Ofcom’s Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report shows how this caution plays out. Audiences are spending more time online yet feel less positive about the experience, with only 59% saying the benefits outweigh the risks, down from 72% last year. At the same time, 89% feel confident online, suggesting they are comfortable navigating and using digital platforms. But that confidence does not always match their ability to distinguish reliable information from misleading content. These patterns point to broader shifts in how audiences engage with media, evaluate information, and build trust online. 

AI use becomes routine, but trust lags  

AI is moving into the mainstream quickly, with 54% of adults now reporting use, up from 31% last year. At the same time, 75% encounter AI-generated summaries in search. Adoption is not the issue. Trust is. 

Many users, 57%, say they trust AI-generated news less than human-written content. Widespread use does not translate into confidence. Even as AI becomes part of everyday experiences, skepticism remains high. AI may change how content gets surfaced, but it does not replace the need for visible authorship, sourcing, and editorial judgment. The gap between use and trust is not unique to AI. It reflects a broader shift in how audiences evaluate all media. 

Trust shifts while confidence holds 

Most viewers (85%) report using mainstream media, such as the BBC and The Guardian for news. But only 19% say they always trust it, while 21% say they always question it. This is not just a divide between those who trust and those who do not. It signals a deeper shift in how people evaluate information. 

Audiences now validate information socially. About 41% look at comments and reactions to judge credibility. In practice, a story’s reception can matter as much as its origin. Authority still matters, but it now competes with visible social context. Publishers no longer control how their content is interpreted once it enters digital environments. 

At the same time, confidence remains high. About 82% say they can spot scams, and 81% say they can recognize advertising. The results look different when tested, with only 52% correctly identifying paid search results. This gap highlights a difference between perceived ability and actual performance. 

Engagement is receding 

After years of expanding social media activity, behavior is starting to tighten, with posting declining from 61% to 49% this year. Only 14% of users say they explore new websites regularly. People are not leaving the internet, but they are narrowing how they use it. 

Sentiment declines alongside this shift. Only 36% say social media benefits their mental health, and 40% say their screen time feels too high most days. Less exploration and lower satisfaction point to a more cautious and selective user mindset. 

Data awareness is on the rise 

Most users understand that their data gets collected, with 89% aware of this. However, only 31% can identify how that collection happens. 

While 86% use at least one security measure, 26% still reuse passwords. People understand the risks around data privacy and security, but do not always act on them. At the same time, attitudes toward data use remain divided, with 34% comfortable and 37% uncomfortable with personalization. 

Younger does not mean more media literate 

These gaps are not evenly distributed. It is easy to assume younger audiences, particularly those aged 16–24, navigate digital environments better, but the data does not support that view. Younger users perform well in some areas, with 88% correctly identifying fake profiles. At the same time, only 52% recognize paid content in search. 

Older users, especially those aged 55 and over, often take a more cautious approach when dealing with scams or suspicious content. Media literacy depends more on behavior and experience than age, and it develops unevenly across contexts rather than following a generational pattern. 

The audience is recalibrating how it engages online. They still see value but feel less positive about the experience. This shift raises expectations. Trust is shaped by signals that show who created the content, where it comes from, and the context in which it appears. In this environment, clarity is a competitive advantage. 

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Paramount Skydance plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and align HBO Max with Paramount+. Executives there also plan to fold BET+ into Paramount+ this year to scale reach and streamline offerings. 

Meanwhile, Disney is deepening its Hulu integration by bringing its content into the Disney+ app. The company has signaled a move toward a single viewing destination with distinct brand hubs for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. 

Across the industry, streamers are scaling up ad-supported tiers and lean harder into live sports as they compete for audience attention and ad dollars. Yet, even as services pour billions into original programming, viewers struggle to explain what truly differentiates one streaming brand from another. 

That gap between investment and perception sets the stage for new research from Hub Entertainment. Its study, Evolution of Video Branding, examines how TV and streaming brands shape viewer decision-making in an increasingly crowded marketplace. The findings show strong brand recognition but weak brand clarity. Roughly two-thirds of viewers say they feel confident explaining how a streamer differs from competitors. That figure shows no improvement from last year, suggesting that confidence outpaces actual clarity. 

