Australian journalism is being pushed to the sidelines by AI, a new study reveals! It seems that when Microsoft's Copilot generates news summaries, it's largely ignoring local Australian voices, overwhelmingly favoring content from the US and Europe. This is a significant concern, as it impacts not only the visibility of Australian news but also the very survival of independent media.
But here's where it gets controversial... Dr. Timothy Koskie from the University of Sydney's Centre for AI, Trust and Governance conducted a fascinating study. He found that only about one-fifth of the news summaries generated by Copilot for Australian users actually included links to Australian media sources. This means that for the vast majority of queries, the AI is looking elsewhere for its information.
In his paper, aptly titled "Invisible journalists and dominant algorithms," Dr. Koskie issues a stark warning. He believes that the increasing reliance on these AI tools will almost certainly lead to more "news deserts" – areas with limited access to local news – and a reduction in independent voices. This, in turn, could weaken our democracy. He's calling for policy mechanisms, much like the news media bargaining code, to be developed to ensure that journalism can continue to thrive.
It's no secret that searching for information, especially news, is one of the most popular uses of AI today, as confirmed by Reuters Institute surveys. The problem arises when users consume these AI-generated summaries without actually clicking through to the original news websites. This practice starves news outlets of crucial web traffic and revenue, directly threatening the financial stability of Australian media organizations.
Dr. Koskie's in-depth analysis of 434 AI-generated news summaries showed something quite telling: even when the user was located in Australia, Copilot frequently cited non-Australian sources like CNN, BBC, and ABC America. He pointed out that the technology "basically sidelined Australian news." And when Australian sources were used, they tended to be the larger players like Nine and the ABC, rather than smaller, independent outlets. "No [local] journalist was ever mentioned," Koskie shared, highlighting a significant gap.
He further elaborated that this technology is "just reproducing crises that we didn’t properly attend to before." He noted that the Australian media landscape is already facing challenges such as concentrated ownership, a decline in independent outlets, and the persistent issue of news deserts in regional areas.
And this is the part most people miss... Dr. Koskie's personal journey into this research began when Copilot installed itself on his system in 2023 without his explicit permission. He was then prompted to use seven globally focused queries to get his news, such as "what are the major health or medical news updates for this week" and "what are the top global news stories today." Intrigued, he followed these prompts to see the results.
The findings were consistent: the majority of Copilot's responses linked to US websites. In a concerning three out of the seven news prompts he studied, no Australian sources appeared at all. Even when Australia was mentioned, it was often a general reference rather than specific local areas. "Australians are invisible in this," he stated. "In international studies, what people trust is the local news. And so we have this issue of declining trust in media, and the media that they’re being exposed to through these new platforms is not the one that people trust, which is local. Trust is also in people, and the people are invisible."
According to the Reuters Institute's predictions for 2026, generative AI "threatens to upend the news industry by offering more efficient ways of accessing and distilling information at scale." The report also highlights how search engines are transforming into AI-driven answer engines, with content appearing directly in chat windows. This raises significant fears that referral traffic for publishers could dry up, severely undermining current and future business models.
Dr. Koskie proposes that the scope of the news media bargaining incentive should be expanded to include AI tools. He also suggests incentivizing AI companies to embed geographical location into their coding design from the outset.
The academic paper concludes with a strong statement: "While Copilot may offer a sleek, automated gateway to news, this study highlights its tendencies to reinforce dominant international sources, sideline independent and regional media, and erase the human labour behind journalism itself." It warns that if left unaddressed, such tools risk exacerbating Australia’s existing media pluralism challenges rather than helping to solve them.
What are your thoughts on AI's role in news consumption? Do you believe AI tools are inadvertently harming local journalism? Share your agreement or disagreement in the comments below!
