By AMIT KUMAR
Journalism is not disappearing, but the traditional business model that powered digital publishing for years is undergoing a fundamental disruption, with artificial intelligence, changing Google search behaviour and social-media algorithms forcing journalists and publishers to rethink how audiences are built and retained.
New Delhi, September 2, 2026 — Vick Daniel, co-founder of GRV Media, argues that the journalists who succeed in the emerging media environment will need to develop skills beyond producing good journalism. They will increasingly need to understand how to find, engage and retain audiences without depending entirely on Big Tech platforms.
“Journalism is facing enormous disruption due to the introduction of AI and the changes that Google has made to the Open Web – but disruption can create new opportunities,” Daniel wrote on LinkedIn.
According to Daniel, the central change is not the disappearance of journalism but the transformation of how journalism is discovered, consumed, distributed and monetised.
Traditional digital publishing model under pressure
For years, publishers were able to build large audiences through search engines and social-media platforms. However, Daniel argues that publishers never truly owned much of that audience.
“The publisher produced the content, but Big Tech often controlled how people discovered it,” he wrote.
That dependence has become increasingly problematic as changes to Facebook distribution, Google algorithms and user search behaviour have reduced traffic for many publishers.
The result is a structural challenge for online journalism. A publisher may invest heavily in reporting and content production but remain dependent on external platforms to deliver readers.
Daniel argues that this model has become increasingly fragile.
AI Overviews and the rise of zero-click consumption
One of the biggest changes is the emergence of AI-generated answers within search.
Daniel points to AI Overviews as a driver of what he describes as “zero-click consumption”, where users can receive information without necessarily visiting the website that produced the underlying journalism.
This creates a difficult equation for publishers.
Fewer website visits can mean fewer page views. Fewer page views can translate into lower advertising revenue and fewer opportunities to convert casual readers into subscribers.
Daniel describes the resulting chain as fewer page views, less advertising revenue, fewer opportunities to develop subscribers and weaker relationships between publishers and audiences.
“Unsurprisingly, many publishers are now in a death spiral – and very few are taking on new hires,” he wrote.
Direct audience relationships become crucial
Daniel believes the disruption also presents an opportunity.
Instead of relying overwhelmingly on search engines and social-media platforms, publishers will increasingly need to establish direct relationships with their readers.
That could mean investing in newsletters, mobile applications, podcasts, communities, live events, notifications and reader registration.
The underlying objective is to create channels through which publishers can communicate directly with audiences rather than depending entirely on algorithmic distribution.
“Publishers will need direct relationships with readers to survive,” Daniel wrote.
For journalists, that shift could fundamentally change what employers expect from new recruits.
The journalist as an audience builder
The modern journalist, according to Daniel, will need to demonstrate a broader range of capabilities.
Producing strong written journalism remains important, but it may no longer be enough on its own.
Daniel argues that journalists should experiment with different formats and platforms, particularly if they want to enter an increasingly competitive media industry.
His advice to aspiring journalists is to create something of their own.
That could mean launching a newsletter, producing a podcast, building a short-video account around a specialist subject, creating a sports community, covering a local sports team, producing a video series or starting a specialist publication.
The objective is not necessarily to build a massive following.
“You don’t need millions of followers – you just need to demonstrate that you have the versatility to add-value in the brave new world of journalism,” Daniel wrote.
‘Show that you get it’
For aspiring journalists, Daniel’s argument effectively shifts the emphasis from simply having a portfolio of published articles to demonstrating the ability to build and sustain an audience.
A journalist who creates a newsletter, podcast, specialist website or video series can demonstrate several skills simultaneously: reporting, storytelling, audience development, distribution, branding and an understanding of digital consumption.
“If you can create something that people choose to regularly consume, you will have something extremely valuable to show to a potential employer,” Daniel wrote.
This could become increasingly important as traditional news organisations rethink their hiring requirements.
The journalist of the future may therefore be expected to function not only as a reporter or writer but also as a multimedia creator, audience strategist and community builder.
Journalism careers are changing with the industry
Daniel’s assessment points to a broader transformation in journalism careers.
The decline of traffic generated through traditional search and social distribution does not necessarily mean fewer opportunities for journalists. Instead, the nature of those opportunities may change.
Specialist knowledge, personal credibility and the ability to develop a loyal audience could become increasingly valuable.
A journalist covering a niche subject, for example, could build a dedicated newsletter or podcast and develop a direct relationship with a relatively small but highly engaged audience.
That audience may ultimately be more valuable to a publisher than millions of occasional visitors arriving through an algorithm.
Daniel’s broader message is therefore one of adaptation rather than surrender.
“Google and Big Tech have changed the rules of the game – but publishers are responding and preparing for life without them. Journalists will need to keep up,” he wrote.
The future of journalism, in this view, will not simply be about competing with artificial intelligence or trying to recover traffic lost through changing algorithms.
It will be about creating journalism that audiences actively choose to consume, developing direct relationships with readers and demonstrating the versatility required to operate across an increasingly fragmented media ecosystem.
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