Exclusive originals no longer drive streaming differentiation 

Many services attempt to stand out through exclusive original programming, but that strategy no longer delivers the impact it once did. Original series now appear across nearly every major platform, turning exclusivity into an expectation rather than a true differentiator. 

Hub’s research highlights the limits of that approach. Viewers still cite exclusive originals as a key differentiator for leading services. However, they struggle to identify meaningful differences in value, usability, or content focus. As a result, scripted content feels increasingly interchangeable across platforms, making it harder for viewers to associate any one service with a distinct genre or identity. 

Viewers cannot remember where to watch programming 

Confusion also extends to where shows live. In a crowded streaming environment, viewers frequently forget which platform carries which title. Less than half of viewers correctly identify where to watch signature series such as Landman on Paramount+, The Pitt on HBO Max, or High Potential on Hulu within Disney+. Awareness drops even further for newer buzz-driven titles. Barely one in 10 viewers correctly identifies HBO Max as the home of Heated Rivalry. 

That confusion carries real consequences. If viewers cannot remember where a show lives, that show fails to reinforce the brand behind it. Original programming loses power as a brand signal when it does not anchor clearly to a service in viewers’ minds. 

For streamers, sports still breaks through the noise 

Sports programming shows a greater ability to cut through the interchangeable scripted landscape in Hub’s research. Peacock’s February coverage of the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics drives stronger differentiation around sports. It underscores that live, culturally significant events can deliver clear brand signals. 

YouTube moves closer to a TV identity 

While traditional streamers wrestle with differentiation, YouTube continues to move deeper into the television conversation. Long viewed primarily as a social and creator driven platform, YouTube increasingly functions like a TV network in the eyes of many viewers. 

Hub’s research shows a near split between viewers who see YouTube as a creator platform and those who see it as a TV or streaming service. Younger audiences lead that shift. Thirty-two percent of viewers under the age of 35 consider YouTube more of a TV or streaming service, compared with 24% of viewers age 35 and older. The growth of long form content and living room viewing pushes YouTube further into traditional television territory. 

As consolidation accelerates and platforms bundle more content under fewer destinations, scale alone does not solve the branding problem facing streamers. Hub’s research shows that brand clarity comes less from the volume of originals and more from the consistency of what a service represents to viewers. Services that send clear signals around value, quality, genre focus, or viewing experience stand out more, even as individual programs blur together in viewers’ minds. 

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A recent study, Do Journalists’ Political Orientations Translate into Partisan News Reporting? The Limits of Bias and the Limits of Counter Mechanisms, examines how journalists’ views interact with newsroom structures and professional norms and how those dynamics shape coverage. 

The findings point to a more complex reality than public debate suggests. Personal ideology rarely appears directly in reporting. Instead, newsroom processes and professional expectations shape how political news reaches audiences. 

Measuring bias in news coverage 

The research, conducted in Austria, combines content analysis with a survey of journalists. This approach links what journalists say they believe with what they publish. Austria provides a useful test case for many western newsrooms because its media system includes multiple political parties and a strong tradition of separating news from opinion. These conditions shape how journalists work and how editors oversee coverage. 

The study examines three areas where bias could appear: 

1. Subjectivity, when reporting includes personal opinions 

2. Party visibility, or how often certain political actors appear 

3. Issue framing, or how stories present debates through perspectives such as economic impact or social policy 

Together, these measures show whether personal views shape political coverage. 

What shapes reporting beyond personal ideology 

The survey findings show that many journalists place themselves slightly left of the center, a perspective shaped by education, location, and career paths. However, journalists’ political views show little connection to which parties appear in stories or how issues are framed. Across the sample, coverage stays close to the political center and even shows a slight lean to the right overall. This gap between personal views and published coverage points to other forces that shape reporting beyond individual ideology. 

The study points to newsroom structures as a key part of the explanation. Journalists work within editorial systems that shape how stories develop through review processes, routines, and shared expectations. These factors limit overt bias and encourage more balanced coverage. 

Autonomy also matters. Here, autonomy refers to the level of editorial control journalists have over their work, including how they select sources, frame stories, and shape narratives. Greater autonomy gives journalists more room for individual judgment, which can strengthen independent reporting but also increase the influence of personal perspectives on framing. Journalists who report less autonomy show weaker links between their views and how they frame stories. This contrast highlights how editorial oversight helps maintain consistency in coverage.  

