Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2026

Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2026

Mar 26, 2026

The question is not whether communication will shift from social media and websites to conversational AI channels. It already has. Where is yours?

Referral traffic from major digital channels is collapsing, and the trends documented by the Reuters Institute in *Journalism & Technology Trends and Predictions 2026* aren’t just a media industry problem.

Google Search: -33% globally. Google Discover: -21%. Facebook: -43%. X/Twitter: -46%.

For any organisation communicating with audiences, this is a signal too significant to ignore.

Users are visiting websites less and less, and organic search is no longer their default. Instead, they get information through GenAI channels such as ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity.

Two questions worth sitting with:
Are we present where our users actually are?
Can we offer relevant, personalised, 24/7 communication?

AI on WhatsApp and similar channels isn’t a technology experiment. It’s a response to a real behavioural shift.

See all report: https://lnkd.in/deMFMCpc

Thank you to Borislav Miljanovic for sharing these data and for the discussion in one of his recent posts.