NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt opened the NAB Show New York Future of Journalism track with a direct question: “How do we preserve, trust, and strengthen local journalism as emerging technologies redefine how news is produced, distributed, and consumed?”
Setting the stage, LeGeyt introduced new polling from OnMessage, which captured widespread concern among American voters about AI’s growing presence in journalism.
“Eighty-two percent of Americans are concerned about AI,” said OnMessage Senior Vice President Tommy Binion, unveiling results from the exclusive national survey. “And that concern cuts across every political and demographic group.”
The research revealed that 76% of voters are concerned about AI stealing or reproducing journalism and local news stories, with 51% very concerned. 77% support and 59% strongly support Congress passing a law making it illegal for AI to reproduce or republish journalism without permission or compensation.
Only 26% trust information produced by AI, while 68% say it’s not trustworthy. 72% believe the federal government should place guardrails on AI to protect consumers.
“This is the kind of data that drives elections,” Binion said. “The public’s message is clear: protect original reporting and hold AI companies accountable.”
Following the presentation, LeGeyt welcomed a panel of experts to join him for The Future of News: AI, New Revenues and Risks, and the Policy Response, featuring Advance Vice President and Global Head of Public Policy, AI, and IP Brad Silver; NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss; and Hearst Television Executive Vice President Nick Radziul.
Panelists said the poll confirmed what many in journalism already sense: public trust in AI-generated information is low, but that mistrust could become a differentiator for credible news brands.
Silver pointed to practical applications, like the recipe tools used by Bon Appétit, that demonstrate how AI can responsibly enhance user engagement.
Radziul said, “There is a role for AI in our news organizations, but how to do it without destroying the trust that we’ve built up over time is at the forefront of our thoughts as we move forward.” He described how Hearst uses AI to “cull through the minutes” of local meetings so journalists can “follow up on those summaries and identify stories that are of great local importance that might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.”
Schleuss said, “They’re so greedy, they’re stealing our content…They do not care about the work that our journalists do. They don’t care about compensating us.” He stated, “We have been relying on Google to surface us in their results, and we get this wave of traffic, but then it dies down. Similar with Facebook, and then it dies down. They are really controlling how many people are getting to us.”
Silver said “licensing is feasible, deals are feasible,” but “we don’t have a healthy marketplace yet.”
Radziul agreed, saying Big Tech’s leverage “is so far outside” that of traditional media that regulatory intervention is necessary. Schleuss added, “We are all divided up so we can’t collectively negotiate. That’s why we need something like the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which would allow publishers and broadcasters to collectively negotiate our content with the tech platforms.”