Professional norms and the limits of editorial control 

Newsroom structure is not the only force impacting political perspectives in news coverage. Professional norms also guide how journalists approach their work. Many define their role through principles such as observing events, presenting facts, and helping audiences understand public issues. Journalists who strongly embrace these norms show weaker links between personal views and subjective reporting. Professional identity acts as a check on how far personal views enter coverage. 

The findings also show how representation and framing influence the reporting process, with some elements easier for newsrooms to manage than others. Party representation falls more directly under editorial control, since editors can quickly assess whether a story includes multiple political actors and ensure a range of viewpoints. 

Framing works in a different way. Even with the same sources, stories can present issues through different perspectives based on emphasis and context. These choices rely more on individual judgment than editorial direction, which makes framing harder to monitor. The sources remain visible, but the perspective can shift more subtly. 

This study shows that personal ideology does not move directly into published reporting. Instead, it is filtered and shaped through editorial processes, professional norms, and newsroom culture. For media leaders, the implication is clear: the integrity of political coverage is less about individual viewpoints and more about the strength of the systems that govern how journalism is produced.  

Editorial standards, review structures, and shared professional norms are mechanisms that sustain trust. That discipline is a competitive advantage. It distinguishes professional journalism in an increasingly fragmented and unverified information environment. 

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A new form of search visibility is emerging, and it isn’t measured in rankings. 

As generative AI assistants increasingly answer questions directly, the brands that appear inside those responses are shaping consumer decisions before a click ever happens. Instead of navigating lists of links, users increasingly receive synthesized answers that combine comparison, explanation, and recommendation in a single response.  

In this environment, visibility no longer depends on ranking position alone. Inclusion within the AI-generated answer determines which brands consumers encounter. New research from Similarweb’s 2026 AI Brand Visibility Index shows how this shift is already reshaping competition across six industries: beauty, consumer electronics, fashion, finance, travel — and news. 

Across industries, three patterns consistently shape which brands appear inside AI-generated answers: 

1. Visibility concentrates among a small group of brands. 
   A limited number of companies dominate AI mentions and frequently become default reference points within their category. 

2. Momentum varies across brands. 
   Some brands rapidly increase their presence in AI responses, while others plateau or decline despite strong consumer recognition. 

3. Authority often outweighs demand. 
   Specialist and education-led brands frequently achieve higher AI visibility than their branded search demand suggests. 

AI reshapes early discovery in the purchase journey 

The research also highlights a shift in how consumers move through the purchase journey. AI increasingly dominates the upper stage of discovery, when consumers seek inspiration and explore options. As purchase intent strengthens, many users return to traditional search engines to navigate to specific sites and complete transactions. 

This behavior increases the importance of early visibility. Brands that do not appear in the initial AI conversation risk exclusion from later stages of the purchase journey. 

Visits to AI platforms continue to grow, yet referrals from these platforms show a disconnect. AI assistants evolve into all-in-one environments that keep users inside the platform. In this minimal-click environment, AI visibility becomes a critical metric for brands and publishers. 

News visibility reflects authority and partnerships 

For publishers, the news category reveals two forces shaping visibility inside AI responses: topical authority and platform access. 

Specialist and reference-driven publishers often achieve strong AI visibility even when overall brand demand remains lower. Publications such as ScienceDirect, PC Gamer, and Taste of Home rank highly because their content answers specific, structured questions across scientific, technical, and lifestyle topics. 

Commercial partnerships also appear among many highly visible news brands. The top ten news sites in the index include Reuters, The Guardian, AP News, CBS News, The Washington Post, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Variety, and The New York Post. Many of these publishers maintain commercial relationships with AI platforms, while CBS News and Variety do not. 

Together, these signals suggest that both topical authority and platform access influence which publishers appear inside AI-generated answers. 

From search optimization to answer optimization 

The shift toward AI-driven discovery introduces a new focus on optimization for AI responses. Core principles from traditional search optimization remain relevant. Brands benefit from strong onsite content, trusted external references, and sound technical infrastructure. 

AI systems identify signals of authority across multiple sources. Visibility increases when brands appear across trusted sources that answer specific user questions. 

