AI era: Media survival depends on trust, identity – INMA CEO

Earl Wilkinson, the Chief Executive Officer of the International News Media Association, has stated that the future viability of news organizations will hinge on their ability to cultivate a robust brand identity, maintain clarity in their identity, and foster relationships with targeted audiences, especially in light of the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence-generated news content.

Wilkinson emphasized that media organizations should prioritize identity, trust, and direct engagement with audiences over merely striving for reach and traffic.

During a presentation on Wednesday, he discussed the implications of Artificial Intelligence for the future of journalism, news consumption, and media business models.

Accompanying him was Doreen Mbaya, the Africa Division Manager of INMA.

He underscored that media organizations that create a unique identity and uphold editorial credibility will be best equipped to succeed in an increasingly AI-driven information landscape.

He remarked, "It’s now about the relationship. To build a relationship, you have to be a brand that people remember. You must have consistency and an emotional connection. Do people trust you? You have to figure out who you are. The decade ahead belongs to those who are unmistakably themselves."

In terms of establishing direct connections with readers, he noted that a greater number of Nigerians may need to adopt the concept of digital subscriptions and paywalls.

However, he recognized that many Nigerians might not yet be inclined to pay or subscribe for access to news articles.

He encouraged publishers to invest in data infrastructure and enhance their comprehension of readers’ habits and preferences.

He highlighted that the competition for attention, trust, and credibility in Nigeria mirrors that of the West.

"If you don’t know your people, if you don’t know who your readers are, you’re going to struggle," he stated.

Wilkinson cautioned that news organizations risk becoming ensnared in what he termed a "swamp of sameness" as publishers increasingly depend on identical artificial intelligence tools and content-generation systems.

He recognized that the surge of AI-generated content would render it progressively challenging for media organizations to differentiate themselves unless they committed to cultivating unique editorial voices, original reporting, and robust brand identities.

The CEO of INMA emphasized that the swift expansion of AI-generated content is indisputable, as it continues to transform the information ecosystem, compelling news organizations to reevaluate their value propositions.

He pointed out that the traditional competitive advantages previously held by news organizations, such as exclusive control over distribution, advertising, and audience engagement, have largely diminished in the digital era.

"Google has taken our advertising. Anyone with a phone can publish, and audience attention towards the traditional bundle is nearly nonexistent," Wilkinson remarked.

He observed that the distinctions between newspapers, television stations, radio broadcasters, and digital media platforms are rapidly blurring as all media organizations vie for the same audience.

"We are all transitioning into the liquid content business where text, video, and audio converge," he stated.

However, he emphasized that while Artificial Intelligence can produce vast quantities of text, summaries, images, and videos, it cannot substitute for journalists who physically witness events, build sources, and apply professional judgment.

"Someone went somewhere and observed something. An AI cannot replicate that," he asserted.

Furthermore, Wilkinson indicated that current trends suggest that human-written content may constitute only 0.3 percent of the material published on the Internet by 2036.

He remarked, "In 2010, approximately 95 percent of web content was authored by humans. Today, in 2026, merely 26 percent is created by human beings.

Over the course of the next decade, he noted that verified human journalism would become a premium product in the digital marketplace.

“What we know about the next 10 years is that the platforms will keep changing. We know that AI will keep accelerating. We know that the overwhelming percentage of content in the next 10 years will be produced by machines, and it will be synthetic.

“The current thing is to figure out who you are. No platform, no AI and no competitor can replace it if you build and invest in figuring out who you are,” he said.

Wilkinson argued that the overwhelming flood of AI-generated material would make authentic human journalism more valuable rather than less.

“Verified human journalism will become a premium category.

“I think if you can verify this is human-created by your team, there is a premium to be had for that at some point in the near future,” Wilkinson said.

He warned that the next decade would be marked by accelerating technological disruption and a surge in machine-generated content, making authenticity and credibility more valuable than ever.

He added, “The only things I know that are going to be scarce moving forward are verified human authorship, firsthand reporting, original reporting, source relationships and editorial judgment.”

He said audiences and commercial partners might increasingly seek content whose origins can be verified.

“We’re moving from a world in which the question every reader asks is, ‘Is this true?’ to maybe they’re asking, ‘Who made this and can I verify it was done by human beings?’”

The INMA chief executive, however, maintained that artificial intelligence should not be viewed solely as a threat, describing it as a technology with significant potential to improve newsroom efficiency and productivity.

“I think there’s more upside than downside to AI. I’m blown away by the things AI can do that there is no way human beings can do,” he said.

He added that while AI would continue to transform news production and distribution, trust, editorial judgment and brand identity would remain the defining assets of successful media organisations.

“I believe that brand identity is the last real advantage you’re going to have in this AI era. No platform, no AI and no competitor can replace it if you build and invest in figuring out who you are,” Wilkinson said.

Analysing the front pages of Nigerian newspapers, the INMA CEO described them as loud, dense and political, and at times sensational, but noted that they shared similarities with newspapers in India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya and Brazil.

He stressed that the Nigerian media must be open to change, including media genres colliding into hybrids.

Analysing the situation on the continent, Wilkinson noted that several African media houses rely heavily on government advertising and are not built to withstand political turmoil.

As media survival is threatened, Wilkinson said newspapers may continue to reduce their days of publication from seven to three to once a week.