Nieman Lab.
Predictions for
Journalism, 2025.
In August, I canceled my weekend delivery of a print newspaper. By November, I’d resubscribed, longing for something I missed most during the pandemic: serendipity.
This past Saturday, while leafing through The New York Times, I learned that Kim Deal, former bassist of the Pixies, lives in Dayton, Ohio. I stumbled upon an article about the deadly challenges many Kenyan female athletes face. And I read about Putin’s deepening quandaries nearly three years into the war in Ukraine. These were stories I hadn’t sought out but encountered by simply spreading open the printed pages — a stark contrast to algorithm-driven digital feeds that know exactly what pulls me into the rabbit hole.
Ladina Heimgartner, the CEO of Ringier Media Switzerland, said at the WAN-IFRA Congress in Copenhagen recently that print is the new luxury, a symbol of leisure and remedy to the daily digital grind.
I predict that in 2025, people will have a renewed appetite for print publications and decentralized social platforms.
Algorithm-driven feeds feel like work and are often filled with a false sense of urgency, manipulation, and relentless sales tactics. The printed page offers our minds a break from those hits of dopamine that distracted us from thinking, feeling, and doing more important things. The Onion, sensing that people’s media diets are changing, has reinstituted a monthly print edition after 10 years of being digital only.
Changes to online algorithms are promised by incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr, challenging perceived left-leaning algorithmic biases and potentially reshaping how social platforms function. But public irritation of feeling manipulated by algorithms may also push people toward platforms that offer more digital autonomy, like Bluesky and Mastodon, where you can adjust who you see and as it is posted.
Constant connectivity hasn’t fundamentally changed our understanding of the world or outcomes of events. Sometimes, what’s truly needed is a “week in review” to better understand the bigger picture. This isn’t about disconnecting from news — it’s about creating healthier boundaries that let us focus beyond the latest grievance.
The coming year will prioritize focus over immediacy. Serendipity in print and on decentralized digital platforms will return and may just bring sweet relief from an algorithm-saturated world.
Aimee Rinehart is senior product manager of AI strategy for the Associated Press.
In August, I canceled my weekend delivery of a print newspaper. By November, I’d resubscribed, longing for something I missed most during the pandemic: serendipity.
This past Saturday, while leafing through The New York Times, I learned that Kim Deal, former bassist of the Pixies, lives in Dayton, Ohio. I stumbled upon an article about the deadly challenges many Kenyan female athletes face. And I read about Putin’s deepening quandaries nearly three years into the war in Ukraine. These were stories I hadn’t sought out but encountered by simply spreading open the printed pages — a stark contrast to algorithm-driven digital feeds that know exactly what pulls me into the rabbit hole.
Ladina Heimgartner, the CEO of Ringier Media Switzerland, said at the WAN-IFRA Congress in Copenhagen recently that print is the new luxury, a symbol of leisure and remedy to the daily digital grind.
I predict that in 2025, people will have a renewed appetite for print publications and decentralized social platforms.
Algorithm-driven feeds feel like work and are often filled with a false sense of urgency, manipulation, and relentless sales tactics. The printed page offers our minds a break from those hits of dopamine that distracted us from thinking, feeling, and doing more important things. The Onion, sensing that people’s media diets are changing, has reinstituted a monthly print edition after 10 years of being digital only.
Changes to online algorithms are promised by incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr, challenging perceived left-leaning algorithmic biases and potentially reshaping how social platforms function. But public irritation of feeling manipulated by algorithms may also push people toward platforms that offer more digital autonomy, like Bluesky and Mastodon, where you can adjust who you see and as it is posted.
Constant connectivity hasn’t fundamentally changed our understanding of the world or outcomes of events. Sometimes, what’s truly needed is a “week in review” to better understand the bigger picture. This isn’t about disconnecting from news — it’s about creating healthier boundaries that let us focus beyond the latest grievance.
The coming year will prioritize focus over immediacy. Serendipity in print and on decentralized digital platforms will return and may just bring sweet relief from an algorithm-saturated world.
Aimee Rinehart is senior product manager of AI strategy for the Associated Press.