This dynamic reinforces the authority signal identified earlier in the research. Brands with strong category expertise and durable digital presence often achieve higher AI visibility than search demand alone would predict. The research also identifies overachieving brands that outperform expectations relative to branded search demand, demonstrating how specialist expertise and structured informational content can compete with scale. 

AI visibility becomes a critical marketing metric 

AI visibility now plays a growing role in digital discovery. As AI assistants deliver answers directly within their interfaces, inclusion inside those responses increasingly determines which brands consumers encounter. This shift increases the importance of tracking AI visibility alongside traditional search metrics. Competitive benchmarking, authority signals, and structured informational content now play a larger role in determining digital presence. 

As generative AI continues to reshape discovery, inclusion within AI-generated answers will increasingly signal digital influence. Thus, the brands and publishers that appear in those answers will shape the choices consumers make. 

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A new study examining X offers fresh insight into the question. The research finds that algorithmic feeds increase engagement compared with chronological feeds while also shifting certain political attitudes and altering the mix of political content users encounter. The findings help clarify how recommendation systems shape the information environment in which audiences consume news and commentary.

The study tracked nearly 5,000 active U.S. users of X over a seven-week period. Participants used either an algorithmic feed or a chronological feed, enabling researchers to compare how each format affected engagement, content exposure, and survey responses related to policy priorities.

Researchers randomly assigned participants to one of the two feed experiences. Throughout the study, they analyzed survey responses, the content appearing in each user’s feed, and behavioral signals such as likes, reposts, and comments.

Patterns emerge in engagement and content exposure

Posts surfaced by the algorithm generated substantially more interaction than those appearing in chronological feeds. On average, recommended posts received about five times more likes and several times more reposts and comments. The higher level of engagement reflects how algorithmic systems elevate posts that spark strong reactions or conversation.

Participants who moved from chronological feeds to algorithmic feeds were also more likely to maintain or increase their use of X. In practice, the recommendation system steered attention toward posts that generate ongoing engagement, reinforcing activity on the platform.

The algorithm also altered the composition of content appearing in users’ feeds. Recommendation-driven feeds contained more political posts overall and a greater share of content from political activists. At the same time, posts from traditional news organizations appeared less frequently.

Across users with different political affiliations, the algorithmic feed increased the share of conservative political content appearing in feeds. As exposure shifted, so did the issues users emphasized. Participants became more likely to prioritize policy topics commonly highlighted by Republicans, including immigration, crime, and inflation.

Algorithms shape information networks

Public discussion about social media algorithms often focuses on how platforms rank individual posts. Earlier research examining Facebook and Instagram during the 2020 election suggested that ranking alone may not significantly alter political attitudes. In those experiments, removing algorithmic feeds did not produce measurable changes in users’ views.

The new research on X suggests that the political effects of algorithms may emerge through a different mechanism. Recommendation systems influence which accounts users discover and choose to follow, gradually shaping the networks that define their information environment.

The study finds that the most noticeable changes occur when users first move from a chronological feed to an algorithmic one. Exposure to recommendations encourages users to follow new accounts, particularly those run by political activists. Once those accounts become part of a user’s network, their content continues appearing in the feed even if the ranking system changes.

As a result, turning an algorithm off does not necessarily reverse the earlier effects. The recommendation system has already reshaped the user’s information network, influencing which voices appear regularly in the feed. In that sense, algorithms operate not only as ranking systems but also as engines of network formation.

The study also indicates that algorithmic exposure may influence politics indirectly. Rather than shifting party identification, recommendation systems appear to affect how users interpret events and which policy issues they view as most important.

The authors note that the findings apply specifically to X and to the time period examined in the experiment. Algorithms evolve frequently, and different platforms may produce different outcomes. Even so, the research provides rare experimental evidence showing how recommendation systems shape political information flows online.

For publishers and policymakers alike, the implications extend beyond a single platform. As algorithmic feeds increasingly mediate access to news and public debate, understanding how those systems influence engagement, exposure, and information networks remains essential.

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Ad tech firms argue that behavioral tracking improves efficiency across the ecosystem. They maintain that it delivers more relevant ads, reduces wasted spending, and increases publisher revenue. The concern, however, is not simply whether tracking improves performance. It is whether, in a concentrated market, tracking reinforces the firms that control the infrastructure rather than delivering broad gains for advertisers, publishers, and consumers. 

