Speed, hoaxes and mistrust: How AI is transforming freelance journalism A spate of articles by a freelance journalist named Margaux Blanchard appeared in major English-language publications in 2025. But the pieces, including first-person essays for Business Insider and a ...

As featured in my and @felixsimon.bsky.social's newsletter, 45 freelance journalists and commissioning editors shared with me their experiences of the impact of GenAI on their work.

Here's the nuanced picture emerging from those testimonies.
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/speed-h...

Speed, hoaxes and mistrust: How AI is transforming freelance journalism A spate of articles by a freelance journalist named Margaux Blanchard appeared in major English-language publications in 2025. But the pieces, including first-person essays for Business Insider and a ...

We wanted to know how AI is transforming freelance journalism. So my colleague @marinaadami.bsky.social launched an open call to freelancers and commissioning editors and listened to their experiences.

What emerges is a nuanced picture Read below
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/speed-h...

A screenshot of the sign-up box for the Reuters Institute's free newsletter on the future of journalism

Oh no, I'm so sorry none of these are working! We do have a sign-up box on our website front page, if you scroll down about a third of the way! We'll definitely have a proper think about how to make this experience smoother
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk

Thank you for flagging this. We're looking into it! In the meantime, I would encourage you to subscribe directly here: politics.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post

If you're a freelance journalist or commissioning editor, please help me out!

RISJ Newsletter. 11 November 2025 Our monthly newsletter on AI and the future of news

Today we premiered our new monthly newsletter on AI and the future of news, led by journalist @marinaadami.bsky.social and researcher @felixsimon.bsky.social

A perfect example of what @reutersinstitute.bsky.social is about: connecting practice and research

Read it here
mailchi.mp/politics.ox....

JournalismAI Festival 2025: Four projects that caught our eye and a few rising trends From Zimbabwe to Cuba, here are a dozen of initiatives presented at the conference from small and medium-sized newsrooms around the world.

Did you miss the #JournalismAI Festival hosted by @charliebeckett.bsky.social @tshepotothet.bsky.social and @polislse.bsky.social?

Here's a summary by our own @marinaadami.bsky.social, with projects from Cuba, Zimbabwe, Spain and other countries
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/journal...

“It’s like drinking from polluted water”: How the UK media gets immigration coverage wrong and how to fix it In the midst of bubbling unrest around immigration in the UK, some voices are calling for the country to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). These calls often appear to be…

How the UK media gets immigration coverage wrong and how to fix it.
An article by @marinaadami.bsky.social on a new @bonavero.bsky.social
report on the UK public debate on asylum seekers and the ECHR
ft @basakcali.bsky.social, @victoriaadamant.bsky.social and @alicedonald.bsky.social
buff.ly/EfTWMfl

Starved, displaced and exhausted: Inside AFP’s fight to protect its Gaza reporters “Some of our freelancers have lost 20 or 30 kilos. Their daily battle to find food and to feed their family is immense,” says Global News Director Phil Chetwynd.

And in this interview, @afp.com's Phil Chetwynd frankly shares his organisation's efforts to protect its Gaza-based reporters and freelancers, and the unimaginable (for most of us) daily struggle of the journalists who are still there

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/starved...

OSINT, aid flights and trusted contacts: how journalists are covering Gaza’s story from afar “As long as I can share the voices of the people in Gaza, I will—whether I am with them or abroad,” said Palestinian journalist Nagham Mohanna.

The war in Gaza poses unique problems for journalism, with local reporters caught in a dire humanitarian crisis, no international journalists allowed, and a shocking death toll

I spoke to journalists who are trying a range of reporting methods:
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/osint-a...

Two Italian journalists’ phones were infiltrated with spyware. Nobody seems to know why “I’ve been spied on.” This is the message Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino shared with his readers on April 30. Pellegrino leads the Naples coverage for the news site Fanpage. Fanpage has more onlin...

Two journalists from @fanpage.it were told their phones were compromised by spyware, just a few months apart.

Nobody seems to know why.

Thank you, @ciropellegrino.bsky.social for sharing your story and @philipdisalvo.bsky.social for the context
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/two-ita...

Thank you, Philip!

How to cover the conclave: insights on the pope’s election from one of the world's leading experts “You can’t approach it as you would approach a political election. The patterns are just different,” says Corriere della Sera’s Gian Guido Vecchi. Lee este artículo en español

As an Italian and (mostly) lapsed Catholic, I really enjoyed chatting to Gian Guido Vecchi about the upcoming conclave and his job as a vaticanista, one of the small pool of reporters dedicated to following the pope full-time

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/how-cov...

Grazie, María!

How to change UK journalism: what we learnt at the launch of our report on the profession today A panel moderated by our Director, Mitali Mukherjee, discussed tech disruption, a lack of diversity and the uncertain future of young journalists.

