Declining trust, staff shortage, and artificial intelligence: key trends in journalism

A board meeting on the results of Tatarstan's media activities has been held in Kazan

Declining trust, staff shortage, and artificial intelligence: key trends in journalism
Photo: Михаил Захаров

Changing behaviour of consumers of content on the Internet, decreasing trust in sources and the active use of neural networks have become the key trends in the media in 2024. It is impossible to influence trends, therefore it is necessary to adjust and learn new things at a fast pace — the heads of publications and leading journalists of Tatarstan came to this conclusion at the final board meeting of Tatmedia. At the same time, the problem of personnel shortage is getting worse in the industry, and young professionals are in no hurry to find jobs and develop the industry. How to keep up with the times and attract the “engines of progress” of journalism — read in the material of Realnoe Vremya.

“Information space is deteriorating”

The board discussed the key trends in Tatarstan journalism. They identified four of them.

Changed interest in traditional information channels

The main source of information among Tatarstan citizens remains television, which is watched by 45% of the republic's population. Online media are in second place (44%), social networks are in third (38%). Bloggers are at the very end of the ranking with an indicator of 11%. However, the audience of TV, print and online media is decreasing -7% and -3%, respectively. Growth is observed in social networks (+4%) and messengers (+2%).

“In general, the country has been trending towards a decrease in the usual voice traffic for more than 7 years. The population is increasingly switching to instant messaging. Telegram has shown significant growth among social networks in recent years. By average daily coverage, Telegram in Russia is currently the fourth in the top most visited sites, behind only Whatsapp, Yandex, Google and ahead of Vkontakte. However, in the Republic of Tatarstan, according to a telephone survey, Telegram has overtaken WhatsApp," Salimgaraev said.

The main source of information among Tatarstan citizens remains television, which is watched by 45% of the republic's population.

Global experience shows that “in media, the winner is the one who does not put all the eggs in one basket, but rather diversifies content distribution channels.”

Level of trust in various news sources varies

Russians have become more critical of their perception of information, the head of the news agency continued. If we talk about Tatarstan, then the closest circle, messengers, experts, political scientists and online media enjoy the greatest trust among data sources.

“Many experts agree that the information space is deteriorating: the media are turning into a stream of facts and news and gradually losing their explanatory function. Previously, it was taken over by reputable publications. Now the audience is gradually flowing into news and expert telegram channels, but where is the guarantee of their reliability?” the speaker asked a question, urging journalists to return to the explanatory function.

Chairman of the State Council of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin agreed with him:

“I am not speaking today as a representative of the authorities, I am speaking as a reader. We, the readers, are interested in learning more than just about the newly published laws or decrees of the rais. What matters to us is how you explain them — the goals and objectives of the innovations. This function is on you.

“I am not speaking today as a representative of the authorities, I am speaking as a reader.”. Михаил Захаров / realnoevremya.ru

In recent years, the industry has been constantly discussing the role of bloggers in spreading information and what traditional media should do about it. According to Salimgarayev, bloggers often “disregard the laws of journalism, which require verification of the broadcast information and responsibility.”

“This is a window of opportunity for us, because people will look for islands of stability in the information space. But as practice shows, the formation of trusting and reliable content requires huge human and material resources, which we are categorically lacking," Ilshat Aminov, the chairman of the Union of Journalists of Tatarstan and CEO of the Tatarstan — Novy Vek Television and Radio Company, expressed optimism about the situation and shared the problem.”

Artificial intelligence is a challenge for the industry

“It is predicted that neural networks, having learned how to retell news based on information presented in professional media, will free the reader from the need to switch to the source. If people can easily access content summaries, why would they go to publishers' websites? The issue is becoming existential for the media," Salimgarayev admitted.

Михаил Захаров / realnoevremya.ru

Neural networks convert text into audio, and vice versa, make summaries of articles, translate and save journalists from routine work, the head of the agency described the situation. The global media continues to experiment with new technologies, and the republican media are increasingly introducing AI into their work.

“At the same time, artificial intelligence has not yet learned how to make “human” reports from the field, find interesting characters, tell instructive stories, and write high-quality longreads. Here, more than anywhere else, the support of the older generation is in demand, which has rich life experience, competent literary language, and skills of direct — as they now say, offline — communication with people. Over time and with technological changes, the basic principles of journalism remain unchanged, only new opportunities appear," the speaker believes.

Changed structure of Internet usage

It is noteworthy that the interest of the Internet audience in the news is decreasing. Whereas in 2022, users spent 70% of their online time monitoring events, in 2024 this function shifted to second place, losing 13%.

“The information behaviour of people has changed. New terms have appeared — “news snacking”, when people browse the news during lunch breaks, during lunch. Avoiding negative news is also a trend. You probably notice it yourself. People don't want to see negative information anymore, they're looking for the positive. Information can also be provided positively," Aminov added.

It is noteworthy that the interest of the Internet audience in news is decreasing. Михаил Захаров / realnoevremya.ru

He identified another trend — content personalisation:

“People are used to choosing what to watch, when, and in what volume. There is a growing interest in short formats. There is a growing trend towards presenting in an entertaining form — infotainment. This word becomes the main one in information work. Generation Z is informed only through entertainment.

“Our work cannot be cheap”

In recent years, another trend in journalism that Salimgarayev has not announced has become problematic — the worsening shortage of staff. However, he noted that there are more vacancies in the media labour market than in other industries. At the same time, the gap between average market wages and editorial staff salaries is growing.

“Understanding should come to the people who form the state order for the information agenda in the republic's media. Working in the modern media space is very difficult! It requires huge competencies from us, and it cannot be cheap, and specialists cannot be poor," Aminov hinted at the source of the problem.

“Working in the modern media space is very difficult!”. Михаил Захаров / realnoevremya.ru

He pointed out that in order for outstanding young people to appear in Tatarstan, they must first be found, trained, and adequately paid for their work.

“The development of creative industries, which include the media, opens up new horizons for content monetisation. We're like children here, to be honest," Aminov admitted. “We have a lot to learn. <...> Creative arts centres have already been established in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tula, Irkutsk, Tyumen, and Samara. It's all about money, it's all about monetising effective creative solutions that we all have here. Last year, at the board meeting, I said that we need to jump into the last carriage of the outgoing media express. Today I'm saying that we need to jump through the last door of the last carriage.

Elizaveta Punsheva

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