New research puts that debate to the test. 

Economic Rationales for Regulating Behavioral Ads, by Pegah Moradi, Cristobal Cheyre, and Alessandro Acquisti, reviews economic evidence on behavioral advertising. The authors evaluate whether tracking delivers the efficiency gains intermediaries claim. They find that when a small number of firms control key parts of the system, behavioral advertising often strengthens those firms rather than delivering broad gains across advertisers, publishers, and consumers. 

A federal judge reached a similar conclusion about market structure in United States v. Google LLC. The court ruled that Google unlawfully maintains monopoly power in key segments of the ad tech market. It found that Google’s control over both the publisher ad server and the ad exchange enabled it to entrench its dominance across multiple layers of the stack, restrict alternatives, and distort competition. The case now moves into a remedies phase that will determine whether structural or behavioral changes are required. 

Together, the research and the ruling point to the same issue: control over infrastructure shapes outcomes in digital advertising. 

Intermediaries capture a large share of revenue 

The research examines how digital ad auctions allocate value as advertiser competition increases. As more advertisers bid to reach the same users, bidding pressure rises. The intermediaries operating those auctions capture a significant share of that incremental spending. Studies cited in the report show that dominant ad tech firms can take 30 percent or more of each advertising dollar that flows through the system. 

The authors do not argue that advertising lacks value. They argue that who controls the trading systems strongly influences how that value is divided. 

In the Google case, the court examines how control over publisher ad servers and exchanges affects competition. By maintaining dominance across multiple layers of the ad tech stack, Google gains the ability to influence pricing, auction mechanics, and access to demand. The court concludes that this structure harms competition. The ruling supports the conclusion that control over ad tech infrastructure plays a central role in shaping market outcomes. 

Behavioral targeting and market adjustment 

The report explains how behavioral targeting allows firms to group users based on data and earn more from certain audiences. It then examines whether this practice expands total value in the market or mainly shifts revenue among advertisers, publishers, intermediaries, and consumers. The authors find limited evidence that tracking consistently produces substantial new gains across the ecosystem. 

This finding shapes the debate over privacy regulation. Critics argue that limiting tracking would damage innovation and eliminate free digital content. After reviewing evidence from GDPR and Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework, the paper finds little support for predictions of market collapse. Digital advertising continues, firms adjust their strategies and markets adapt. 

The report finds that when tracking declines, companies adapt. Competition shifts, but digital advertising and content remain in place. 

Ad infrastructure determines outcomes 

The debate over behavioral advertising comes down to two competing explanations. One holds that tracking improves ad performance and increases revenue across the ecosystem. The research challenges that claim. It shows that when a few firms control the data and auction systems, tracking often strengthens their market power rather than delivering broad gains. 

The court’s ruling in United States v. Google LLC reflects the same concern. Its findings about monopoly power and harmful tying focus on how control over key ad tech systems can distort competition. 

For premium publishers, this is not an abstract policy question. The rules of the system and who controls them shape outcomes. The federal ruling signals that the structure of digital advertising markets warrants continued scrutiny. As the remedies phase proceeds, changes could alter how value flows among advertisers, intermediaries, and publishers.  

Market structure determines who sets the terms of pricing, how bids clear, and whether investment in trusted content is rewarded through open competition. Sustainable digital markets require competition, transparency, and balanced bargaining power. Strong markets reward content creation and innovation rather than control over infrastructure and data extraction. The research and the courts have made one thing clear: digital advertising has reached an important inflection point. 

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HUB Entertainment Research’s new report finds that viewers no longer treat social video as separate from television. They integrate it directly into their TV experience, with social and creator video increasingly becoming part of the living room screen. Among viewers ages 13 to 24, 54% say watching short clips on TV feels just as fun as watching longer shows or movies. Among those aged 25 to 34, that number rises to 63%. Even 39% of viewers aged 35 and older agree. In practice, the distinction between television and social video holds less meaning for many audiences. 

HUB’s findings align with DCN’s research, Decoding Video Content Engagement: Gen Z & Gen Y in Focus. Short form and social video are no longer peripheral channels. They function as core components of the media ecosystem and drive engagement, discovery, and loyalty. A video strategy that overlooks these platforms ignores how audiences actually consume content. 

