{
  "id": 10368097,
  "title": "News media must stay relevant or ‘society will struggle’, says World News Day boss",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/news-media-must-stay-relevant-or-society-will-struggle-says-world",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-28T04:40:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "KahawaTungu",
    "slug": "kahawatungu",
    "url": "https://kahawatungu.com/news-media-must-stay-relevant-or-society-will-struggle-says-world-news-day-boss/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "More than a thousand news organizations across the globe have pledged their support for World News Day on Monday, a day dedicated to emphasizing the importance of journalism amid the industry's \"existential threat\". Esteemed publications like the New York Times, Reuters, and the Kyiv Independent are contributing editorials, advertisements, and cartoons to underscore the significance of \"trusted journalism\". A recent Reuters Institute Digital News Report revealed that trust in news has plummeted to an all-time low globally in 2026, with people gravitating towards social media and AI chatbots for their news consumption. World News Day co-organizer, Branko Brkic, emphasized the need for collaborative efforts among news providers, stating that \"if we do not change the game, we are just not going to exist\". The initiative has expanded since its inception in 2018, with its core message being that \"trusted journalism matters\". Amid a backdrop of widespread skepticism and cynicism towards news, as well as a growing reliance on alternative sources and formats, social media and video platforms have emerged as the primary sources of online news, yet are perceived as less trustworthy by the public. Ofcom, the UK media regulator, reported that individuals now obtain news from an array of sources, with YouTube experiencing rapid growth and a substantial 20% of people utilizing AI tools to access news. However, this abundance of options has coincided with heightened uncertainty about credibility, with traditional news outlets still being viewed as more reliable, accurate, and impartial than online platforms. Brkic, co-founder of South Africa's Daily Maverick, acknowledges the evolving media landscape and believes that established news organizations must adapt. \"The old days are not coming back. We need to form a new equilibrium, and the only way we can do it is that if we actually join forces,\" he stated. \"If we continue like this, we're just going to be weak individual players waiting to be taken out. If we don't change something pretty fundamentally and pretty urgently, we're just going to be roadkill.\" While recognizing the imperfections of mainstream media, Brkic stressed the indispensable role of professional and trustworthy journalists in society, emphasizing the necessity of truth and facts. He added, \"This is the information-based society. We are the infrastructure for that information-based society, and that society is actually going to really struggle without us.\"",
  "summary": "More than 1,000 news providers around the world have signed up to support World News Day on Monday, which aims to promote the role of journalism at a time when organisers say the industry faces an “existential threat”. Participating media organisations, including the New York Times, Reuters and the Kyiv Independent, are sharing editorials, ads [...] The post News media must stay relevant or…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
        "title": "News media must stay relevant or ‘society will struggle’, says World News Day boss",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/news-media-must-stay-relevant-or-society-will-struggle-says-world-10355320",
        "published": "2026-09-27T22:56:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "BBC World",
        "title": "News media must stay relevant or 'society will struggle', says World News Day boss",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/news-media-must-stay-relevant-or-society-will-struggle-says-world",
        "published": "2026-09-27T23:27:22.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}