Working with creators – seen as ‘more in touch with audience perspectives’, although less credible – is in the minds of a majority working in Asian newsrooms.

But editors see both value and risk, 69 per cent believing that creators should be held to the same ethical standards as journalists, and slightly fewer (64.3 per cent) believing journalists should themselves become digital content creators.

The comments come from the 2025 State of Asian Newsrooms report, which notes “the opportunity is to adopt creators’ formats and audience instincts while retaining the verification and accountability that distinguish professional journalism.”

Findings are based on a survey of 42 media professionals conducted between September 2025 and May 2026, with respondents from 12 markets, and groups in India, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. WAN-Ifra Asia worked with the Centre for Information Integrity and the Internet (IN-cube) at Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.

While the small sample means results should be read “as a snapshot rather than a comprehensive picture of every Asian newsroom”, they say five findings stand out:

–newsrooms are being asked to do more with less – 19 of the 42 respondents were working with a smaller editorial headcount, but editors were looking for additional skills such as data journalism, sought by 54.8 per cent. “Newsrooms do not simply need more capacity, they need people who can combine strong journalism with data, formats, platforms and AI,” the report says.

–as print readers skew older and dwindle, and digital audiences become younger, the audience shift is “now an off-platform reality”, with 40 per cent of respondents putting their main digital audience in the 26-34 age group. Meanwhile, “the strongest growth is taking place beyond publishers’ websites and apps” with almost 80 per cent reporting rising audiences on off-platform services such as social media and Apple News.

–AI use is growing, but it remains focused on assistance: two-thirds of respondents said their journalists were allowed to use generative AI when producing stories, up slightly from 2024. “Yet the most common applications remain supporting tasks: proofreading and grammar correction and transcription were each cited by 52.4 per cent, followed by background research at 50 per cent, translation at 47.6 per cent and summarisation at 42.9 per cent”. Only 11.9 per cent used generative AI to produce written content.

–news organisations are “increasingly open” to digital creators. Some 38.5 per cent already collaborate with external creators, influencers or key opinion leaders, and most of the remainder (48.7 per cent) would consider doing so.

–business-model pressure connects almost every priority, with advertising remaining the dominant source of funding, cited by 83.3 per cent of respondents. Sponsorship and print subscriptions were each named by 54.8 per cent, while 42.9 per cent reported revenue from paywalls or membership. Donations and foundation grants played much smaller roles.

Looking forward, participants repeatedly returned to AI adaptation, revenue and funding, print-digital integration, changing audience behaviour, understaffing and “the need to build a lasting readership community” as priorities for 2026.

“These are not separate problems: Investment in new skills and responsible AI requires resources; stronger direct audience relationships can support revenue; and both depend on journalism that people find useful and trustworthy,” say authors. “While the focus on finding new revenue streams remains, so too does the emphasis on finding stories that matter and better understanding the audience.”

WAN-Ifra members can download the full report.