Viewers treat YouTube as television 

YouTube plays a major role in how audiences watch video on television screens. Viewers increasingly treat YouTube as television rather than a separate category. When content appears on the TV screen, it feels intentional and immersive. It gains focus and legitimacy. It no longer feels disposable, even when the content runs only a few minutes. 

According to HUB, self-reported time spent watching social and creator videos remain steady since 2022. During the same period, time spent watching TV shows and movies declines by roughly two hours per week. This pattern shows how attention fragments across formats and moments. Social video fills time that once defaulted to linear viewing because it fits more easily into daily routines. 

Younger viewers feel conflicted but committed 

More than half of younger viewers say they spend too much time watching social video. At the same time, they describe it as easy, fun, and culturally relevant. That contradiction defines how many young audiences relate to media today. They recognize habit driven behavior but continue to value what social video delivers. Personality, authenticity, and immediacy keep social content appealing. These traits matter more than polish or production scale. 

Viewers who are 35 and older spend fewer hours watching social videos than younger groups. However, their usage grows faster than any other age segment. Social video no longer belongs only to youth culture. It increasingly attracts mainstream audiences, especially when viewed on television screens. For media companies, this broadens the opportunity to reach older viewers through creator driven formats. 

Creators shape discovery across platforms 

HUB finds that official trailers on social platforms influence nearly half of viewers when choosing new shows or movies. Short clips, recaps, and behind the scenes videos also play an important role in discovery. 

Discovery no longer starts with network promos or streaming homepages. It begins in feeds where audiences already spend time. Creators and algorithms play a central role in shaping audience attention. Viewers increasingly rely on feeds rather than schedules or homepages. They rarely start with the question of where to watch. Algorithms surface clips based on past behavior, social signals, and cultural momentum. What appears next often determines what they watch at all. 

Creators act as filters in this environment. Their reactions, edits, and commentary help audiences decide what content deserves time. A clip from a trusted creator often carries more weight than a traditional promotion.  

Social and creator video no longer sit outside the TV ecosystem. They influence how audiences spend time, discover content, and define value. Ignoring them means misunderstanding modern viewing behavior.  

Media companies are responding by partnering with creators, licensing social formats, and experimenting with distribution. These strategies reflect audience reality, not trend chasing. Winning attention means meeting audiences on the screens and platforms where they spend their time. 

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This structural shift sits at the center of today’s sustainability debate across media and culture. And it is important to recognize that copyright remains an economic issue not just a legacy legal one. As platforms centralize distribution and monetization, copyright is one of the few mechanisms that still anchors creator claims to value inside digital markets. Without it, bargaining power erodes further—not because creators fail to innovate, but because market design favors intermediaries over originators. 

Axel Springer’s new research-based assessment, Cultural Funding and Financing, examines this imbalance across traditional and digital markets. Rather than treating copyright as a purely legal safeguard, the analysis positions it within broader systems of value creation and capture. It shows how revenue flows, incentives, and negotiating power have shifted as culture has moved online. The findings clarify why access alone is insufficient, and why sustainable digital markets depend on mechanisms that reconnect scale with compensation. 

Copyright as an economic tool 

Digitalization lowers distribution costs and removes many physical barriers to entry. Creators reach global audiences faster and with fewer upfront investments. At the same time, platforms concentrate decision making around visibility, pricing, and revenue sharing. Creators gain reach but lose leverage. 

Most creators and publishers must accept standardized terms to participate in platform ecosystems. Algorithms shape discovery and prioritize engagement metrics. Data access remains limited. Revenue flows follow platform incentives rather than creator value. This pattern reflects market structure, not individual performance or strategy. 

Public debate often frames copyright as a legal or moral issue. However, this research treats copyright instead as an economic instrument that shapes incentives, bargaining power, and market outcomes. Copyright systems exist to encourage creation while preserving public access to knowledge and culture. 

Digital markets complicate that balance. Reproduction costs approach zero. Content circulates instantly across borders. Platforms mediate nearly every use of creative work. Even so, copyright remains one of the few tools that anchors creator claims within digital markets. Without it, bargaining power erodes further. 

