 |
No pot of gold at the end of the ChatGPT rainbow
As Google’s longtime global VP for news, Richard Gingras has been one of the most influential people in the journalism industry — overseeing news products, liaising with media companies, and launching the Google News Initiative.
At 73, he’s stepping down, and Duke’s Bill Adair interviewed him for Nieman Lab this week. I was struck by some of what Gingras said about AI:
— He sees “answer engines” as the future of search. When users type a query into a search engine, he said, what they’re looking for is a “simple answer,” and “AI’s capabilities to do that are, in many regards, far better than trying to figure out the answer in a series of search results.” (Related!)
️— What does that mean for publishers? Gingras stressed that queries about “current events” don’t have single, simple answers, and so “answer engine” results around news are necessarily going to be more complex than results around, say, a chocolate cake recipe:
“It would be unhelpful to the user and unwise for Google to think that we could give a simple answer or a singular answer to a complex current events query. I think it’s always going to be important to reference the different perspectives and sources of information given a news query. So I expect in the current events area there will be less impact [from AI] than in other areas of content.”
— Still, Gingras cautioned publishers who expect $$$ from licensing agreements with AI companies.
“I would be very, very cautious not to see licensing by language models as being, somehow, the path to sustainability. There’s not going to be a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow…
We’re going into a very different competitive environment. More answer engines. There’s a tremendous amount of money being invested in them. The market dynamics on the revenue side of that are unknown. The margins are likely not to be significant, so be careful what you think you might expect with regard to theoretical licensing revenue from language models.”
— Laura Hazard Owen
 |
How this year’s Pulitzer awardees used AI in their reportingFor a second year, the Pulitzer Prizes required applicants to divulge AI usage — one winner and three finalists disclosed. By Andrew Deck. |
 |
How big is the market for rigorous reporting on misinformation? This new newsletter will be an Indicator“It’s just politically expedient in this climate [for platforms] to lay low. And so this manifests in record levels of digital scams, AI slop everywhere, and entire chatbots dedicated to fringe conspiracy theories.” By Joshua Benton. |
 |
The second location of Lookout Local launches in Eugene, OregonOne month in, the new local newsroom has more than 900 paid members. By Sarah Scire. |
 |
Google’s chief emissary to the news business is stepping down — and looking back“If there’s a regret, it’s that I was not as effective as I would have liked to be in influencing and driving change across the board.” By Bill Adair. |
 |
How do you report on the weather when data is disappearing?“The U.S. has a system that is the best in the world, but we’re actively sabotaging it.” By Neel Dhanesha. |
“Some of the sites that saw the biggest increase change in their share of referral traffic from ChatGPT in April 2025 included the BBC (up 188.9% since January, driving about 118,000 visits), Fox News (up 166.3%, with about 113,000 visits) and The Independent (up 157.7%, with about 80,000 visits), according to Similarweb’s data.”
NewsGuild president Jon Schleuss: “This isn’t just a contract dispute, it’s a test of whether journalists have a say in how AI is used in our work. With no federal rules in place, union contracts remain one of the only enforceable frameworks for AI accountability on a national scale.”
“‘We understand that a settlement will be made,’ [a CBS News staffer] said. ‘We also understand that an apology [to Trump] is likely. We also understand that in doing so, CBS News will be very badly damaged.'”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters the $6.2 million infusion was “short-term emergency funding designed as a safety net for the [network’s] independent journalism.” Sweden has also pledged $2 million, but those funds haven’t arrived yet. RFE/RL is suing the Trump administration for the full $75 million that has been appropriated for it for the rest of the fiscal year.
“The mistake that we’ve seen so many media outlets make is thinking they know how an audience feels.”
“So many people didn’t even know you could still get a newspaper subscription.”
“What’s more interesting to me is the idea of journalism as an unboxing video.”
“Journalists and open source researchers have been pointing out the privacy concerns linked to Strava for years. And this very same ability to share has given journalists — and others — the ability to pinpoint movements of soldiers in European and Israeli military bases, of French nuclear submarine crews, and of the security teams of a number of world leaders.”
“His perspective may truly be that every woman in his life has a romantic or sexual interest in him, but that doesn’t make it true. His inability to see the damage he’s caused — much less change his behavior — makes me gravely concerned for all young women around him.”
