Reflections from the 2026 International Journalism Festival in Perugia 

The challenges confronting independent journalism right now are not incremental. They are structural, accelerating, and in some cases existential. Gen-AI is upending decades-old business models, while press freedom is being eroded through tactics that are increasingly hard to detect. The conversations at this year’s International Journalism Festival reflected an industry at a genuine inflection point.

Nevertheless, I ultimately left Perugia feeling more inspired than sobered. Inspired by the countless examples I heard of journalists — from small community newsrooms in South Africa to investigative teams in Central Europe — collaborating and innovating to weather this storm. Here are my five key takeaways.

1. Journalism’s business model disruption has entered a critical new phase

For years, the vast majority of publishers producing digital journalism have relied on a views-based business model, where revenue depends on page views, clicks and impressions. With AI-powered search delivering audiences direct answers instead of referrals, those revenue streams are drying up fast. Original human-led reporting is becoming harder to discover and to sustain.

Publishers with strong established brands may well be able to leverage loyal subscribers and direct audience relationships to diversify into subscriptions, memberships, events, podcasts etc. But where does this leave the smaller independent newsrooms, particularly in low-income countries where paying for news is a luxury few can afford?

Casper Llewellyn Smith, Chief AI Officer at the Guardian, summarised the gravity situation best when he told audiences on the last day of the festival:

Back when traditional search was king, publishers paid a premium for SEO consultants, tools and optimization work to top the rankings. But adopting a similar approach by courting AI platforms for more prominent link placements is likely to be a non-starter. While AI chatbots and search tools often show citations to publisher sites, the evidence suggests that users click through far less often than from traditional search.

Shielding independent newsrooms from this oncoming storm is going to take radical thinking. Ana Jakimovska, Head of AI Strategy at Mediahuis outlined the importance of “defensive strategies” like bot blockers:

But she acknowledged that this won’t be enough on its own, greater regulatory support is also essential. “The next step is signalling to lawmakers that we cannot keep all the thieves out. We’re tyring to do as much as we can, but we need help.”

2. Small independent newsrooms are innovating to make AI work for them

While AI is clearly a force multiplier for many of these economic and technological shifts, it may also provide some of the solutions. Throughout the festival, we heard how practical, low-cost, collaborative uses of AI are helping newsrooms adapt and find new revenue streams, especially in global majority countries.

Heba Kandil, the Foundation’s Head of Media Initiatives, shared with audiences an example from our own work in South Africa to help newsrooms leverage the potential of AI alongside Microsoft. Through this programme, a community newspaper in the Eastern Cape called The Pondoland Times developed a tool to auto-post content on social media and is prototyping digital storytelling capabilities through an AI-generated avatar that reads the news flash. The outlet has subsequently seen their revenue increase “from 2,000 to 20,000 ZAR per month”.

Reflecting on the impact of the partnership’s work, Emily Brown, Journalism Director at Microsoft identified cohort-based shared learning and peer support as the most effective tactic to move a newsroom from curiosity to confident AI adoption.

3. The ‘creator wave’ is exposing an uneasy alliance between solo journalists, big tech and legacy media

Personality-driven news and creator-led distribution are reshaping how audiences, particularly younger ones, find information. At this year’s festival, several sessions pointed to the growing power of the “News Creator” — a broad category that now includes podcasters, YouTubers, TikTok personalities, and journalists building individual followings outside traditional newsroom structures. Some of these figures now have significant cultural influence and real impact on public debate.

To say this ‘creator wave’ is ruffling the feathers amongst many at the legacy media brands would be putting it mildly. Nic Newman, Senior Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism shared a recent finding from the Institute’s Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions 2026 report which found that “69% of publishers are worried about losing attention for their brands because of competition from creators, while 33% are concerned about losing top talent to the creator economy.” Many News Creators speaking at the festival likewise cited their frustration at publishers taking advantage of their personality, audience, and platform fluency without offering the pay, autonomy, or respect that kind of labour deserves.

But this new breed of journalists are also learning that dependence on platforms whose priorities have little to do with public interest journalism can be a precarious way to make a living. Algorithms change overnight and monetisation rules tighten without warning. As Dave Jorgenson, co-founder of Local News International put it:

4. Stealth tactics are reshaping the war on press freedom

Direct threats to journalists are also evolving. We’re seeing a rise in governments weaponising administrative obstruction, using tactics like visa denials and press credential revocations. These measures are a highly effective way to control the narrative by cutting off the access of critical voices, whilst avoiding the backlash of overt intimidation through arrests or violence.

Over the last couple of years we have seen countless examples, the highest profile of which being the barring of the Associated Press from the White House and Air Force One press pool for their refusal to use the term ‘Gulf of America’. But this is happening all over the world, from denials of journalists attempting to renew their press accreditation in the build-up to this year’s Ethiopian elections, to Hong Kong authorities blocking the work-visa application of Bloomberg reporter Rebecca Choong Wilkins.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, described this as “lawfare light” because “headline grabbing attacks on journalists like jailing and assassination attempts people already know about…but you often find the world looks away when you’re dealing with these kinds of issues.” Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of Rappler added:

Cyber tactics too, are fast becoming the censorship instrument of choice amongst autocracies. This includes deploying intrusive digital monitoring tools like spyware infections to identify journalists’ sources, map newsroom networks, and pre-empt or punish sensitive reporting. Their power lies also lies in stealth. They are cheap, scalable and deniable. Regimes can outsource to proxy groups, hide behind technical complexity and muddy attribution long enough to avoid diplomatic costs or legal scrutiny.

But this tactic is by no means limited to autocracies. Chiara Castro, news editor at TechRadar, detailed a recent Spyware case in her home country of Italy last year. Researchers at Citizen Lab reported finding forensic evidence consistent with Paragon Solutions’ “Graphite” spyware on devices linked to journalists connected to the Italian investigative outlet Fanpage.it, an outlet critical of Giorgia Meloni’s government.

Castro, when noting that Article 4 of the European Media Freedom Act still allows for the use of spyware under national security grounds said: “I think that this case is pretty emblematic because it tells us why democracies are increasingly getting comfortable using this software against members of the press and civil society: lack of oversight and accountability.”

5. Independent newsrooms are the frontline against foreign interference

This year’s festival came just days after Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party stormed to victory in Hungary’s parliamentary election. Speakers across the three days welcomed Magyar’s comments promising a restoration of objective, impartial reporting in the country. He will, however, have his work cut out for him. Under 16 years of Viktor Orban’s leadership, Hungarian independent media has been hollowed out through a combination of state capture, distorted advertising, ownership concentration and political delegitimization.

Award-winning Hungarian journalist Veronika Munk gave audiences her personal account of what it has been like attempting to conduct public interest journalism in this environment.

Hungary is not alone in this regard. From Slovakia to Georgia, Serbia to Bulgaria, Central and Eastern European independent media has been systematically weakened by a mixture of lawfare, cyber tactics and state capture. Yet despite this, independent newsrooms in the region proved once again to be one of the clearest bulwarks against foreign interference attempts to destabilize democracy.

In the run up to the election a cross-border investigative consortium led by Central European the investigative network, VSquare, obtained and authenticated recordings of calls between Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affaris, Péter Szijjártó, and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, helping to turn Russsia’s attempts to sway the vote into a central late-election issue.

State-led foreign interference and information warfare likes this is on the rise, globally. Against this backdrop, independent newsrooms are working to verify facts, expose covert influence and counter false narratives. They are critical democratic infrastructure, central to national security and defence.