Platform power and value capture 

The research places integrated platforms at the center of the digitalization paradox. These platforms combine content distribution, discovery, advertising, data collection, and payment functions within a single ecosystem. Social, search, and aggregation platforms increasingly act as gatekeepers between creators and audiences, shaping how content circulates and how revenue flows. 

For premium content companies, platform power shapes how value moves through the market. Referral traffic, subscription conversion, licensing opportunities, and brand visibility depend on external rules. Copyright operates inside those constraints, not outside them. Strong rights matter, but market structure determines how those rights function in practice. 

Open access delivers clear public benefits. Audiences gain convenience, choice, and scale. Yet access without compensation undermines long-term production. Journalism and cultural work require sustained investment, not one-time distribution gains. The research highlights this trade off directly. Sustainable digital markets require mechanisms that reward creation while preserving access. That balance sits at the center of policy debates around copyright, competition, and platform regulation. Each choice reshapes incentives across the ecosystem. 

Publishers operate inside this paradox every day. Digital publishing depends on platforms for reach and discovery. It also depends on reliable revenue to support original reporting and production. Understanding value capture clarifies why audience growth alone does not ensure sustainability. It also explains why licensing, attribution, and usage terms remain core business concerns. Copyright debates connect directly to publisher strategy, not just legal theory. 

Markets evolve within policy frameworks. Regulation influences bargaining power, revenue distribution, and long-term viability. The research avoids simple solutions and instead maps tradeoffs between openness, incentives, and sustainability. Copyright reform represents one lever among many. Its impact depends on enforcement, market design, and complementary competition policy. For publishers and creators, these choices determine whether digital markets reward creation or merely distribute it. 

The future of digital copyright

Digitalization does not inherently require dependence on intermediaries. Yet under current market structures, distribution, monetization, and data have become increasingly concentrated within platforms. That concentration shapes bargaining dynamics, revenue flows, and the ability of creators and publishers to translate reach into sustainable economics.  

Copyright alone cannot resolve these imbalances, but it remains a necessary economic foundation. Without enforceable rights, creators have fewer mechanisms to assert value in markets where platforms coordinate access, pricing, and usage at scale. Sustainable digital markets therefore depend on how copyright operates alongside competition policy and platform governance and on whether these systems preserve incentives for continued investment in original work. 

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New research from the Center for News, Technology & Innovation examines how habitual chatbot users in the United States and India use these tools to stay informed. The study focuses on 53 people who use AI chatbots at least weekly and who follow current events somewhat closely or very closely. While the sample is small and qualitative, the research offers insight into how early adopters think about AI chatbots and how usage shapes attitudes toward news.

Rather than fully replacing news, habitual users describe using chatbots as an added layer in their information routines. News organizations remain a frequent starting point, while chatbots help interpret, summarize, or apply what users have read. At the same time, these patterns suggest that some functions traditionally performed by news sites, such as backgrounding or quick updates, may increasingly shift into AI interfaces.

Across interviews, three themes stand out: action, ease, and personalization.

Information that supports action

Most participants use AI chatbots to help them act on what they learn. They look for information that supports decisions, clarifies next steps, or explains practical consequences. This motivation cuts across countries and topics.

While action is a recurring theme, interviewees do not describe journalism itself as purely a tool for decision-making. Many point to news organizations as essential for surfacing issues, establishing credibility, and helping them understand what matters in the first place. Chatbots tend to enter the process after that initial exposure, helping users navigate complexity rather than define what is newsworthy.

Users ask chatbots how policy changes affect their jobs, finances, or immigration status. They seek explanations of tariffs, elections, government shutdowns, and visa rules in terms that connect directly to personal impact. Even when they start with a factual question, they often receive responses framed around what to do next, which users often describe useful.

This does not mean people stop reading news articles. Many interviewees describe a pattern that starts with news and continues with a chatbot. After reading a story, they turn to a chatbot to ask follow-up questions, request context, or explore implications. For higher-stakes decisions, such as legal rights or official procedures, they often confirm chatbot outputs with government or institutional sources.

In India, some users go a step further and ask chatbots to forecast outcomes in finance, politics, or even personal matters. While users often express skepticism about predictions, they still find value in seeing possibilities laid out clearly. In the United States, users tend to avoid direct predictions and instead ask which indicators or sources to monitor.

