol 13 Issue 3 is out! This special issue is all about #epistemologies of #digitalnews production and features 13 original articles. Access the articles in this thread below. 👇

Social Media as Commodifier or Homogenizer? Journalists’ Social Media Use in Individualistic and Collectivist Cultures and Its Implications for Epistemologies of News Production This study seeks to address two research needs in journalism studies. First, there is a need for research that situates political reporters’ social media engagement as part of a broader investigati...

This article by Young Eun Moon & Seth C. Lewis explores the use of social media by #political #reporters in the United States and South Korea.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Autocratic attacks on free speech and science are a growing concern - in academia and beyond.

Join us for an online symposium with world-class experts like Robert Sternberg & @sethclewis.bsky.social.

Wednesday, 28. May, 6 p.m. CET. Open to everybody, register via link.

t1p.de/muenster-sym...

I will be speaking at @comatbu.bsky.social about our research on AI, news, and human-machine communication as the Dr. Melvin L. DeFleur Distinguished Lecturer.

I'm honored to be part of a lecture series that recognizes a pioneering figure in communication research: sites.bu.edu/crc/crc-lect...

I'm happy to announce that Jacob Nelson and I have a book contract to write "Why We Distrust: American Skepticism Toward Media, Medicine, and Higher Education" for The MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social. Forthcoming in 2026/2027.

Can solutions journalism work for local newsrooms? Plus: Finding the strongest motivations for paying for news, how news orgs can help journalists' mental health, and why partisan-based news consumption is heavier in the US

Is solutions journalism feasible for local newsrooms with fewer resources? (And is "SOJO lite" really better than "SOJO nothing"?)

Check out our latest RQ1 newsletter to read up on key findings about news from academic research (with @markcoddington.bsky.social)

rq1.substack.com/p/can-soluti...