☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here!
In today’s email:
- Featured story: How news organizations are using AI in their work
- In other news: Media’s role in the Iran war
- Looking ahead: What the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal means for the future of CNN
- Chart of the week: How do Americans think news organizations should make money?
🔥 Featured story
Newsrooms across the country are incorporating artificial intelligence into their reporting practices, causing tensions at news organizations like the Associated Press.
As local newsrooms continue to shrink, AI tools provide a low-cost way to assist with reporting tasks. But Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer has drawn attention for using AI to draft articles, with its editor revealing that a job applicant withdrew from a fellowship upon learning the position did not require any writing, but instead using an AI writing tool.
While 76% of Americans say it is extremely or very important to be able to tell if text, pictures and videos are AI-generated, only 12% are extremely or very confident they are able to do so, according to a June Pew Research Center survey. Meanwhile, a 2024 survey found that 59% of Americans think AI will lead to fewer jobs for journalists in the next 20 years.
📌 In other news
- The challenges reporters face covering the Pentagon amid Iran war; a look at President Donald Trump’s media strategy; plus, the Iranian media’s information war
- Trump says he will attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
- New program at the University of Missouri provides reporting from D.C. on Missouri politicians
- NYT publisher urges support for any news organization that does original reporting
- Perplexity AI claims that News Corp attempted to “entrap” its AI chatbot in copyright lawsuit; News Corp signs AI deal with Meta
- A look at Patch’s hyperlocal AI-generated newsletters
- Ars Technica fires senior AI reporter over the use of AI-generated quotes
- Prediction market Kalshi makes deal with AP for election data
- A profile of two Australian TV news anchors who have done a record 10,000 broadcasts together
📅 Looking ahead
Paramount Skydance is now in position to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix announced it was no longer seeking a deal last week. The pending merger has raised questions about the implications for CNN, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery, particularly given President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the cable news outlet. Paramount CEO David Ellison said Thursday that “editorial independence will absolutely be maintained” at CNN.
The vast majority of Americans have heard of CNN, and a third of Americans say they regularly get news there, according to a 2025 Center survey. This is similar to the share who regularly get news from CBS News (30%), which is already owned by Paramount Skydance.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to get news from and trust both CNN and CBS News. For example, a majority of Democrats (58%) say they trust CNN as a source of news, compared with 21% of Republicans.
📊 Chart of the week
This week’s chart comes from a recent Pew Research Center study from the Pew-Knight Initiative on Americans’ complicated relationship with news. As some news organizations continue to struggle with disruptions to their business model, we asked U.S. adults what they think should be the main way news organizations should make money. The largest share (45%) point to ads or sponsorships, while about one-in-ten each say subscriptions (11%) or government funding (10%). A quarter of Americans say they are not sure.
👋 That’s all for this week.
The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Christopher St. Aubin, Joanne Haner and Sawyer Reed. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent.
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