Change-Centric Journalism: reframing the value proposition of news for the AI age
The perfect storm sweeping through newsrooms this century has resulted in dual crises of trust and sustainability in journalism. Nothing illustrates this better than “news avoidance”: a growing trend of actively rejecting journalistic content.
In a saturated information environment shaped by Big Tech’s unchecked power and stifled by deteriorating levels of press freedom, how can journalism break through?
It’s the question preoccupying media leaders, and the one that inspired this project. Over the next pages, I will argue that, while it is true that platforms have risen to dominance through opaque algorithms and extractive surveillance practices, their influence also reflects a profound disconnect between users and news outlets. Over the past decade, people have increasingly turned to social media and messenger apps to access news – not just out of habit, but because these platforms offer immediacy, convenience, and relevance.¹
In response, newsrooms have worked to adapt, hiring teams with the skills to produce more and more content optimised for this ecosystem.² And while those efforts should be commended, journalism risks deeper failure if it does not adopt a sharper vision of purpose.
Far too often, the response to the question, “Why should journalism be saved?” is some variation of “Because it is inherently valuable”. It’s a vague and frequently immeasurable assertion that fuels an ever-increasing stream of content to compete in a market that rewards volume over value.
Framing our mission solely as the mass production and sale of content means we risk trading quality for quantity, adding noise instead of clarity, and making it harder for people to distinguish us from the rest. Ultimately, it limits journalism’s ability to reach its full potential in a modern information era.
Worst of all, it distracts newsrooms from the widely known but often disregarded reason they stay afloat in the face of unspeakable difficulties: change.
Ask almost any journalist what drew them to this profession and you will hear one commonality among their varied accounts: the desire to facilitate change.
I believe it is time to reclaim this call, reset our purpose and redirect our efforts to measuring how we equip individuals, communities, and societies to thrive. Journalism has a place in the future if it embraces a change-centric approach.
What does a change-centric approach look like? And what happens to the role of journalism as watchdog or first drafter of history? This project hopes to answer these questions by proposing a new framework for Change-Centric Journalism.
The approach is laid out in detail over the pages that follow, with concepts, methodologies and case studies that prove a focus on change need not undermine the role of newsrooms in holding power to account or providing unbiased information. These tools help to tie every editorial decision – from formats to outreach strategies – to a clear vision of impact that drives change.
While Change-Centric Journalism draws on the practical experience of small-to-medium digital outlets with a preference for local and investigative work, its insights and methods hold practical value for the wider news ecosystem.
Change-Centric Journalism adds a layer of intentionality to our work that is deeply aware – and committed to – the context in which it plays out. It is rooted in the pursuit of impact that improves the lives of people through care-based reporting and purposeful engagement with them. At its core, it aims to revitalise the kind of public life that sustains democracies.
¹ Reuters Institute. (2024). Overview and key findings of the 2024 Digital News Report. Retrieved from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2024/dnr-executive-summary
² Reuters Institute. (2025). Journalism, media and technology trends and predictions 2025. Retrieved from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2025