Across both countries, people often judge information by whether it helps them make decisions or understand the consequences. A few interviewees describe news consumption as an end. They look for information that helps them sort through complexity and understand what events mean for their own lives.

Ease matters as much as content

Interviewees consistently describe AI chatbots as fast, clean, and efficient. They value short sentences, clear hierarchies, bullet points, and summaries that strip away clutter. Many contrast this experience with some news websites that feel crowded with ads, popups, and competing visual elements.

Speed plays a central role. Users say chatbots save time by reducing the need to click through multiple links or compare sources manually. This matters most for tasks they find tedious, such as summarizing long articles, checking background details, or getting quick updates on ongoing stories.

Several participants describe chatbots as an alternative to search, especially for narrowly scoped questions. Instead of scrolling through results, they receive a synthesized response that they can refine through follow-up prompts. This conversational flow allows users to adjust depth and complexity until the information feels right.

Ease also includes tone. Many users describe chatbots as friendly, patient, and nonjudgmental. They feel comfortable asking questions they might hesitate to ask another person or even a search engine. While users understand at some level that chatbots do not think or reason like humans, they still respond to the interaction as if it were social.

Personalization and control

Personalization emerges as another key driver. Users like the ability to tailor explanations to their level of knowledge, ask for simpler language, or request more detail. Some use this feature to help children learn or to understand unfamiliar topics without feeling overwhelmed.

Long chat histories reinforce this sense of personalization. Users return to the same chatbot because it remembers prior conversations and preferences, which makes interactions feel more efficient over time.

At the same time, trust remains uneven. Most interviewees express limited understanding of how either journalism or AI chatbots work. Many assume that cited sources guarantee accuracy and rarely click through to verify them. When they do verify, they rely on gut instinct or the perceived stakes of the information.

Despite this, users show more patience with chatbots than with news outlets. When a chatbot provides an incomplete or incorrect answer, users often rephrase the question or try again. They treat the interaction as collaborative rather than final.

Where chatbots fit into news use today

The findings suggest that habitual chatbot users do not reject journalism. Instead, they look for ways to make information more usable, more navigable, and more responsive to individual needs. They expect clarity, context, and flexibility, especially when stories involve complexity or uncertainty.

As chatbots continue to shape how people experience information, they are also raising expectations that journalism must contend with. Audiences increasingly want news that is clear, contextual, and easy to navigate, even when stories are complex or uncertain. For news organizations, the challenge is not whether to compete with chatbots, but how to ensure that trusted reporting remains visible, usable, and clearly attributable as these new interfaces become part of everyday information use.

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DCN’s Q4 2025 Digital Subscription Tracking Report reveals a U.S. digital media market defined by rising household spending, more deliberate subscription decisions, and growing reliance on ad-supported and bundled access. Nearly all U.S. Online households (97.0%) continue to participate in the digital media economy, but consumers are increasingly focused on maximizing value as prices rise.

Average monthly household media spend reached $159, up from $151 year over year, driven largely by pricing increases across streaming video, digital news, and audio. Rather than exiting categories, households are adapting by rebalancing portfolios, switching tiers, and leaning into bundles to manage costs while maintaining access.

Ad-supported access moves to the center

Ad-supported options now sit at the core of the media mix, shaping how consumers think about both free and paid services. Free and paid offerings increasingly function as a single ecosystem, with households blending access points to balance affordability and engagement. This shift highlights the growing importance of advertising-supported models as a gateway to scale, flexibility, and retention.

Bundles and reallocation over cancellation

As budgets tighten, consumers are making more strategic trade-offs. Instead of canceling outright, households are narrowing their subscription lineups, reallocating spend and selecting bundled offerings that extend value across categories. Bundling continues to play a crucial role in helping consumers stay connected to premium content while managing monthly costs.

A value-driven phase of maturity

The Q4 findings reinforce that the digital media market remains strong while becoming increasingly intentional. Rising spend, tighter choices, and greater reliance on ad-supported and bundled access reflect a mature ecosystem in which consumers are actively managing value rather than pulling back.

As the market moves into 2026, flexibility in pricing, packaging, and access models will remain central to sustaining growth and loyalty in an increasingly crowded subscription landscape.

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