As I was writing this, my phone kept buzzing with messages from friends who are young journalists in the UK and struggling.

This panel touched on some of the deepest-rooted issues in the industry: persistent classism and young people left behind.
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/how-cha...

International Journalism Festival 2025: what we learnt in Perugia about the future of news Here are a few highlights from the festival on journalism in exile, local news, reader revenue, news avoidance and AI and the future of news.

Did you miss the @journalismfestival.com this year? Do you want to catch up with the sessions you missed?

Read our piece on the festival, curated by our editorial team. With insights on AI, news avoidance, local news, press freedom and more #ijf25
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/interna...

Are you in Perugia today?

Our Director @mitalilive.bsky.social is hosting this conversation with our friend @sophiasgaler.bsky.social on a pressing question right now:

Who is mainstream media now?

At Teatro della Sapienza at 12:35... or online here www.journalismfestival.com/programme/20...

Are you in Perugia for @journalismfestival.com?

We are hosting an informal meetup from 16:00 to 17:30 this afternoon with coffee and gelato at Caffè Mazzini, in via 13 Giuseppe Mazzini

Come and say hello. Our journalists, our researchers and our Director @mitalilive.bsky.social will be there

As Trump guts US global media agency, thousands of journalists are left in limbo Reporters from Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia face an uncertain future, with jobs, careers, livelihoods and freedoms at risk.

This was a very moving piece to report. Some of these journalists had already had to leave jobs and homes due to harassment in their home countries, and are now faced with deep uncertainty over their future once again
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/trump-g...

We are thrilled to announce that @mitalilive.bsky.social has been appointed Director of the Reuters Institute. Mukherjee, who has been Acting Director since last October, was selected in an open process that concluded in late March

Read our full announcement
buff.ly/1beGPME
Details in thread

International Journalism Festival 2025: the events you shouldn’t miss in Perugia From 9 to 13 April, journalists worldwide will gather again for the International Journalism Festival in Perugia. Many voices from the Reuters Institute will speak at the festival. Here are some of th...

I'll be at @journalismfestival.com next week with @reutersinstitute.bsky.social
I'm interested in chatting about AI, funding, and anything future of news related, so if you'd like to get a coffee, get in touch!
I'll also be attending some panels:
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/interna...

This and the team of Oxford researchers who are digitally opening a carbonised scroll from Herculaneum are the good news I need in my day!

Journalism Today. 20 Feb 2025 By Marina Adami and Gretel Kahn 🗞️ 3 Top News Stories 1. Asking Grok and Perplexity about the German election.

Today's edition of our round-up on journalism worldwide features our new piece looking at Grok and Perplexity_ai's responses to questions about the German election, how news outlets can test how chatbots represent their content and more
www.linkedin.com/pulse/journa...

Grok’s responses to questions on the German elections were mostly accurate and relied heavily on media sources The output from Musk's chatbot and Perplexity.ai suggests that their quality depends on the work of professional journalists and public broadcasters.

In the context of X's broad shift towards right-wing content, spearheaded by Elon Musk, the platform's embedded chatbot both appears not to favour Musk and relies heavily on sources he has criticised, especially mainstream media organisations:
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/groks-r...

About to kickstart our event on climate change and new audiences with @mitalilive.bsky.social @waqasejaz.bsky.social @ivancouronne.bsky.social @katherinedunn.bsky.social

Follow updates on @reutersinstitute.bsky.social

How can foreign correspondents better collaborate with fixers?

Over 430 journalists went to Taiwan to cover the 2024 election. Many fixers they worked with experienced unfair pay and pressure to sensationalise stories.

Our Journalist Fellow Yip Wai Yee proposes an 8-point plan.

Thanks for sharing!

Journalism Today. 23 Jan 2025 By Marina Adami and Matthew Leake 🗞️ 3 Top News Stories 1. Prince Harry’s court case settled.

The latest edition of Journalism Today is out now with news about Prince Harry's settlement with Murdoch's News Group Newspapers, users' concern with perceived changes on TikTok and Instagram and the top Substack newsletters.

Read, subscribe and share.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/journa...

🧒 Young people are moving away from traditional news brands.

@watif.es, a Spanish startup focused on newsletters and podcasts, is trying to attract this key audience.

@marinaadami.bsky.social spoke to cofounder and product director @marmanriique.bsky.social to see how Watif aims to be different

🤠NEW PIECE:

Danish publisher JP/Politikens Media Group teamed up with academics to develop AI systems for its newsrooms. The almost 4-year project resulted in several applications for the company’s titles.

@marinaadami.bsky.social spoke to Kasper Lindskow
to find out what they learnt: