Here are the papers at the Future of Journalism Conference 2025 presented by Reuters Institute researchers

This paper examines how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping power dynamics in the public sphere, focusing on the complex and often competing interests between news organizations, technology companies, and the state. As generative AI technologies are pushed by technology companies, adopted by news organisations, and encouraged and supported by nation states, traditional power structures in the media landscape are being reconfigured, raising questions about the future make-up of the public sphere.

Drawing on primary research including interviews with news organisation executives, AI company personnel, and regulatory authorities, an analysis of industry and mainstream press coverage and observations from workshops and events during 2023-2025 this study investigates how different stakeholders are vying for position in this evolving ecosystem.

The paper analyzes (1) how news organisations are negotiating their diminishing gatekeeping role while technology companies gain greater influence over information distribution through AI systems which increasingly compete with the products developed by the news. It then (2) examines specific cases of power contestation, including disputes over content licensing, data ownership, and content distribution. The paper concludes by proposing a research agenda focused on examining the implications of this development for democratic discourse, market competition, and public access to information.

The past decade has seen a surge in climate protests, driven by increasing public frustration over inaction in addressing climate change. Groups such as Just Stop Oil in the UK, Letzte Generation in Germany, and Les Soulèvements de la Terre in France have engaged in disruptive direct-action protests, including blocking roads, disrupting major events, and defacing artworks, with the goal of capturing the attention of the news media, policymakers, and the public at large regarding the issue of climate change inaction. However, while these tactics certainly generate media attention, their effectiveness in mobilising public support remains contested, with an ongoing debate over whether they foster engagement or alienate the public (Young & Thomas-Walters, 2024).

Journalism plays a central role in shaping perceptions of protests, often relying on established conventions that frame activism as disorderly or extreme—a process known as the protest paradigm (McLeod & Hertog, 1998). In contrast, media mobilisation theory suggests that mass media exposure enhances political knowledge and engagement (Norris, 2000), potentially increasing awareness and influencing concern over climate change and support for pro-environmental policies.

While research has examined news framing of climate activism, comparative evidence on how public responses to protest news might vary across countries and political contexts remains scarce. To address this gap, we conducted a pre-registered, multi-country survey experiment (N = 4,167) across France, Germany, the UK, and the USA, where participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: exposure to media coverage of climate protests, activist messaging on social media, or a control condition.

The study also examines whether political orientation, trust in media, and in activists influence these effects. Findings reveal that exposure to news media coverage significantly decreases support for climate protests, providing evidence for the protest paradigm. However, contrary to expectations from mobilisation theory, exposure to activist messaging did not increase support for climate protests, suggesting that even the direct communication of activist narratives may not be sufficient to counteract negative media framings.

Results also show that the effects of exposure are largely stable across ideological groups and national contexts, challenging assumptions that political orientation strongly conditions public responses. Furthermore, trust in media or activists does not mediate these effects, suggesting that other mechanisms – such as emotional reactions or perceived legitimacy – may be more influential. These findings raise critical questions about the challenges climate movements face in mobilising public support through mass media. While news coverage amplifies awareness of protests, the framing of activism in mainstream reporting may work against their broader goal of pro-climate action. The study contributes to research on media effects, political communication, and climate activism by highlighting the strategic dilemmas protest movements encounter when seeking media visibility.

Visualising climate change is a challenge for journalists. Climate images can be clichéd, disconnected and even divergent from information communicated by other modalities (such as text); and can represent a missed opportunity to engage audiences. Generative AI could potentially provide transformative opportunities to visually illustrate climate news. However, risks may include reinforcing stereotyped, inaccurate or unethical visual content, with knock-on effects on audience trust and public informedness. Working as a transdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists and journalists, we co-produced three experiments designed to represent a spectrum of potential future engagement with generative AI technology. We prompted five generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Microsoft Copilot, Generative AI by Getty Images) with seven typical climate news topics (climate change, flooding, heatwave, migration, Net Zero, COP26, nature) via three prompt styles (simple, detailed, story). These results indicate that there are substantial barriers for generative AI tools to create meaningful images for climate-related stories. We reflect on the implications of these experiments for journalists and others concerned with climate visual communication